Something that might have been regret tried to form in the back of her mind but she shoved it down. She’d have time for that later. Right now, they still had time together and she wanted to enjoy it. Regrets were for when it was over.
Holding the condom in one hand, she bent over him and pressed her lips to his cock. “May I?”
“You think any man alive would say no?”
She laughed softly and opened her mouth to take him inside, humming at the taste of him. Taking her time, she learned the feel of him, his length and width in an all-new way, easing her way into it before finally taking him all the way to the back of her throat.
“Fuck,” he grunted out, his fingers threading through her hair as he arched up.
She covered his hand with hers, urging him on, and when he began to move his hips upward, she shuddered a little. He was careful at first, learning her limit and using his hand to mark it, then he began to move faster, pumping up and down as she sucked on him.
His breaths came quicker and his cock pulsed in her mouth. She pressed her tongue to the thick vein on the underside and sucked harder.
Roman pulled her off and she let him, but not without a little regret.
Resting her cheek on his thigh, she felt a tremor go through him.
A pang echoed down in her belly and she sat up, but when she went to tear open the condom, Roman took it from her. “Let me return the favor,” he said, spilling her onto her back.
She gasped as he settled between her thighs, pressing his mouth to her slick, wet pussy.
“Is all this for me?” he whispered against her folds.
She whimpered and arched up against him, greedy already.
He didn’t make her wait.
He licked at her, a greedy growl escaping him as he slid his hands under her hips and lifted her more completely against him.
Pleasure lashed and tore through her as he feasted on her, using teeth and tongue with erotic skill.
He brought her to the edge, over and over, but each time backed off just before she could come and she shoved her hands into his hair, tugging sharply. “You’re just being mean now,” she said accusingly.
“No…I’m drawing out the pleasure,” he said against her cunt.
She jerked, sensation jolting through her as he blew against her clit.
This wasn’t drawing the pleasure out—it was almost torture. But it felt so good…
Moaning, she brought her heels up and dug them into the mattress, trying to deepen the contact, but he didn’t let her and before long, he had her moaning, panting, on the verge of begging.
Was that what he wanted? Her to beg?
She was about ready to do just that.
Then he stopped and rose up onto his knees between her spread thighs.
“Now,” he said, voice rough.
Julianna heard him tear the foil wrapper of the condom open and she tensed in anticipation. He mounted her and she curled her legs around his hips. With one hand under her ass, he lifted her up more fully, then with one smooth, deep thrust, he filled her.
She wailed out his name, the orgasm slamming into her hard and fast.
He wedged himself deep inside, not moving as she worked herself up and down his cock, riding him as the climax bore down on her. No sooner had it started to ease than he began to move.
Julianna couldn’t breathe.
She struggled to draw in a breath, but her lungs didn’t want to work. Shoving her hands against his chest, she stared up at him, shuddering around his impaling cock as sensation built inside her, desperate to escape. But the noises were trapped in her throat, locked inside her chest and she couldn’t force them out.
He braced one hand by her head, the other on the headboard as he drove into her, the muscles in his arms standing out in sharp relief while his blue eyes bore into hers.
“Julianna…”
She reached up, curling a hand around his neck and tugging him closer.
He came to her, slanting his mouth over hers in a greedy, devouring kiss that stole what little air she had left.
The scream inside her finally broke free and she cried out against his lips just as another climax slammed into her.
Roman groaned out her name.
She felt his cock jerk and pulse and knew he’d started to come, too.
More, she thought blissfully. She wanted more of this.
It wasn’t until her mind cleared a little bit later that she remembered…more was probably something she wouldn’t get.
10
Julianna
“I can’t believe it.” Julianna held one of the stones in her hand, feeling like a kid in a candy store. It wasn’t even finished yet, but she could see the promise and it was undeniable. “This is what it can do?”
Tommy Hurst met her gaze, grinning over the half-moon spectacles he wore when he was working. “Isn’t it amazing?”
Her father was standing behind Tommy, a boyishly excited grin on his face. Like her, he was fascinated with the technology behind the gem industry so she knew he understood the excitement she and Tommy felt.
The possible money they could make from this new tech could reach into the stratosphere, but she wasn’t just excited about that. She loved the science behind it.
“Daddy, we want this, don’t we?”
He nodded, but the gesture was slow, almost dreamy. “Oh, yes…we want this.”
He held out his hand and she dropped the partially cut sapphire into his hand. While he mooned over it, she turned to Edie Farmer. “What kind of data have you been able to come up with?”
As Edie talked, Julianna started to run figures in her head because as soon as they left here, she and Charles had to talk about the bid. The CFO was going to meet them in the boardroom and they needed to be ready. The CFO was a tight-fisted son of a bitch and they would need to have all their ducks in a row just to get him willing to bend on something new like this. She could tell him it wasn’t even a risk, because she had solid data about the mines they would also acquire and the mines alone were worth the money, but this new tech…
She wanted to swoon.
But she managed to keep a straight face, even if a smile did occasionally break through.
“You look like the cat that stole the canary,” Edie said as she finished summarizing what she’d been able to extrapolate in the short time she and Tommy had had with the prototype.
“I feel like the cat that ate the canary,” she replied. There was a faint twinge of guilt, but she pushed it away. She hadn’t made anybody do anything, something she’d do well to remember.
Later, as they sat down with the CFO, Julianna realized that she wasn’t going to have to do much convincing at all. Her father had brought the partially cut stone with him and the CFO, Roger Morris, was studying it with something akin to amazement on his stern face.
Anybody who worked with Castle Jewels for long had to be something of an expert when it came to gems and Morris had been with the company for more than twenty years. He didn’t have the science background that Julianna had, but he knew his stones.
With an avid gleam in his eye, he looked at daughter, then father. “This could make us the number one player in the game.”
“We already are,” Charles said, his voice full of arrogance. Then he laughed. “But this will take all doubt out of the equation. We’re going to win this bid, Charles. Find the money. Wherever you have to, whatever you have to do. Get the money.”
“How high?” Finally, some of Morris’s normal caution returned to his face as he leaned back in his chair.
Charles named a figure and even Julianna blanched.
Morris looked like he wanted to have a stroke.
But after a few more looks at the stone, he nodded. “Very well. I’ll get the money.”
Julianna’s day consisted of a working lunch at her desk and constant interruptions—people wanting her approval for this purchase, or her insight about that design.
With her father traini
ng her to take his place when he retired, more and more people were coming to her before going to him and while she was glad to take on more responsibilities, it would have been nice to eat her sushi in peace.
Of course, once she was the CEO of Castle Jewels, she wouldn’t have a lot of days without interruption, so she might as well get used to it.
Her phone buzzed just as she dumped the trash from her lunch into the garbage.
She almost ignored it, but a quick glance revealed Roman’s name. She smiled at the photo she’d found online and programmed into her contacts after she’d added his number the other day. There wasn’t really any reason for her to have a picture of him. She didn’t know any other Romans. But she liked seeing his blue eyes staring out at her from the screen of her phone.
Picking it up, she swiped her thumb across the screen to access the message.
How is your day going?
She pursed her lips at the casual, bland question.
I have a revolving door on my office. How is yours?
There was a very brief pause, followed by:
LOL. About the same. Are you ready to do the handoff?
Idly, she thought of the device in her purse and she smiled faintly. With a shrug, she tapped out her response.
I can’t wait.
A cold wind cut through her coat as she stepped out of her car in front of Montrose Jewelers. She smiled at her driver. “I might be a few minutes if you want to circle around the block.”
John nodded and as she started toward the glitz and glamour that was Montrose Jewelers’ flagship store, John slid back in her car.
She’d hoped he’d be out front waiting for her so they could keep this quick, but he wasn’t.
She’d have to go in there and face him.
On enemy territory.
And her heart leaped at the thought of seeing him again.
How could he do this to her?
She’d known beautiful men before.
She’d dated plenty of them.
She had a few of them as lovers.
But none of them had ever made her feel like her heart was going to flip over, just at the thought of seeing him again.
Pasting a smile on her face, she kept on walking.
She’d just have to keep on looking, she decided. There had to be other men out there who could make her heart act like it did around Roman.
The two of them…together?
She laughed and if the sound was a little sad, nobody was around to hear it but herself.
11
Roman
“The bid is being couriered to Templeton as we speak,” Michael Montrose said.
Roman stood in the second-floor office as he talked to his father. The office overlooked the sales floor of the elegant flagship store of his family’s chain of jewelry stores. It was a beautiful store, sparkling jewels tucked behind sparkling glass, set against a backdrop of ivory. He’d practically grown up in this place. Well, when he hadn’t been in school.
He’d known more than most about carats and cut and clarity by the time he was in his teens, more than most men would care to know when they forked out the customary two months’ salary to buy the engagement ring of a lifetime for the loves of their lives.
“Are you certain it won’t raise red flags, making a bid before we have a chance to really start our time with the prototype?” he asked. He doubted Templeton would be surprised that the Montrose family was willing to go to any lengths to secure a prize bid, but he also knew Edgar was somewhat old-fashioned. He might be reticent to award the bid if he suspected anything out of the ordinary.
“I called Edgar ahead of time, talked for a bit. Tried to wheedle the mines in a separate deal, then capitulated, told him we’d be making our bid today—I merely told him that we were serious about wanting those mines, the prototype was just a bonus.” Michael chuckled, but there was nothing warm or inviting about the sound. “He, of course, bought the whole thing.”
“Very well.” Checking the time, he said, “I should go. She’ll be here soon to make the trade-off.”
“Don’t invest too much more time with it. We already know what it’s worth. Maybe the tech team can improve on it, but what we really want are the mines,” Michael said before ending the call.
Roman put the phone back in the cradle on the desk and resumed his study of the sales floor.
He wouldn’t admit to himself that he was looking for Julianna.
But every so often, his eyes strayed to the door.
He was on the verge of one of the biggest deals his family would ever make. Even though the prototype hadn’t been everything it had been hyped up to be, the mines themselves were beyond valuable and would increase the worth of the Montrose company exponentially.
And was he thinking about the deal?
No. He was wondering how Julianna’s day had gone.
Had they been as disappointed as he had been about the prototype or had they gone into it with a more reserved outlook? If he was honest, the Castles had more invested in science than the Montrose family did. Maybe they were more aware of what was happening in the tech areas of the gem industry. Hell, there was little maybe. He had no doubt Julianna and her facile brain leaped at any new insight.
It wasn’t that the Montrose family didn’t have their tech arm. They certainly did and it was more adequate. But there was adequate…and there was stellar. Templeton’s tech was stellar and the Castles chased after them with determination, anxious to draw even.
Maybe they already had an idea what the prototype would have been capable of and the results had been of little surprise to them.
The door opened and he glanced toward it, mostly out of habit than with the expectation of seeing her, but a rush of heated surprise and warmth rolled through him as Julianna came striding inside.
She was early.
He caught up with her as she was studying an assortment of pendants his family’s designers had put out for Valentine’s Day.
A faint smile curled her lips and he wondered which one had caught her eye.
“Like what you see?” he asked, coming to a stop at her shoulder.
She glanced over at him. “They’re all quite lovely. Your design team is quite talented.”
“We think so.”
She bent over the case, a low hum of appreciation escaping her throat. “If only my father wouldn’t have a fit at the idea of buying from the competition, I’d suggest he buy this piece for my mother for Valentine’s Day. It’s gorgeous.”
She straightened and met his eyes levelly, a faint smile on her lips.
“I’m sure your father has plenty of pieces to choose from at Castle,” he replied.
“Yes.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “He’s always giving her jewelry. But you know, unless Mom has a function to attend, she rarely wears any of it. She has this one piece she got from him early in their relationship and it’s her favorite piece—she’d wear that and her wedding ring to everything if Dad didn’t nag her.”
It was odd to hear her talk about her parents, he mused. Odder still that he didn’t mind listening. To think of the Castles as people rather than just the competition.
When had that happened?
His musings were cut short as she lifted a chrome briefcase and laid it on the counter. “Here you go. Delivered as promised…even a bit early.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the discretion.” He laid a hand on the chrome case, glad he wasn’t receiving it in a yellow padded mailer she pulled from her purse.
She cocked a brow at him. “Thank Templeton. This was the way I received the item.”
The way I received the item…
Roman’s jaw dropped.
The way I received…
His mind raced, flashing to the padded mailer he’d received from the professional his team had hired to lift from her purse the night they went out to dinner.
The man sure as hell hadn’t taken it from a chrome briefcase.
Son of a bit
ch.
“It’s business, Roman,” she said softly, as if she was following his every thought.
And he suspected she was.
Meeting her eyes, he saw the acknowledgment.
“When it’s business, the gloves come off,” she added, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. Then she offered him another smile, softer, sadder. “It was fun, you know. If you ever want to hook up again, call me.”
She turned on one stiletto heel and strode out while he was still struggling to process what she’d just said. It was fun.
Business, she’d told him.
The gloves come off.
“Fuck,” he whispered, mindless of the customers milling around him. “We were had.”
Grabbing the briefcase’s handle, he spun on his heel and hurried back to the office, running once he was out of sight of the clientele. He had to call his father.
Although it had been less than fifteen minutes since they’d spoken, he was excruciatingly aware that it might be too late.
The courier’s on the way—wasn’t that what his father had told him?
He grabbed the cell phone from his desk and dialed his father’s direct number, pacing the room and eyeing the briefcase he’d left on the desk. Fury boiled inside him and he stormed over to the case just as his father came on the line.
“What is it, Roman? I’m in the middle—”
“Stop the courier,” he said, cutting his father off.
“What?” Michael demanded.
“Stop the courier!” he said firmly. He stared at the prototype in front of him, his fuck-up even clearer now than it had been. This device was larger, sleeker. More elegant, even. And clearly more advanced. He could see the echoes of the previous device in it and suspected what he’d taken had been an earlier model of this. Shit, had Templeton helped set him up?
You stole the damn thing from her purse, dumbass.
Hate On: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 7