And what I exposed underneath made my eyes go wide. To say he had a nice body would be the understatement of the century. He was sculpted and lean and toned—the kind of body you’d expect from an underwear model rather than a businessman. He might’ve been busy at work, but he sure as hell put in his hours at the gym.
We went back to kissing, Adam soon having my shirt off and exposing the simple, black bra I wore underneath. I arched my back as he reached around me and undid the clasp with expert precision. Soon my bra was off and my full breasts exposed. I felt a touch bashful. It was hard for me to remember the last time I’d been with a man… A quick mental inventory made me remember that it had happened before I’d been hired at Corliss. Yikes.
His mouth on my nipples was enough to bring me out of my head and back to the present moment. He kissed and sucked them, my nipples going hard in his mouth as I ran my hands through his hair. The feeling of his tongue on these most sensitive areas was…unbelievable. The man was good.
Moving down from my breasts, he started on my pants, undoing the button and zipper and pulling them down until the matching pair of black panties I had on underneath were visible. My underwear was so plain and simple—if I’d have known this was going to happen, I would’ve worn something a little sexier. Not that I had packed anything like that, but still.
Another kiss brought me back into the moment. I snapped to it, getting his pants down as I shimmied out of mine. I was so turned on, so aroused at that point that the moment he placed his hand between my thighs, the side of his finger pressing against me, I thought I might explode.
“Oh…oh, my God,” I moaned as he touched me.
“That feel good?” he asked, his voice a low purr.
“So good.”
“That’s nothing.”
His voice was so low and deep and confident that, however turned on I had been, it pushed me to the next level. Adam rubbed me more as I awkwardly fumbled over his boxer-briefs, feeling his solid member through the thin, soft cloth.
He was big—very big. And hard. I let out another sigh as I moved my hand along his length, enjoying what I felt. And Adam seemed to like it too—he growled softly with pleasure as I touched him.
More. I was ready for more.
Finding a sudden burst of confidence, I hooked my thumb under the waistband of his boxer-briefs and pulled them down, revealing his long, thick erection. I took it in my hand, stroking it, getting it ready for me. Adam finished undressing me too, rolling my panties down over my thighs until I was finally able to kick them off.
And then we were both naked, Adam above me, his member pointing right toward where I wanted it to be.
“You still want this?” he asked.
“So, so much,” I said.
To make my point even more emphatically, I grabbed onto him again and began to lead him toward me.
“Wait,” he said.
I stopped.
“I just realized we’re not using protection,” he said. “I know I’m clean, but still…”
“I’m on the pill,” I said. “We’re good.”
He smiled, happy that the issue was resolved. Then we were right back to it, my hand wrapped around him, Adam moving between my legs so slowly that the anticipation gave me tingles all over my body.
And then it happened. He spread me open and entered me, inch by inch. He was so big and thick that I couldn’t believe I was able to accommodate him. But maybe because I was so turned on, maybe because he was just right, but he fit inside me perfectly.
He held fast for a moment once he was fully inside, as if giving me time to get used to his size inside of me. I sighed, grabbing onto the wide muscles of his back and signaling with my eyes that I was ready for more.
Adam pulled back and drove into me again, this time with more force, and I let out a soft gasp. He pulled back again, this time thrusting into me as deeply as he could. I accepted him eagerly, pleasure shooting through my body. He increased his pace, and I wrapped my legs and arms around him, pulling his warm, solid body closely as he moved me closer and closer to orgasm.
He thrust in and out, bringing tingles of pleasure more delicious than I’d ever felt before. Closer and closer I came to orgasm until I couldn’t hold it back any longer. An explosion of pleasure burst through me, waves of throbbing intensity running through my body. I moaned and sighed and squeezed him tightly.
Then Adam shuddered, and I felt the pulse of his orgasm, savoring it on top of mine.
Adam stayed inside of me for a time, and I liked it that way. Finally, he rolled over and slipped his arm around me, pulling my body close to his. He was warm, his chest rising and falling from the fun we’d just had. I nuzzled my head into his neck and smiled.
“Wow,” he said after a few minutes of us laying like that. “So far this is shaping up to be a memorable Christmas.”
“Same here,” I said. “And I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling I’m going to be in the mood to make many, many memories today.”
The sly smile on his face let me know he was more than on board with that.
Merry Christmas, indeed.
Chapter 17
Adam
I couldn’t help but watch her. The way she laid on the bed on her side, the moonlight pouring in and casting her in an almost ethereal glow. She seemed like something from another world, like she was a phantom that might dissipate at any moment, leaving me alone in that room.
But she wasn’t. She was real. She was real and, for the day, she’d been mine.
The day had been amazing. After our first incredible love-making session, many more followed. There was like a magnetic pull between the two of us, one that we were both helpless to resist. And neither of us had wanted to. Our hands had been glued to one another’s bodies; our lips rarely had come apart.
Sure, as we’d laid in bed during the late morning into the afternoon, we’d come up with some potential ways to spend the day. Maybe some sightseeing, maybe some walking around, maybe trying to find an open restaurant to stop into.
None of those things had happened, of course. We wouldn’t get even into the planning stages before one of us had fallen under the spell of the other, our bodies coming together as we found our way back into the bed.
Or the couch. Or the table. Or the floor.
And there was more. The room had a state-of-the-art TV, but all of the channels were Brazilian, and nothing we’d want to watch even if we understood the language. But I figured out how to use the Wi-Fi to connect Isla’s computer to the TV, and after a little doing, I’d subscribed us to the streaming service for the Treasured Moments channel—the station that played all of our favorite cheesy movies.
When we weren’t making love we were on the couch, cuddled up next to one another as we watched movie after movie of unlikely couples falling in love. And because it was Christmas, there was a marathon of all the best holiday romance movies, nearly every one of them about the man or the woman coming home to some sleepy but picturesque hometown and falling in love.
None that took place in Rio, however. That was fine. We were happy creating our own little romance with that particular theme.
As much as I liked to watch the movies, I think I enjoyed watching her reactions to them more. Isla got wrapped up in every story, laughing and crying and gasping at all the right parts. It had always been hard for me to get carried away with films like that, and watching them with someone who had the opposite situation was…kind of wonderful.
Lunch and dinner had both been courtesy of room service, and when bedtime had come I treated her to my usual drink before bed. It worked like a charm on Isla, and there she was, sleeping soundly, her head resting on my chest.
But it wasn’t all fun. In the back of my head over the course of the entire day had been the promise I’d made to the board, the conversation I’d had with Edward. As nice as this day had been with Isla, I knew in the pit of my stomach that was all it could be—a day.
I hated the id
ea of it. We’d really clicked together, and the chemistry was like nothing I’d ever known before. There wasn’t anything else to do about it, however. What could I do? Go back to the board and let them know that I’d broken one of the conditions of my employment? It simply wasn’t an option.
And not only that, but there was Isla’s future at the company to worry about. I didn’t believe that she’d be fired or anything like that, but if word were to get out, it might permanently tarnish her reputation there. No other male executive would risk the inevitable eyebrow raise that would occur if he were to take her on a similar trip. She was a very promising employee, and the last thing I wanted to do was impact what would undoubtedly be a bright future at Corliss.
No, I’d have to end it tomorrow. And on the plane ride. Sure, things might be awkward, but I was sure she’d understand—after all, wasn’t one of her key philosophies to look on the bright side of things?
She’d come around, I was sure of it.
And that would have to be enough.
Chapter 18
Isla
The morning passed in a dreamy daze. The memories of our Christmas Day together were still so fresh in my mind that going through the process of packing and driving to the airport almost seemed to happen without me even understanding what was going on. Luckily, Adam was there to make sure all the small details were taken care of.
I knew it was too soon to say anything definite, but it had probably been one of the most magical Christmases I’d ever experienced. The delicious food, the corny-but-oh-so-good movies, the cozy cuddling…and, of course, the mind-blowing sex.
I couldn’t get over how good the lovemaking had been. Some first-time awkwardness could probably have been expected, but there was nothing of the sort. It was like our bodies were made for one another. Each session was better than the last, and by the time evening rolled around and it was time for our nightcap, I was so happily exhausted that all I could do was fall into what might’ve been the most restful sleep of my life.
All of this made Adam’s strange silence on the plane even more curious. At first I’d thought nothing of it, figuring that he had a lot on his mind with what had gone down at the factory. I didn’t blame him one bit as he’d essentially told the head of the company to chill out and wait. I’d been around enough high-level men and women to know if there was one thing they didn’t like doing, it was waiting.
But as the third hour of the flight rolled around, I began to think there was something up. He’d barely said a thing to me the entire flight, let alone try anything physical with me. In the back of my head I’d been wondering if he was going to enlist me in the mile-high club, but as time had gone on, I started to wonder if he was mad at me for some reason.
Finally, as he began to prepare himself a nightcap, I couldn’t hold back any longer. I needed to know what was up, and I need to know right then.
“Adam,” I said, tension forming in my belly. “You okay over there? You’ve been kinda quiet the entire flight.”
He let out a slow sigh, one that suggested that I’d just broached a topic that he’d had on his mind.
“Something to drink?” he asked.
I wasn’t much for anxiety drinking, but at that moment I needed something to calm my nerves.
“Sure,” I said. “Whatever you’re having.”
He nodded and prepared another drink. Both in hand, he came over to where I was seated and gave me mine.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about,” he said.
Uh-oh. I wasn’t exactly the most seasoned person when it came to relationships, but even I knew that this wasn’t a good thing to hear. My gut tightened once again, and a chill ran through my limbs.
“Yeah?” I asked, my voice small and weak-sounding. “What’s up?”
I sipped my drink, having a feeling I was going to need it.
Adam looked down for a moment, as if trying to make sure he was about to say the exact right words in the exact right way he needed to say them. It was strange seeing him this way. He’d been nothing but confidence and charm this whole trip, and now he seemed like he was conflicted, almost unsure of himself.
Finally, he turned his attention back to me.
“What happened in Rio…” he said.
“What about it?”
The words shot out of my mouth, like I was hoping to get the conversation over with as soon as possible.
“I think…I think it needs to stay in Rio.”
And there it was. The words hit me like I’d just run face-first into a brick wall. One more sip of my drink, and I spoke.
“You mean…you don’t want anything else to happen between us?”
He nodded gravely.
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
The way he was speaking frustrated me—just declarative statements and no explanations. Well, if he was going to drop this on me, I needed to know why.
“How come?” I asked. “It seemed like…I don’t know…like we had a really good time together.”
“Of course we did,” he said. “But there are, ah, extenuating circumstances that you don’t know about.”
Such a clinical term. I didn’t like it one bit.
“What kind of circumstances?” I asked. “Please don’t tell me you have a girlfriend or something like that.”
I knew I sounded paranoid, but it was hardly the most outlandish thing I could think of. A man like Adam being single was already strange enough to me. It’d make a certain kind of sick sense.
He sat back on the couch, again taking on the expression of looking like he didn’t know quite what to say.
“Have you heard of my…reputation? Of my life outside of the corporate world?”
I thought about it. After a moment I recalled a couple of conversations I’d had with coworkers back when Adam had first gotten brought on, about how he used to be something of a cad when he was younger.
Oh, shit. Was I in the process of getting loved and left?
“Um, just a few things here or there,” I said, trying to be diplomatic. “About how you liked to…date a lot.”
A small smile formed on his lips, but not one that suggested he was happy or found what I’d said funny. If anything, he looked embarrassed.
“That’s one way to put it.”
He took a sip of his drink.
“Anyway,” he went on. “When Edward made the decision to bring me on as CEO, he and I had a sit-down about that very subject. He told me in no uncertain terms that sort of behavior was not to occur if I were to work at his company. He didn’t want the risk of scandal, and he didn’t want to have their new CEO on the front pages of gossip websites with a different girl on his arm every week.”
“That’s…understandable,” I said, still not liking at all where this conversation was going.
“He told me what he expected, and I agreed. I then found out that this wasn’t simply going to be a private matter between me and Edward. No—the board was in agreement with him and they wanted something more…ironclad.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I had to make a formal agreement with them,” he said. “Make it official that part of my employment there would be that I refrain from—”
“Dating?” I asked. “They told you that you couldn’t date?”
He shook his head.
“No. Nothing that severe. They simply told me that any sort of…fraternization with any of my subordinates wouldn’t be tolerated in the slightest. You understand how the climate is right now with that sort of thing, how much of a risk of a scandal it could have.”
“Of course,” I said, doing my best to hold back the sadness and frustration building inside of me.
“So,” he went on. “Naturally, you see where this is going. What you and I had over Christmas was great—better than great, really. Amazing, actually. But it can’t go any further than that.”
Something began to dawn on me, something that he wasn’t sayi
ng but was strongly implied.
I went for it.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “You’re telling me that this is something you knew about in advance, right? I mean, it’s not like you had a brief memory lapse and just plum forgot the fact that you’re not supposed to be hooking up with people you work with.”
The expression on his face suggested he knew where I was going with this.
“So you went ahead and did what you did knowing in the back of your mind that you weren’t supposed to. You knew the entire day that it wasn’t going to last more than the trip, but you conveniently held that back from me.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s not like that.”
“It’s not?” I asked. “Because it sure as hell sounds like that to me. All of it—the dinner, the room service, the gifts, every last bit of it. You did it because you wanted to charm me for long enough to get into my pants, planning the whole time to drop this news on me on the flight home so you could get back to business as freaking usual.”
“No,” he repeated. “You’re misunderstanding what happened.”
“Okay,” I said. “Explain to me exactly what I’m ‘misunderstanding.’”
That thoughtful look formed on his face again, the one that made it clear he was trying to weigh his words carefully. Another sip, another deep breath, and he spoke.
“It’s not that I was plotting or scheming or anything like that. Yes, I knew that I wasn’t supposed to get involved with employees. In fact, it was on my mind the whole time.”
“But you did it anyway,” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “I did. But I wasn’t thinking ‘oh, I’ll just make love to her and toss her aside.’ It was more that I…got caught up in things.”
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