Forbidden Pleasures

  While his mouth was busy on my breast, his hand slid down my stomach and beneath the waistband of my panties. I moaned as a finger slipped between my folds, brushing over the top of my clit before dropped down to slide inside me. I wasn't sure where I wanted to look, at the place where his lips were creating the most delicious suction or where his hand was moving beneath my underwear.

  “Harder.” I dug my fingers into his hair. His teeth scraped across the sensitive flesh and I shivered. “Yes.”

  He sat up, removing his hand from between my legs, and I pushed myself up onto my elbows. He held his hand out to me. “Taste yourself.”

  I opened my mouth and took hold of his wrist, guiding his hand to my mouth. I sucked on it, cleaning off every last drop. I'd wanted to watch him while I did it because I liked seeing on a man's face when I had them completely under my control, but I was afraid of what I'd see on Rylan's face.

  “My turn.”

  I started to tell him that I had rules when it came to me performing oral, but to my surprise, he didn't even ask it. Instead, he climbed off the bed and moved between my legs.

  I kept myself propped up so I could watch as he slid my panties off and lowered his face to my pussy.

  “Fuck!” I cursed as he used his tongue with the same skill and enthusiasm he'd used on my mouth. He applied just the right amount of pressure as he moved over and around my clit before dropping down to slide his tongue into my pussy. I'd never felt the urge to close my eyes more than I did right now. The pressure inside me was almost too much, each pass of his tongue sending another wave of pleasure through me. My hands went to my breasts and I tugged at my nipples, letting the little jolts of pain mix until I shuddered and came.

  He kept his mouth on me, coaxing me higher until I called out his name, and only then did he sit back, a pleased expression on his face.

  I looked down at him, still trying to catch my breath. “Please tell me you have a condom.”

  He grinned and reached over to grab his pants. He stood and rolled the condom on, stroking himself a few times before moving to stand between my legs. I shook my head and rolled onto my knees. I smiled at him and crooked my finger.

  “Let me do the work this time.”

  For a moment, I thought he would protest as he looked at me with an almost curious expression, but then he climbed onto the bed and laid on his back. I straddled his waist and ran my eyes over the beautiful body stretched out in front of me. He was like a sculpted masterpiece. Except statues were rarely made with full erections, and none as impressive as this one.

  I raised myself up and moved into position. My eyelids fluttered as I slowly lowered myself onto him and I fought to keep my eyes from closing. He felt amazing, stretching every bit of me as he entered me inch by inch. His hands grabbed onto my hips, fingers digging in until it drew a half-pained sound from me. I risked a glance down and saw Rylan's eyes dark with desire, but there was no malice there, nothing that said he'd go past the point where a little hurt turned things even more intense.

  I ran my hands up my sides, watching him watch me. He swore as I rolled my nipples between my fingers and then it was my turn to curse as one of his hands slid around my waist until his thumb rubbed my clit.

  “Fuck, Rylan!” I pinched my nipple and then dropped one hand to his stomach, his muscles twitching against my palm as he began to raise his hips to meet my downward motions.

  “Come again.” His voice was strained. “One more time.”

  I was getting there, pleasure coursing through me as his cock dragged across all those sensitive parts of me. His thumb didn't miss a single stroke, each pass pushing me closer. I clenched my muscles and he groaned, the hand on my hip flexing. I began to ride him faster and he matched my pace instinctively, our bodies moving together in a dance so familiar it was if we'd done this a thousand times before. I tried not to think about that as he tried to move himself into a sitting position. I used both of my hands to push him back down and then to give myself leverage to slam down on him, shoving him deeper and further than anyone had been in a long time, and it had never felt this good.

  I exploded without warning, my body shaking and tightening around Rylan until he swore and I felt his cock pulse inside me. I dropped down onto him, grinding, holding him there until I'd wrung out the last possible drop of pleasure and he was calling out my name.

  “Fuck,” I said breathlessly as I rolled off of him.

  “That about sums it up.” Rylan chuckled, a low sexual kind of laugh that made me think of dark, sensual things.

  He reached over me and I immediately rolled further away and sat up. Little tingles of pleasure were still running across my skin, but it was time for me to go.

  “Didn't mean to startle you,” he said as he propped himself up on an elbow. “I was just going to pull the blankets over us. Didn't want you getting cold.”

  “I'm fine,” I said as I climbed off of the bed.

  “You don't have to go anywhere,” he said, his face unreadable. “You can stay here tonight. No questions asked, no strings attached.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I need to get back to my room.”

  He gave me another of those looks that made me feel like he was seeing deep inside me, and then he nodded. “All right.” He sat up and reached for his pants. “I'll walk you to your room.”

  “I'm in the same building,” I said as I pulled on my underwear. “It's not like this was a date and you need to walk me to the door.”

  “Still,” he said as he dressed. “It's polite.”

  “Don't worry about it.” I finished first and started out of the bedroom. The sex had been amazing, but I needed to get out of there. Away from him. I didn't do the whole post-sex thing. “I'll see you around.”

  Like I'd hoped, he didn't follow me as I left the room and headed for the elevator. If I could just focus on the sex and the two great orgasms I'd had, I be able to get a good night's sleep tonight. I just had to stop remembering the way he'd looked at me or how, each time I'd rebuffed a movement that would've given him control, I'd felt like he was filing it away for future analysis. I didn't want him to think this was anything more than what it was. A convention hook-up.

  Nothing else.

  Chapter 10

  I didn't see Rylan again at the convention and I wasn't sure if that was how things worked out or if he was intentionally avoiding me. I was fine either way. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he hadn't seen our encounter as some random moment of weakness or a need that had to be met. Did he see it as something more?

  I didn't sleep well back in my own bed Sunday night and when I woke Monday morning, it showed. I had dark circles under my eyes and every inch of me looked as tired as I felt.

  I was still in my pajamas and on my second cup of coffee when someone knocked at my door.

  “Who is it?” I called as I walked over to it.

  “Special delivery.” A man's voice replied. “Certified letter you need to sign for.”

  I looked through the peep hole and saw a short, stocky, middle-aged man wearing a uniform. I wasn't stupid. That didn't necessarily mean anything. He was holding a thin, legal-sized envelope and an electronic signing pad.

  “Who's it from?”

  He glanced at the envelope. “Archer Enterprises.”

  My eyes widened. Had my night of fun screwed me over with them? Still, I wasn't about to throw open the door. I undid the dead-bolt and the extra lock, but kept the chain lock in place. I put my foot at the base of the door and shifted my weight so that, if the man tried to force his way inside, I'd have the leverage to shove the door back. Not that violent crime happened often here, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

  I opened the door a crack. “Here.” The pad came through first and I signed. The envelope followed and if the delivery man thought it was strange that I didn't open the door for him, he didn't say anything. I thanked him as I closed the door and then walked over to the table to sit down and read my mail.
r />   It wasn't a letter ending my contract or a legal document of any kind. It was a job offer. An official offer to come work for Archer Enterprises in the capacity of Head of Security Technology. The letter detailed the perks as well as the yearly salary, which was enough to make me blink and look again, thinking it must've been some sort of mistake. But, no, there it was in black and white. Fifteen thousand more than Rylan had originally mentioned and a guaranteed minimum five thousand dollar raise every year, more depending upon performance.

  I put the letter down on the table and leaned back in my seat. Questions swirled in my head. Had Rylan sent me this because he truly wanted me to work with him and thought this was the way to do it? Or was this a pay-off for what had happened the other night? Was he trying to buy my silence? He didn't seem like the kind of guy who worried about whether or not people would notice him having a little fling with someone like me, but what did I know? Maybe he saw it as a reward for services rendered. I felt a grin curving my lips. I was comfortable in who I was, and he wouldn't have been the first man to think he needed to offer payment of some kind. I didn't take it personally. It said more about who they were than who I was.

  If he hadn't tried to get me to work for him before, I might've just thrown the letter away and not bothered to answer it, but I knew this offer was legitimate. And I knew I couldn't answer him over the phone or through email. This was something that needed to be done face-to-face, especially considering we worked in the same field. I had to make sure I left things okay between us.

  My stomach lurched at the thought of seeing him again. I avoided seeing the men I'd slept with after I left their rooms or wherever it was we happened to be fucking. One of the main reasons I tried to avoid sleeping with anyone I worked for or with. Rule number one… broken.

  I ran my hand through my hair. Fuck it. If I was going to see Rylan, I needed to take a shower.

  ***

  An hour later, I was standing in the elevator, on my way up to see Rylan. I'd called ahead, expecting I'd be seen later that week. Instead, after a couple minutes on hold, I was told to come in whenever I wished.

  As I walked off of the elevator, a man was coming toward it. I felt his eyes on me, but I didn't make eye contact. I nodded politely and kept walking. I wasn't sure if it was rude or not, but I wasn't in the mood to make small talk with Christophe. I wanted to know what the hell Rylan was thinking.

  He was sitting at his desk, but stood as soon as he saw me. I heard the elevator close behind me as he walked around to meet me partway. The smile on his face was wide, his eyes shining.

  “Jenna!”

  As hard as I tried, I couldn't deny the way my heart twisted when he said my name. The memory of hearing it under other circumstances was too strong. Fuck it if my panties didn't get wet just thinking about it.

  Then he was just a step away and I could smell him, the scent of his soap, of him. Then he was reaching for me and I knew what was coming. It would've been all too easy to let it happen. To let him kiss me and then to let things go further. We could fuck on the floor, in his chair, on his desk. I could picture it dozens of different ways, including a few positions I swore I would never do.

  Instead, I took a step back, putting myself out of his reach. I shook my head even as disappointment crossed his face. “You sent me a job offer. I assumed this was a professional meeting. That the offer was genuine.”

  He moved back, putting more distance between us. “I meant what I said.” His voice was polite and purely professional. “I want you to work for me. Exclusively. Not contracted out for random assignments.”

  “And you always try to kiss someone who's applied for a position?” I kept my tone mild. I didn't want him to think I would yell at him or anything like that.

  “No,” he said. The corner of his mouth twitched. “I just assumed–”

  “That because we slept together, it was okay.” I finished his sentence.

  He shrugged. “It's not exactly out of the realm of possibility.”

  “Do you fraternize with many of your employees?”

  The hint of a smile that had been playing at his lips vanished. “No.” The word was firm.

  That made my decision. “I accept.”

  He blinked and I found the idea that I could surprise him to be amusing.

  “You what?”

  I repeated myself. “I accept your job offer.” I held up the envelope with the offer he'd sent. “All of the terms here are agreeable. I just need to know if I sign these, or if there's something else you want me to sign.”

  For a moment, he didn't answer and I wondered if he was trying to decide if he wanted me here now. He had to know I'd asked those questions intentionally, that I wanted to make sure that, if I came to work for Archer Enterprises, this wouldn't happen again. That this past weekend wouldn't happen again.

  I felt a twinge of regret at the thought of the sex we wouldn't be having, but then reminded myself that we wouldn't have been having sex if I walked away. This was just my way of making sure a line was drawn between the two of us. Not that there was an “us.”

  Rylan extended a hand and I took it, ignoring the charge that sparked at the touch. We’d come to an agreement, silent and otherwise.

  From here on out, everything between Rylan Archer and me would be strictly professional.

  End of the Prequel – Turn the page to continue to Forbidden Pleasures.

  Forbidden Pleasures

  Pleasures – Book 1

  Chapter 1

  “You stupid whore!”

  My head snapped back, cheek stinging and burning from the slap. Tears automatically formed in my eyes, but I wasn't going to cry. At six years-old, a single backhand from my mother was hardly the worst thing I'd endured. In fact, from her, it was almost a loving touch.

  “You think you're too good for this?” She grabbed my hair, the thick ebony-colored locks that had earned me the nickname Snow White. “Too good to get on your knees and earn your keep.”

  “Let me go,” I begged. I reached up to grab her wrist. Even as I did it, I should've known better. After today, I'd never try to fight her again.

  My mother swore at me and wrapped her hand harder around my hair. Then I saw her use her free hand to reach for something on the stove.

  Drip. Drip. Drip.

  Intense, agonizing pain swept down my left side. I screamed in surrender, “I’ll do it, Mommy. I’ll do anything you want.”

  She only laughed and kept up the merciless dripping until darkness caused the pain to stop…

  I blinked and shook my head. The memories didn't come through often during the day, but when they did, they left a thick, heavy darkness that colored everything else for hours. This wasn't how I wanted to start my time at Archer Enterprises, but I'd learned at a very young age that I didn't get what I wanted. I'd just have to do what I'd always done – deal with it.

  It’s kinda funny, in an out there, far off, ironic way. I'd thought that by accepting Rylan's offer, it would make things easier between him and me. A clear line would be drawn, a line that wouldn’t be crossed. I could work in peace, knowing I wouldn't have to worry about him making another move.

  That part, at least, ended up being accurate. Rylan played by my rules. He came down on my official first day to help me get set up, but we only spoke about work and the distance between us was strictly professional. I hadn’t seen him since.

  What I hadn't expected was how much it bothered me. How much I wanted him to move closer, to initiate physical contact. It confused the hell out of me and I hated it, but I still couldn't stop thinking that way.

  At the most inopportune times, I'd remember how it felt for him to touch me, how his skin had felt sliding across mine, how he'd been inside me. It was only when I buried myself in my work, lost myself in the intricacies of code, that I could ignore everything else.

  It was a prime job. I had my own office, and while I didn't have my own assistant, Rylan's assistant, Christophe, was always ther
e to help. He came by every day to ask if I needed any help with anything.

  The first time, Emmaline Kent had come with him, but I'd quickly gotten the impression that she'd come more to scope me out than anything else. I'd met her type a million times. She was about my height and flaunted her curves. Copper-colored curls and turquoise eyes, her coloring was flawless. She had fine features and would've been quite pretty if she hadn't been scowling ninety percent of the time.

  I wasn't sure if Rylan knew it, but Emmaline had a crush on him. She'd taken one look at me and I’d seen the look I recognized. I wasn't competition. That didn't bother me. I wasn't here to compete for Rylan. The petty part of me wanted to make a comment about how I'd already had her boss, but I was smarter than that. I didn't want anyone in the company to know Rylan and I had slept together because I didn't want anyone to think I'd gotten the job because of sex.

  After the first week, I'd settled into a rhythm with the work and had almost stopped looking up every time Rylan came onto my floor. Almost. It drove me nuts, seeing him smiling and joking with the other employees when he barely looked my way. I kept telling myself that this had been what I'd wanted, for him to respect the professional boundaries between us and to stop trying to make what had happened into something more than a one-night stand.

  I didn't understand why I was so drawn to him. Sure, he was hot, but so were other guys I'd fucked. He'd been great in bed, but so were other guys. I didn't care about the money he had. Money had never meant much to me and greed turned my stomach. To me, the only thing about it I liked was the freedom it gave, but I wasn't materialistic or lazy. The biggest draw to the financial aspect of this job had been the thought that I could put money away as a safety net for when things inevitably fell apart.