Emma stayed quiet as they picked up their luggage from the baggage claim and settled into the back of a taxi. He really needed a few moments alone to process everything that had just happened. He wasn’t used to being a public spectacle, so this was a new and unwelcome feeling.
When they reached the hotel, it didn’t even surprise him to learn that instead of two rooms, there was only one reservation. Of course, the hotel was booked to capacity with several conventions in progress. Perhaps he should consider himself lucky that the room had two double beds. At least it was only for one night, right? Surely they now had covered every possible disaster for this trip. He could lock himself in the bathroom for a while if he needed privacy. On second thought, as soon as he dropped off his bag, he was hitting the hotel bar . . . alone.
Emma woke in a strange room completely disoriented. The sun streamed in, causing her vision to blur as her eyes adjusted to the light.
“Well, good morning, sunshine, I see you finally decided to join the land of the living.”
She almost panicked until she felt the fabric of her clothing against the palm of her hand. For a moment, she had been afraid that they’d . . . God, no. She’d never been more grateful to wake up in her old T-shirt. Miami . . . room mix-up, check.
“Ugh,” she groaned, “what time is it?”
“It’s a little after eight. Why don’t you pull yourself together and we’ll go have some breakfast?” He gave her a look that indicated he wasn’t sure it was possible.
She pulled the covers over her head and waved him toward the door. “You go on. I think I’ll pass.”
Suddenly the comforter was jerked from her hands and Brant loomed over her. “Oh no, sweetheart, you’re not getting off that easy. I have gone through hell for you on this trip and you owe me. You have ten minutes. Do what you can and meet me downstairs in the lobby.”
“Good grief, when did you turn into such a drama queen?”
Giving her a disbelieving look, he snarled, “Drama queen? You almost got me fucking strip-searched yesterday at the airport. Did you expect that we would sit around today and have a good laugh over the whole thing?”
She was still a bit hazy on the events of the previous day, but she refused to let him one-up her. “Well, I’m sure a strip search would have been a thrill for you. Perhaps the highlight of your whole year. You should be thanking me instead of whining.” She barely had time to think Uh-oh, maybe I went a little too far before she was jerked from the bed and held tightly against his broad chest.
“If I’m so lacking in female company, maybe you should help me out. Why don’t you show me what I’ve been missing? I believe you called me fuckable yesterday.” She barely had time to gasp in surprise before his lips swooped down to claim hers. Her hands landed on his shoulders to push him away, but instead she found herself gripping the fabric of his suit jacket in her hands, holding on for dear life. His lips plundered and claimed, seeking to both punish and assert dominance. She was surprised to hear the throaty moan and realize that it was coming from her. Almost against her will, she slid closer to him, instinctively seeking the warmth of his hard body against hers. She felt him jerk against her as her tongue rose to meet his, desperate for a taste of his heat. Her mouth protested the activity, still tender from her root canal, but she didn’t care. What had begun, she knew, as a punishment was now rapidly spiraling into something that neither of them had been expecting.
Emma felt his hard-on against her stomach and she stretched to run her hands through his hair, desperate to anchor him to her. When his mouth moved from her lips to her neck, she moaned, “Brant . . .” It was as if a dam had collapsed between them. All of the usual animosity they felt for each other was being channeled in another direction and she was powerless to resist . . . she had no desire to resist him. His jacket hit the floor, followed shortly by his shirt and tie. She barely had time to run her hands up the velvety skin of his chest before he was ripping the thin T-shirt she had slept in over her head. She didn’t consider herself the most athletic person in the world but when Brant settled his big hands on her ass, she gripped his arms and jumped against him, wrapping her legs around his narrow, muscled waist. God, he felt good against her damp heat.
Brant ground his cock against her as she nibbled and sucked on his neck. A growl rumbled up through his chest before he dropped her backward onto the bed. She propped her head on her arms to appreciate the masculine beauty before her. His eyes, almost black with desire, caught and held hers as his hands went to his belt. She could see the outline of his cock pushing against the fabric of his slacks. He finished unbuckling his belt and had his slacks hanging open before she could blink. The bulge in his black boxer briefs was threatening to break loose as he kicked his feet free of both his shoes and pants.
She rose on her knees, desperate to touch him. His breath caught as her hand stroked him through the cotton of his briefs. She didn’t think either of them was going to make it long, so she pulled the waistband of his briefs down, causing his big cock to spring free. She wrapped one hand around the base while she used her other hand to rub the precum that glistened on the tip along his shaft.
“Emma . . . can’t take much more,” he groaned before pulling her hand away. He grabbed a condom from his wallet and deftly rolled it on. She felt her sex clenching in anticipation as his big body settled over hers. She had never felt the need to be in control during sex, but something about the dynamics of her relationship with Brant had brought that need to the fore. Before he could penetrate her, she pushed against his shoulder until he was lying on his back. He looked at her in surprise before giving her a knowing grin. He settled a hand around the base of his cock.
“Take it any way you want to, baby.” Emma didn’t need to be told twice. She had never wanted anyone this much. Any second thoughts that she may have had were quickly discarded and she moved up Brant’s big body. She hovered, looking down at his large shaft with both anticipation and trepidation. He was so big and, in this position, he would go deep. Almost as if he understood her fear, Brant’s hands settled against her ass, giving her the support to take him as slowly as she needed.
When his tip breached her entrance, she threw her head back, moaning at the incredible feeling. Brant’s eyes stayed locked with hers as she continued to take him slowly, inch by inch. She could feel his hands shaking and his breathing grow shallow, but he never rushed her. He let her set the pace until, with a gasp of surprise, he was buried to the hilt inside of her. Emma had a fleeting moment to wonder if all of their needling of each other had been leading up to this moment all along. Had this been the inevitable outcome between two people so hell-bent on getting the best of the other?
Then all rational thought fled as Brant surged deep while she slammed her hips down to meet him. She had never been one to climax from intercourse alone, so she was shocked to feel her body climbing quickly toward release. When he reached up to pinch her pebbled nipples, she felt her control slipping away. The pleasure was so great, it bordered on pain. She felt a momentary panic as her senses were completely overloaded by him.
“Brant . . . I . . . ahhh . . . it’s too much.”
Brant seemed to sense what she was feeling and he slid an arm up her thigh reassuringly. “It’s okay, Em, just let go. I promise I’ll be right there with you.” At his words, her body came completely apart in his arms. She screamed his name and saw stars behind her tightly closed lids. Her core clenched and shuddered around Brant’s hard cock. When she started to sag, completely wiped out, he braced her with his powerful arms as he pumped deep inside her one more time and joined her in release. His big body shook as he growled his pleasure.
“Holy fuck,” he moaned as she collapsed against his chest. She could still feel his cock hard inside her and marveled at his stamina. Neither of them had the will nor the strength to move until the ringing of the bedside phone caused them to jump apart. Brant cursed under his breath before grabbing it. She heard what was obviously a wake-up
call on the other end of the line before he dropped it back in the cradle. “I set that last night just in case.”
Emma yawned against his chest. “Good idea. I guess you don’t have time for that breakfast now, do you? I’ll just take a nap while you’re gone.”
Brant swatted her butt. “Maybe I need my assistant along today.”
“Ouch!” She tweaked one of his nipples in retaliation. As the afterglow began to fade, Emma started to fidget. Suddenly it felt awkward to be lying on Brant’s chest with his cock now nestled between them. The room had gone silent as if they were both lost in thought. She was more than ready for him to leave so that she could have some time alone to process what had just happened. Damn, what time was that meeting again?
Almost as if reading her thoughts, Brant looked over at the bedside clock and groaned. “I’ve got to get going. A car is supposed to pick me up downstairs in fifteen minutes.” They both stared at each other in silence for a moment. Normally, this would be the point where there would be a good-bye kiss or something after what they had just shared. She wondered if a fist bump would be acceptable.
She knew it was probably the coward’s way out, but she decided to let them off easy. She rolled off him and did a dramatic yawn before pulling the covers over her. “Have a good day, dear.” Brant remained where he was for a moment before she felt the bed dip as he stood. He had very little time left to do anything other than grab a quick shower and throw his clothes back on.
As he was leaving the room, she felt him pause next to her side of the bed. She kept her eyes carefully closed. “Emma . . .”
Damn, he wasn’t going to just go away, was he? She held her breath, part of her hoping he would go . . . another part of her wanting to see that he wanted to stay. “Hmmm?”
“I . . .” She tensed as he paused, seeming to struggle for his next words. Finally after what seemed like minutes but was probably only seconds, he said, “Our flight leaves at three. I’ll have the car swing by and pick you up on the way to the airport. I don’t think I’ll be back before then.” She nodded her head and held her breath. Hopefully he’d leave it at that. After another long pause, she finally heard the door open and close.
Once she was alone she sagged against the mattress in relief. The morning after had never felt so weird. The verdict was in, her uptight boss was a sex god. Her toes curled just thinking about what had happened between them. What a body all of those suits hid! Brant was ripped and seriously blessed in the equipment department. She would never admit it to him, but he had rocked her world.
He was confident, sensual and surprisingly accommodating. He had let her be on top when she had insisted, but she had little doubt who had actually held the power between them. She would have followed him off a cliff had he asked. The problem was, how did you handle having the best sex of your life knowing it should never happen again? Ever. Could she go back to her usual relationship with Brant knowing that just one look from him was likely to send her up in flames? She rubbed her jaw, still feeling the effects of her root canal. She wished she could blame her lack of judgment this morning on pain medication, but desire alone had clouded her mind.
Brant stepped inside the rental car gratefully and shut the door. After giving the driver the address of his destination, he settled back against the leather seat. Fuck, what had just happened? Even after the explosive orgasm less than thirty minutes ago, he was still throbbing with desire. He had only himself to blame. He had been so furious with Emma this morning that it had taken only a few smart comments from her to push him over the edge of rational thinking. Once he felt her mouth against his, he lost all sense. It was like pouring gasoline on glowing embers.
He had admitted to himself more than once that Emma was a very attractive woman—and sure, he had admired her often in a more than professional capacity. But their battle of wills had always kept things from getting out of hand. He might be looking at her ass one minute and then wanting to choke her the next. It had always been all about checks and balances with them. Her attitude usually checked his desire and kept their relationship in some kind of twisted balance. Today, everything had worked just the opposite. He had completely lost control and there hadn’t been a damn thing he could do about it. As soon as he had touched her creamy skin, kissed and licked the rosy peaks of her breasts, it had been all over for him. Nothing short of her telling him to stop would have worked—and that hadn’t happened. They had both been completely swept up in the moment. It wasn’t until she was lying on top of him and some of the haze had cleared that he had started to panic. Immediately he had wanted to grab his clothes and run, something he never did. He wasn’t that kind of guy. It wasn’t even that he wanted to get away from Emma; it was exactly the opposite.
The question now was where to go from here. Was he capable of acting as if it had never happened? Did he even want to? He knew how it felt to be inside of her now; it was seared on his brain and would be hard to ignore. Damn, it had been the hottest experience he could ever remember having. Why did it have to be with someone he worked with? Hell, he could maybe handle that, but not with his assistant. It just felt so wrong to him. He had been half afraid that Emma would chop his cock off this morning when reality set in. Feeling no closer to an answer, he decided he would take his cues from her. If she didn’t mention what had happened, then he would follow her lead and not bring it up. Somehow, he would keep his hands off her, if that was truly what she wanted. If only they were heading back to the office today, things would be easier, but instead he was going to be pushed into even closer quarters with her and with her family. He could only hope that he didn’t look guilty and that her dad wasn’t a big man.
Chapter Seven
Emma gave a quiet sigh of relief as she followed Brant through the airport in Pensacola. After their awful airport experience in Miami, she was grateful there were no dogs in the vicinity. “Emma!” a familiar voice called out. Uh-oh, maybe her relief had come too soon. Her mother, dressed in formfitting jeans and a white V-neck T-shirt, was bearing down on them. Shit, she had told her that they would take a taxi. She should have known she couldn’t count on her mother to listen to anything she said.
Brant gave her a questioning look. She rolled her eyes. “You might want to go ahead and brace yourself; that’s my mom.” She barely had time to finish speaking before her mother launched herself into his arms. Emma couldn’t contain her chuckle at his deer-in-the-headlights look.
“Well, hello there, handsome!” Her mother finally peeled herself off of him long enough to say, “I’m Kat Davis; what’s your name, hon?”
Brant gave her a nervous smile. “Great to meet you, Kat. I’m Brant Stone.”
Her mother’s mouth seemed to drop to the floor before she blurted, “You’re the asshole that Em works with?”
Oh my God! Why hadn’t she thought of that? Of course she would have mentioned Brant by name to her mother when she was raging about him. The thought had never occurred to her that her mother would make the connection. On the plane ride into Pensacola, she and Brant had decided to say that they had been introduced by a mutual friend. That wasn’t technically a lie. The lady from Human Resources had introduced them when Emma was hired. Now that whole story was useless. As they stood there gaping at each other, her mother suddenly pulled Brant back into her arms, slapping him on the back while laughing hysterically. “I love it! I should have known all of that arguing was just some kind of foreplay between you two.”
“Mom,” she groaned. This was just getting worse and worse. She needed to shut her mother up before this escalated further. “It’s all kind of new between us, so we haven’t really told anyone yet.”
Her mother finally released Brant again and gave them both a wink. “Ahhh, gotcha. Well, come on, you two, let’s grab your bags and head home. Your father is firing up the grill tonight.”
“I think we both need to shower before dinner. Could you drop us at our hotel first? They’re supposed to have our rental car there.?
??
Her mother gave a shake of her head. “No hotels, honey. You know that’s not how we roll. The house has plenty of room. I have your room already made up for you two. Your father and I are hip to how things are now. Robyn and Boston can’t wait to see you.”
She was scrambling to come up with an argument to get them out of the hell that her mother was proposing when Brant did something that completely floored her. He put an arm around her mother, saying, “That sounds wonderful, Kat. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the family.”
Emma shot him a look that would have felled a lesser man. He only smiled at her in return. “Right, honey? I know you want to spend as much time as possible with your family while we’re here.”
That was it. He had officially lost his freaking mind. Was he just trying to get to her for some reason or had he not thought this through? She had to wonder if he even understood that her mom was planning to put them both in a room together for several days. Her room was a good size, but it had a queen-size bed and that was it. Giving him an evil smile, she decided that if he could live with sleeping on the floor all weekend, then who was she to argue?
That’s right, honey. Game on.
She was more than a little pissed at him anyway. When he picked her up at the hotel, he had made no mention of what had happened between them that morning. She kept waiting for him to broach the topic, but nada, nothing. It wasn’t as if she’d thought he would come back and declare his love, but come on, shouldn’t they at least talk about it? Was such an earth-shattering experience that easily dismissed for him? Not wanting him to see how much his actions were bothering her, she reverted to what she knew best: sarcasm. If he could act like nothing ever happened, then so could she. Just because he had given her the best orgasm of her life didn’t mean she had to lose her head. She could do casual one-nighters, right?