I cocked an eyebrow. We’d been trying to close this deal for weeks. “What sort of family emergency?”
“I thought you’d ask. The lawyer who helped set everything up, Brant Garland, is at the hospital. His younger sister went into early labor, and her husband is out of town. The husband is flying back and is expected to land by two, but Mr. Garland can’t leave his sister alone.”
“Hell.” I dragged a hand down my face. I couldn't be annoyed at that. “Fine. But they better be ready to move when they get here. I’m not hanging out until seven with the owners dancing around the bush.”
I flipped through the messages, separating a couple out. Paisley’s, Diamond’s, my mother's. I didn't have to read them to know they said pretty much the same thing.
Holding them up, I smiled at Mrs. Beck. Then I crumpled them in my fist.
“If Mrs. Hedges calls back, let her know that the two of us have nothing to discuss. If she has questions, I’m sure her daughter can answer them, but I have no desire to talk to her.”
Speculation danced behind Mrs. Beck's cat-eye glasses, then was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared. She nodded.
I continued, “If Paisley calls, tell her that we’ve discussed everything we need to discuss. We have nothing else to say to each other, then see what we can do about blocking her calls. Tell security that she’s banned from my offices. Oh, and find someone to change the locks at my place before I get home tonight.”
Now Janie was giving me a wide-eyed look. I said quietly, “It’s over. I ended things.”
I wasn’t about to go into any more detail. Not with her, certainly, and hopefully not with anybody other than the little I’d told Allie. They’d lied. I’d believed them. I felt like a fool, and it stung.
Some of the edge I still felt showed in my voice as I went on, “As for my mother…” I hesitated, because out of the three, she was one I couldn’t ignore. At least not forever. There were holidays to think of. “Tell her that it wouldn’t be smart for us to talk until I’ve had a chance to cool down. I need a few days. At least.”
Mrs. Beck nodded and started to turn back to her desk. Then she looked at me, the professional expression on her face slipping into something more personal. “Sir, is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” With a tired smile, I said, “It’s fine. I’m just still…adjusting to some things.”
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I adjusted the collar on my shirt one more time. Then, I thought maybe I should wear blue instead of black. I’d heard more than a hundred times that women loved the way I looked in blue.
But I wasn’t dressing for any other woman.
I was dressing for Allie.
“Stop it,” I said, glaring at my reflection. I’d already changed shirts three times.
I’d even debated on whether or not I should wear a suit. The place I’d picked for tonight was a low key Italian restaurant, definitely more upscale casual than fancy, but a confident man could wear a suit anywhere he damn well pleased and be just fine.
The problem?
I wasn’t comfortable. Not in the suit. Not in my own skin.
Not tonight. I was downright nervous for the first time since I was a kid. And the fact that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Allie wasn't helping matters much.
She’d been trying to ease back, insisting on how different our worlds were, how different our lives were. Logically, I knew she was right, but when it came to sexual attraction, those kind of differences didn’t matter.
Except I knew this was going a lot deeper than mutual sexual attraction. I’d experienced a few relationships that had been built on mutual lust. None of them had ever felt like this.
After one more study in the mirror, I checked my watch.
Then I swore, a good long line of words my mother would have frowned at.
I was going to be late.
I’d made the decision to drive myself, wanting the time alone with her, but without a driver to hurry my ass along, I’d lost track of time. I swore again and practically ran down the stairs.
And I still arrived late.
Ten minutes late. Fortunately, Allie had finally given me her phone number so I was able to send her a message and let her know so she didn't think I'd stood her up. She was out front waiting for me when I finally pulled up to the apartment building. She hadn't given me a new address, and I hadn't told her that I'd been here on my own before.
“I meant to ask,” I said as I opened the door for her. “How well do I have to behave before I get to come in and meet the family?”
Allie glanced at me as she climbed inside. “Oh, I don’t live here. A friend of mine does.”
As I walked around to the other side of the car, I told myself not to look back. Things had just clicked for me. The friend who'd gone with her to get the dress. The man who'd answered me the last time I was here. The man she'd been with at the gala.
Tao.
What had she said…oh, we’ve been together forever.
What were they to each other?
Friends, definitely, but was there something more? It seemed like it. There was something…intimate between them. Shoving it out of my head, I focused on the fact that she was here, with me.
“Nice ride,” she said, slipping me a wide smile.
“Thanks. It gets me from point A to point B.” I made a turn and then asked if she liked Italian.
“Who doesn’t?” She smoothed her skirt down, calling attention to her lovely legs.
Keep your eyes on the road, Lindstrom. “Good.” I had to clear my throat and yet again, I found myself wondering just what it was this woman did to me. “It’s a bit of a drive – half hour. That okay?”
“Hmmm.” She rested her head against the back of the seat. “You can drive to Disney for dinner if you want. As long as we’re in this car.”
I laughed, enjoying the little flare of pleasure I got from knowing she liked my car. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her smooth that sexy, flirty little skirt down again.
I had a feeling it was a nervous habit, and I was starting to think maybe I should have used one of my drivers. Then I could have been the one smoothing my hands up and down her legs. Of course, then I would have wanted more, and that could've been very awkward...for the driver.
“What’s wrong?” Allie asked.
I gave her a quick look. “What do you mean?”
“You just…” She laughed. “Well, you made this weird noise.”
“Did I?”
After all the deceit, she deserved honesty, even if it were just about this. As she went to smooth her skirt down again, I reached over and covered her hand with mine.
“You keep playing with your skirt. It’s making me want to do the same thing. Only more. Push it up over those thighs of yours. Then I want to pull your panties down. And well, you get the idea. It’s getting very distracting.”
Slowly, I let go of her hand and flashed her a wicked grin. My blood rushed south as her skin flushed. “Maybe you should save our sanity and quit playing with your skirt.”
Chapter Five
Allie
“Another bite,” Jal said, his voice low and seductive. He held a spoonful of decadent tiramisu in front of my lips, his eyes darkening as he watched.
I shook my head. “No. I’m so full I feel like I’m going to pop.” As he slid the spoon between his lips instead, I added, “That stuff is pure sin.”
“Watching you eat it isn’t any better.” He leaned over and murmured softly, “I’ve got a hard-on just from watching the way your mouth closed over the spoon, how you licked your lips. I’m tempted to get some more and take it with us.”
The implication had me leaning back, staring at him.
He hadn’t planned on saying that – I could tell by the look in his eyes – but he didn’t seem opposed to making the most of it, either.
“Come home with me tonight, Allie.”
My heart banged against my ribs, and my mind
went blank. I had no idea what to say. None whatsoever. A waiter clad in black appeared like a shadow at our table and laid down a leather folder holding the bill, letting me know that I didn't have much time to make my choice.
“I won't be upset if you don't want to,” Jal said, his gaze intent. “But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you.”
It would be just one more idiotic choice I’d made in a line of them, but I did it anyway.
I nodded.
Jal pulled out some bills and tossed them inside the bill fold. He rose, holding out his hand.
We were moving way too fast, I knew that, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Not when it came to him.
At least, this time, there was no fiancée.
“I can’t begin to tell you all the ways I want to touch you.” Jal stood behind me. We’d driven to his place in silence, and now we were standing in what I assumed was his bedroom. I hadn't been in here before, and a part of me wondered if Paisley had been the reason why.
I shoved thoughts of her out of my mind and focused on the reflection of us in the full-length mirror.
His teeth scraped the shell of my ear, and a shiver raced down my spine as his fingers played over the fourth button on my blouse.
He’d undone three already.
Only three and my skin was burning up. I was dying for him to touch me, but he was taking his time, having fun as he tormented me.
“Would you quit teasing me?” I demanded.
“Anticipation just makes it all that much better.” He raked his teeth down my neck.
A red mist washed over me, and I thought my nerve-endings would implode, one by one, burying me in a sea of sensation. Even as skillful as Tao was, he'd never been able to make my body sing like this.
“Do you want to hear what I fantasize about doing to you?”
“I’d rather you just do it.” My breath hitched, trapped in my lungs as he finally lifted his head and met my gaze in the full-length mirror that hung next to the dresser. Most of the lights were off, but a few still glowed, bathing us in a wash of soft, amber light.
“You didn’t answer the question, Allie. Do you want to know?”
With a groan, I covered his hands with mine. “Yes.”
My breath locked in my lungs as I waited. Seconds drew out, and I became intensely aware of every breath I took, of how my clothes rubbed against my skin, his chest rising and falling. Maybe this anticipation thing had some merit.
But he didn’t say anything.
Instead, he took my wrists and dragged them back to the base of my spine.
“Have you ever been tied up?”
The question caught me off-guard, and I laughed a little. “Yeah.” I barely stopped myself from saying Tao's name. This wasn't the time to have that particular conversation. “I indulged in a bit of kink with a previous lover.”
His eyes flashed. “I’m not talking about a fuzzy pair of handcuffs or some scarf you got out of a kit, Allie.” His grip tightened. “I mean tied up. Face down with your hands tied behind your back, and your legs restrained so you can’t move while your lover fucks you into oblivion.”
“Ah…” I wasn’t sure how to answer that.
Jal didn’t seem to mind. “Did he ever bring you to the point of climax, and then back off, only to repeat it over and over until all you can think about is coming, until your whole world is that climax, and you’re begging, screaming, ready to do anything he asks if he’ll just let you come?”
I could see my own reflection in the mirror, and the answer was written clearly on my face. Yes, Tao and I'd had some fun, and he was an amazing lover, but we'd never had anything quite like he was describing.
“Well?” he asked, pushing.
“I…” My mouth was so dry I could barely speak. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “I don’t think I’ve taken it quite as far as that, no.”
He cupped my breast, sliding his hand inside my partly opened blouse and lightly squeezed my nipple. “Do you want to?”
I didn't even have to think about it this time. “Yes.”
Less than five minutes later, he finally had me stripped naked.
And had given me a safe word.
Apple.
Standing in the middle of his bedroom, he cupped my face in his hands. “Close your eyes. And remember what we talked about.”
Slowly, I let my lashes drift shut, feeling the slight shift as he moved away.
He’d told me I’d need a safe word. He didn’t plan on doing anything extreme, but he said it was a good idea to make sure I was comfortable at all times. I appreciated that.
Now, eyes closed, alone in a strange room and naked, I felt more vulnerable than I could remember feeling in a long, long time. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
When I heard the faint sound, I turned my head toward it.
“Have you opened your eyes?”
“No.” I shivered a little and fought the urge to cover myself with my hands. I wasn’t cold. It was just nerves, but they were getting worse, and I shivered even more as he approached.
“Are you cold?” He brushed his lips down my shoulder. I felt a responding tug in my nipples, then lower.
“No,” I answered honestly.
“Nervous then.” He rested his hands on my hips, then slid them up until he was cupping my breasts. “We won’t do anything you don’t like.”
I wanted to ask him how he knew that, but before I could summon up the courage to speak past the onslaught of nerves, he had caught my hands, lifting them. My mind went blank as I felt something being tied around them. Around and around – a rope?
“I’m tying them in front of you tonight. You’ll feel a little more control.”
“Okay.” I nodded, vaguely aware that everything had taken on a surreal sort of slant.
“You know I’ve fantasized about this, about seeing you restrained?”
“You get off thinking about tying me up?” The words flew out of my mouth, and in all honesty, I should have been freaked out. Weirded out. Instead, I felt that weird tug in my nipples again, and a pulsating ache settled in my pussy.
“Yes.” He pressed his mouth to my ear. “And I think you like hearing that. Do you?”
Heat flooded my face.
“Tell me, Allie.” He finished tying my wrists – holding them between us, rubbing his thumb across my skin.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“You’re a bastard,” I muttered. Shaking my head, I forced the words out. “Yes, I like knowing that you’ve fantasized about me…” I tugged on the ropes. “Like this.”
He kissed me then, deep and rough, and I was moaning against his mouth by the time he pulled away.
“Good girl.” He took my arms, guiding me forward. “Now I want you on your knees. Do you understand what I'm saying?”
“Yes.” Heat raged in me now, a brutal storm of it.
“Any objections?”
I shook my head.
A few moments later, I was kneeling in front of him with his legs splayed out on either side of me. One hand in my hair guided me forward until the head of his cock bump against my mouth. I opened for him, moaning at the feel of him pressed against my tongue, the weight of him in my mouth.
Without thinking, I lifted my bound hands. After some awkward maneuvering, I was able to hold him steady between my hands. But before I could glide back down on him, his hand tightened in my hair and pulled me up.
“Did I say you could touch me?”
Dazed, a little disoriented, I whispered, “No.”
He rubbed his thumb over my lip. “If you want to touch my cock, then you should ask.”
I didn't even hesitate. “May I touch your cock, Jal?”
“And with proper grammar, too, baby. That's so nice.” His hand loosened in my hair. “Yes. Do it while you suck me off, Allie.”
I took him in my mouth again, let my fingers run over his silky skin, through the curls at the base of his cock. I moved my head
in a steady rhythm, letting myself enjoy the sensation of having my lips stretched wide around him, the feel of him sliding toward the back of my throat. I rolled his balls in my hands, hollowed my cheeks to increase the suction.
When his hips jerked, I knew he was close. But before I could finish him off, he stopped me.
My breathing was ragged as his cock slid out of my mouth. His hands moved over my arms, lifting me, positioning me. He bent me face down over the chair he'd been sitting on.
“Don’t move.”
He released me and the loss nearly made me protest. He'd barely touched me at all tonight, and my body was on fire.
Dimly, I heard foil tear, felt him pressing against me. Once more, he fisted his hand in my hair. I'd always liked it when Tao pulled my hair, but this went beyond a little bit of rough play. This was commanding, taking control.
Dominating in a way I'd never understood before.
“Open your eyes,” he ordered as he dragged me upright.
Now that I could see, I realized he hadn't been on a chair. He'd been sitting on one of those fancy, padded benches some people put at the foot of the bed. He’d moved it so that it was in front of the mirror, and as he thrust into me, I was watching myself and him.
He wasn’t looking at me though. He was staring downward, watching where he entered me.
I cried out. The feel of him entering me, stretching me, knowing that he was watching where my body stretched wide around his, overloaded my system.
He brought his hand down on my ass and in shocked surprise, I yelped. He did it again and slowly lifted his eyes to meet mine in the mirror. He thrust into me again, harder. Again, harder.
When he hit my ass harder than before, I came, my orgasm hitting me hard enough to make my vision go white, then gray.
And then I blacked out.
“That’s it, baby.”
Jal had me on my knees again, his hands back in my hair. This time, however, he wasn't being quite so gentle. He wasn't letting me suck and lick at my own pace. He was fucking my mouth, making me take him deeper than I'd taken anyone else before.
My eyes burned.