My Greatest Mistake

by T Gephart

  “Won’t you get in trouble for that?” She folded her arms across her chest as she watched me move back to her. “Or is this part of your usual routine since you know the layout so well?”

  I both loved and hated that she asked the question, assuming I’d had done it with another woman. Loving the fact she said exactly what was on her mind, but hating she’d think that about me.

  “Casey, Nate’s sister, got married here. I was responsible for delivering her new shoes when the ones she’d been wearing had cracked a heel. You know how hard it is to charm a sales associate at Bergdorf to keep the store open for you while you negotiate traffic? If she’d given me half the appreciation she’d given those Manolo Blahnik’s I’d have been happy.”

  “You went out and got Nate’s sister new shoes on her wedding day?” Her eyes widened either impressed or just plain surprised.

  “Of course, I did. Nate was busy with his maid of honor duties, and if Casey had just bought the real deal instead of cheap knockoffs, she wouldn’t have cracked the heel. Figured it was an easy fix and no one noticed me sneaking off. And other than the displeased middle-aged saleswoman who wasn’t willing to forgo the commission on the high-priced shoes, it was relatively painless.”

  She swallowed like she wasn’t sure what to say. And I liked that something so trivial seemed to impress her. “I’ve not been here with anyone else, Zara. And if being in this room with you gets me in trouble, I’ll take the repercussions.”

  Her body moved closer to mine as her hands unfurled from her chest, taking it as an invitation, and wrapping my arms around her and brushing my lips against her mouth. “I know you said you wanted to talk, Zara, but I meant it when I said I wanted to kiss you.”

  Heat traveled up my spine as we made contact, my fingers tracing up her back and finding themselves knotted in her hair. I didn’t care what happened after, but in that moment, I wanted to take more, to be with her like I’d been dying to do and denying myself for days.

  When she didn’t stop me, I deepened the kiss, my teeth pulling against her bottom lip. It was more than I’d had yet still not enough, her body undulating against mine as contented whimpers spilled out between breaths.

  There was a gray couch that had probably seen its share of action pushed against the back wall, and I steered us toward it. I wasn’t going to do anything she wasn’t okay with, but kissing her and making her feel good was definitely on my agenda.

  I sank heavily into the couch as the back of my legs felt the fabric, pulling her down on top of me as I kept our mouths connected. I loved the feel of her, the desperation in her own kisses as she hitched up the bottom of her dress allowing her thighs to straddle me.

  She was wild, unrestrained and not second-guessing herself. There was no hesitation in the way her hands threaded in my hair or the rock of her hips as she ground against me.

  I liked that side of her and knew it lurked underneath. I’d seen a glimpse of it the first night when she’d made out with a relative stranger and asked me to take her to my hotel room. But watching her take what she wanted this time around was infinitely more satisfying.

  “I said we’d talk.” She pulled back my head and kissed me again like she was struggling with her own rules and regulations. “I’m not fucking you in some back room.”

  My hands locked around her hips, encouraging her to keep riding me. “It’s the bridal suite, sweetheart, and I guarantee you it’s seen its fair share of fucking.”

  Her teeth grazed my jaw while her fingers followed in their wake. “I don’t care, I’m not fucking you here even though I really want to. There’s something about you that drives me crazy, Lincoln, but I’m not totally throwing away all my common sense.”

  “Then let me take you to my bed, Zara.” My hand palmed her tit and I felt the tip get hard against my touch. “We both want this, why we’re fighting so hard against it is what really doesn’t make sense.”

  That conversation was going to have to wait because I couldn’t even think straight anymore. Not when she was pressed against me, using the ridge in my pants to get herself off. Not when I could feel how primed she was for my touch, and when I knew one flick of my tongue against her hot little clit would have her screaming for more.

  “Your terms, baby.” I arched against her, letting her feel how hard I was for her. How the length of my cock was straining against my suit pants, desperate to get out. “Let me take you to my hotel, Zara and I promise, you won’t regret it. Then once I’ve made you come, we can talk as long as you want. I won’t even fuck you yet, if that’s not what you want. Just let me lick you, let my mouth kiss that heat between your legs, Zara, and make you unravel while you pull my hair.”

  Fuck, I was getting off just talking about it, the idea of going down on her more than I could stand. I wanted my mouth on her so badly, to map every inch of her skin with my lips and tongue, I’d be recalling it by memory hours after stopping.

  She moaned, her hips rocking more desperately against my crotch as my words sunk in. “Tell me what you want, Zara. Because I want to give it to you. I’ll give you anything, right now. You just have to ask.”

  It wasn’t a line, or even an exaggeration, my body and mind so worked up, I’d agree to almost anything at that moment. She could’ve asked me to leave my firm in Boston and start a not-for-profit in Anchorage, Alaska, and I’d be booking a goddamn flight. Anything to have her not stop kissing me, and for those desperate whimpers to reach their crescendo.

  I bet she screamed when she came—loud, wild and completely out of control. I didn’t doubt for a second that she was amazing between the sheets, and that sex with anyone else before or after would never measure up.

  “Tell me.” I nipped at her neck, wanting to mark her beautiful, flawless skin like some sick pervert. “I want you. I’ll beg if I have to.”

  “We can’t just leave.” She moaned against my mouth not convincing me we couldn’t or shouldn’t.

  “Why? You need to go tell Carlisle you’re not going to be sitting beside him? Or are you worried about Nate? Give me the problem and I’ll give you the solution.” Because I could almost promise that whatever she thought was stopping us from leaving wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “You’re so sure of yourself.” She laughed, kissing me despite her words. “But yeah, I’m more worried about Nate than anyone else. Being a jerk isn’t natural for me.”

  “You should try it, it’s actually a lot of fun. And Nate will live. I’ll even give him my checkbook so he can spend obscene amounts of my money on the silent auction. Trust me, he’ll forgive me.” Her concerns for Nate being angry completely unnecessary. “What else? Edwin? We can both go tell him if you like, I want to make sure there’s no misunderstanding as to what I am to you.”

  “Oh yeah? And what are you?” she asked stopping my mouth with her hand as she pulled away.

  “We can deliberate the verdict back in my room. As for right now, I’m the man who is going to make you come more times than you can count.” It wasn’t all I wanted from her, but it was what I was willing to settle for at that moment. Because telling her I wanted to wake up with her every day and feel her go to sleep against me every night was too intense, even if it was the truth.

  Her body rolled, taking her pleasure even though she’d stopped kissing me. “One night, Lincoln. That’s all it can be.” The negotiation had started, and I hadn’t even gotten her naked yet.

  Yeah, one night wasn’t going to be enough, but I wasn’t about to argue. Not when I knew I could be more convincing after she’d been in my bed. “I said I’d give you whatever you want, Zara, and if all you want is one night, that’s what I’ll give you.”

  It was the first time I’d willingly lied to her, saying words I knew weren’t true. Because even if she was positive she could walk away in the morning, I wasn’t sure I could.

  “Good.” She leaned down to kiss me, that beautiful mouth finally back where I’d wanted it. “Then take me back to your hotel, Lincoln
. This time, I’m not going to ask to go home.”

  My hands anchored on her hips, watching her eyes darken as I ground against her. “Zara, when I get you back to my hotel, you’re not going to want to go home.”

  That was a promise, and one I intended to keep.

  Lincoln

  Nate couldn’t have been more thrilled when we’d told him we were leaving. He was either bored with my half-assed effort to be interested in the cause—I still wasn’t sure what the gala was supporting nor did I care—or was tired of my lack of appreciation for the food and wine that five grand a ticket got you. So when we told him we were leaving and I gave him the parting gift of a blank check and told him to buy himself something nice, he stopped short at pushing us out the door.

  Edwin wasn’t so understanding.

  In our absence, dinner service had started. He was seated at the head table with all the other people I didn’t really care for with a vacant chair at his side. It was still unclear if he’d had it vacated for Zara’s benefit—likely—or if he’d turned up to the event without a plus-one—doubtful. Not that I cared whichever scenario was responsible, other than reinforcing that he wouldn’t be spending the evening getting to know the woman I wanted. I’m sure he’d have someone else keep him company before they came to collect the dishes from the first course, something else I didn’t care about either.

  Zara insisted she go up to him and make her apologies alone, worried I was going to gloat. What she didn’t realize was I didn’t need to gloat. The fact she was leaving with me was enough of a reward, that he knew about it directly from her, well that was just a bonus.

  “How did he take it?” I asked, waiting patiently in the outside hall like she asked. Apparently, my request to watch was in poor taste, and I’d been shoved outside the minute I’d said goodbye to Nate. “Let me guess.” I tapped my finger against my lips like I was thinking. “He was disappointed he didn’t get to spend the evening with you, but he’s given you his card. You know, so you can have a friendly lunch sometime in the future and he wishes you the best.”

  “How did you know?” Her brow furrowed.

  “Because I’ve worked with a hundred Edwin Carlisles and their M.O. never changes.” I didn’t bother asking if she was going to hold onto the number or not because it reeked of desperation. And at the moment he was the last thing on my mind, and if I played my cards right, it would be the last thing on hers too.

  “And what’s your M.O?” she asked, her arms wrapping around my body. “Or is that privileged information?”

  My lips found hers as my hands anchored on her hips. “I don’t need a playbook, sweetheart, and if I did, it would’ve been tossed out the window by now.”

  She was an enigma.

  Different from almost every woman I’d ever met.

  And whether I wanted to or not, I was flying by the seat of my pants.

  There was some throat clearing behind us, a gray-haired woman giving us judgment while we made out in the foyer. I didn’t much care what she thought, but it did illustrate the point that we were still not in the car, heading to my room, and that was something that needed remedying.

  “Okay, beautiful, let’s get out of here before we scandalize the guests.” I kissed her one last time before knotting my fingers with hers.

  We headed to the exit, handing my ticket to the valet, and were soon back in the car I’d borrowed for the evening. We drove in relative silence, the anticipation crackling between us as I navigated through traffic and got us back to my hotel in record time. I didn’t even bother to park, pulling up front and handing the keys to the concierge, asking him to contact the car club and get the car returned. I didn’t want the distraction of needing to do it in the morning, and I didn’t want heat from Boston because I’d abused my membership privileges.

  With the car taken care of, we went straight up to my room. My hands were itching to touch her, but I kept it respectable in the elevator. I wasn’t interested in giving some asshole jerk-off material courtesy of the security footage, so as hard as it was not to press her against the wall and fuck her right there, I resisted, knowing the reward would be the greater prize.

  I’d barely gotten my room unlocked when my restraint broke. I didn’t want to wait anymore, the urge to touch her eating me up since the last time she’d been in there with me. Difference was, there was no mistake about who she was with and what she wanted, and I was taking all of it.

  Her body arched into me as I locked the door behind us and tossed my room key aside. My hands found her waist, pressing her against me so she could feel exactly what she did to me. I wasn’t just hard, I was throbbing, so desperate to be inside of her my balls ached.

  But I wouldn’t rush it, oh no. I was going to savor it, draw out the pleasure for hours until we both were crazy. And first I was going to make her come.

  “Bed,” I ordered, walking her backward through the room until her legs hit the mattress. I didn’t bother with any more instructions, my hands finding her zipper and working her out of that fucking beautiful dress.

  All it took was a gentle tug and it dropped to the floor, pooling around her sexy heeled feet. I’d get to her shoes in a minute, having fantasized about them sitting on my shoulders while I sunk deep into her, but currently my attention was on her hot body and the scraps of lace that were barely covering it.

  Her bra was tiny, half-crescent cups of see-through fabric that pushed up her tits in the most spectacular way. And her panties were almost nonexistent, barely hiding the gift I knew was waiting underneath.

  “Mmmmmmm,” I moaned in appreciation, my lips against her skin as I moved down her neck. “Was this for me?”

  “No, it was for me.” Her body bowed as she relaxed onto the bed. “Smart women can want to feel sexy, it doesn’t make us anything less than we are.”

  “Oh, I completely agree.” I did my best not to tear the scraps apart as I pushed down the cup and exposed one of her breasts. “And you are definitely sexy.”

  My tongue curled around one of her nipples while my hand freed the other. Her eyelashes danced as I gently sucked, a moan spilling from her lips.

  “Lincoln.”

  Fingernails grazed against my scalp as I moved my mouth to her other nipple, her hips impatiently grinding trying to find friction. I liked her like that, needy and unrestrained, not thinking about what she should be doing, but what she needed.

  My mouth was replaced by my hands as I moved my lips farther down her torso, kissing and licking my way down to that tiny see-through triangle that was held together by some impressive strings on either side. Sinking to my knees, I took advantage of my angle, positioning her so her legs hung off the bed and giving me unrestricted access.

  “Wait.” She yanked at my hair stopping my progression down. “Shouldn’t we . . . I don’t know, get you naked first?” she asked, panting between each word.

  I shook my head not willing to stop what I was doing to waste time undressing myself. My cock ached, desperate to be free, but I wanted to taste her more than I wanted my own relief. “There will be plenty of time to get naked after I’ve made you come, Zara. I’ve been thinking about it for days, and I really need to make it happen.”

  My hand disappeared underneath her panties and felt how slick she was for me. Her hips tilted up, arching into my touches as my fingers swirled against her clit.

  “Lincoln.” It was both a plea and a demand, her hand coming down on mine and pushing it into her. I wasn’t sure exactly how expensive her lingerie was, but I was seconds from tearing it off and reducing it to trash.

  “Oh God.” She panted, her breaths coming out in short, sharp bursts. “More. More exactly like that.”

  “It’s cute you think I need instructions.” My teeth nipped at her hip while I slid down her panties with my teeth. My hands had more important things to do and currently they were getting really familiar with one of her tits and the slickness between her legs.

  She kicked them off the rest of
the way, her dangerously high heels almost doing some extra damage. But I wasn’t distracted, flattening my tongue against her heat the moment it was exposed.

  “Fuck,” she cursed out, lifting her hips to my mouth as I lapped against her. I loved the taste of her, feeling her coating my tongue as I pushed it deeper inside as I thumbed her clit.

  It wasn’t even close to how amazing I thought it would be, the desperate whimpers as she ground against my face making me so hard, I was glad I was already on my knees.

  I thrusted involuntarily, needing to take a minute to reach down and unzip my pants. But that didn’t mean I stopped, only needing one hand to free my cock while I worked her with the other and my mouth.

  “Yes, Lincoln. Yes.” Her breaths got faster and shallower, her body unable to keep still as I returned my full attention to her. My fantasy about her shoes on my shoulders was soon realized as I lifted her legs to straddle both sides of my face. “Oh, I think I’m going to—”

  I didn’t wait for her to tell me, her body spelling out how close she was as I continued to kiss, suck and fuck her with my hands and my tongue. I wanted to feel her explode, to be looking up at her when she finally lost all control, and then for her to look at me and know I was responsible for that pleasure.

  Greedy for all of it, I increased my pace, unrelenting with the contact until she finally gave us what we’d both wanted. Yeses spilled from her lips as tiny pulses echoed against my mouth, my assault slowed but not stopped as the waves of her orgasm washed through her.

  Fuck that was good, her sated body sinking into the plush memory foam mattress as whimpers accompanied the subtle shakes of her arms and legs. Her bra was still fastened underneath her tits, shoes still on her feet, but she looked utterly perfect lying there in front of me, and I was dying for another taste.

  “Mmmmm.” I licked my fingers as I rose to my feet and then gave myself a slow and deliberate tug. Her eyes flashed to my cock, my shaft exposed from the front of my pants.