by Anna Durand
"Enjoy your afternoon."
Dane keeps an arm around my waist as he leads me to the elevator. The car is empty, and once the doors glide shut, Dane pulls me snug against his gorgeous body and kisses me. The second our mouths collide I hum with pleasure and excitement. I love kissing him, though we've only done this a few times before. I love the sensation of his mouth on mine, of his tongue diving between my lips to tease me and arouse me, and of his hands splayed over my upper back. He takes it slow like he's in no hurry, like we can do this all afternoon.
And I guess we can. He's taken the rest of the day off.
When we exit the elevator into the lobby, I feel so deliciously warm and relaxed and turned on at the same time. This desire is softer than a little while ago in his office. I want him, but mostly, I want to spend time with him. Get to know him. Find out what he wants and needs and feels deep inside.
Which sounds an awful lot like legitimate dating.
And yeah, that's exactly what I want.
But does he want that?
Chapter Twelve
Dane
What am I doing? Taking an afternoon off during the most critical time in my career? The re-launch of my brand of sexual wellness devices is coming up sooner than I'd like, sooner than I can handle. Celeste has hammered it into me that these next weeks will make or break the re-launch, but then she tells Rika I'm stressed out and she's worried about me.
I can't blame Celeste for all my stress. I've done this to myself, haven't I? She warned me what it would be like if I signed a contract with Bonsoir. She never glossed over the downsides or what I would be expected to do. But now... I have no bloody idea how to deal with all of this.
Maybe that explains why I talked a clever, sweet, beautiful, sexy woman into pretending to date me.
When we get to my suite, Rika takes my hand and guides me into the library where we do exactly what she suggested. We snuggle on the sofa. I take off my jacket, tie, and loafers while she kicks off her shoes. She tucks her legs under her and leans against me, so I put my feet on the table and drape my arm over her shoulders. She's warm and smells like powder or...something. It's a pleasant scent. She always smells good, a fact that makes me want to shag her all the time.
I haven't done that yet. Why not?
Because it would be wrong, that's way. I want to smack my forehead with my palm, but I don't. Rika will think I've gone completely insane if I do that. But I am an idiot, to say the least, for thinking for even one second that I deserve to sleep with this woman. She should have a real boyfriend, not an arse like me who tells her it's only for show.
"What are you so afraid of?" she asks, not sounding at all irritated, despite the fact I hurt her feelings earlier.
I open my mouth to tell her I have no idea what she's talking about, but I stop short of saying it. Am I afraid? If I am, why is that?
Why can't you be as exciting as your toys?
My head falls back against the sofa like it's transformed into a granite ball and I can't hold it upright anymore. I should tell her the truth, shouldn't I? But I can't make the words come out, so instead I say, "I'd rather not talk about myself."
"That seriously limits the conversation." She wriggles until she's turned partway toward me, though she stays under my arm and nestles against me. "Tell me about your family, then. Please."
"You know my brothers."
"Not well."
I shrug my shoulder, the one she's not tucked up against. "Reese is incessantly cheerful and irritating. Chance is mature and irritating."
"Oh come on, I know you get along with your brothers. Why are you calling them irritating?"
"Because they both insist on telling me I've lost my sense of humor and I've become..." I grimace. "Uptight."
"That's because you are uptight. I'm not criticizing, but remember, I've seen the wedding videos. You were smiling and laughing, dancing with all the ladies. You even told jokes during your best man speech for Chance. Funny jokes." She nudges me with her elbow. "I know the way you are now isn't how you usually act."
"Maybe it isn't, but I can't change the way I am."
"Because you're completely stressed out."
I drum my fingers on my thigh. "Fine, yes, I'm stressed out and uptight and not any fun at all anymore."
"Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery."
"This isn't an AA meeting."
"No, it's a private session with your personal counselor." She points at herself. "That would be me."
"We're not actually dating, which means you aren't required to counsel me."
"I want to help you, Dane. If you'll let me."
"And what is it you think you can do for me?" I grunt and shake my head. "Even my parents think I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. They told me so in an email because I've been avoiding their calls."
"You need to talk to your family, not avoid them. You work in the same building as your brother Reese. Talk to him."
I clear my throat while I avoid looking at her. "I can't. I sort of, ah, shouted at Reese earlier today. Told him I don't want my face on the sodding package for my devices. And I might also have slammed my fist down on the desk when I said it."
"Reese isn't mad at you, I'm sure. He looks up to you."
"Are you sure you're talking about the same Reese? Maybe you've got my brother confused with someone else."
She laughs, and it sounds almost affectionate. "I've met your brother, in person, with his wife. Arden wouldn't hang on anyone else's body. And Reese told me, face to face, that he admires and respects you and wishes he could be more like you."
"He wants to be an uptight arsehole? I rather doubt that."
"The way you were before Bonsoir gobbled up your company."
Celeste's company gobbled up mine because I served it to Bonsoir with garnish and red wine sauce. What had I been thinking? I want to rewind the months to that moment and say no this time when Celeste offers to make me an instant billionaire.
But I can't. I'm trapped.
Rika places a hand on my cheek and touches her lips to mine.
The kiss is soft and sweet, but the feel of her skin on mine makes me want to deepen the kiss, to taste every millimeter of her mouth and explore all the ways I can excite her. I want to hear her moan and feel the vibrations of it through our fused mouths.
I can't move, though. I can't do anything except relax my lips and let her kiss me.
She pushes her tongue inside, flicking it until her teasing compels me to dive deep into her mouth and do what I thought of doing seconds ago. I devour her. And when she moans into my mouth the way I wanted her to, I feel the vibrations just how I'd imagined I might. The sensation is even better than I expected, even more arousing. I thrust a hand into her hair and pull her even closer so I can plunge deeper into the hot, silky depths of her mouth. Christ, that sounds idiotic. Hot, silky depths? But that's what she feels like. I've never loved kissing any other woman as much as I love kissing this woman.
Rika pulls away, but only enough to look me in the eye. She slides her tongue across her bottom lip. "Let's have sex, Dane."
"What? I, uh... What?" She can't mean it. I must have misheard her, or she must have misspoken.
"I said let's have sex." She swings her leg over me so she's straddling my lap, then she wraps her arms around my neck, her mouth so close I could take her bottom lip between my teeth and suck on it. "You want me. I want you. We've proved we have chemistry. We're adults, and there's no reason in the world why we shouldn't go all the way."
"But---"
She seals my lips with one finger. "You'll feel lots better when you stop fighting this attraction. Do I have to be blunt about it? Well okay, I will." She moves even closer, her breasts crushed against my chest and her lips skimming mine when she speaks. "Fuck me, Dane."
Chapter Thirteen
Rika
I can't believe I said that. Fuck me, Dane. I'v
e never spoken those words to any man, but I calmly told Dane Dixon that's what I want. Okay, yeah, it is what I want. I've craved this man since the day we met, but I'm not the kind of girl who asks a man to have sex with her in such bold, explicit terms. I really hope I haven't scared him because I want to sleep with him.
And I don't care that it's afternoon and we won't fall asleep once we're done. I want Dane. Right here, right now, no more waiting. So what if our relationship is a sham? We can still have earth-shattering sex.
What happens when an uptight man lets go? I've never been with anyone like Dane before, so I have no idea. But my gut tells me sex with him will be fantastic.
"All right," he says with a sigh. "I'll do it."
He sounds...resigned.
Oh yeah, that's super sexy. Not.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"I need to get---" He sighs again, shakes his head, and frowns. "One moment. Stay here."
He pushes me off his lap and gets up, walking out of the library.
Ohhhh-kay. What just happened? He agrees to having sex but says it like he's preparing for a root canal, then he leaves the room.
Dane comes back a minute later holding a plastic grocery bag full of things I can't make out.
"Everything okay?" I ask.
He shrugs one shoulder and drops onto the sofa. Offering me the bag, he says, "This is what you want."
I gingerly accept the bag, taking it by the plastic straps, and peer inside. It contains a selection of vibrators. "What is this?"
"It's what you want."
"You said that a second ago, but I still have no idea why you're giving me vibrators."
"Because you want me to fuck you."
For several seconds, I stare at him with my mouth open. Vibrators? I asked him to have sex with me. Why does he think I want toys? Something else is going on here, but I know I won't convince him to tell me what that is until after we get it on.
I set the bag of toys on the table and crawl onto his lap again. "We can play with those later if you want, but I need you inside me, Dane, not your toys."
He watches me, his eyes shifting this way and that like he's trying to determine if I'm telling the truth. "You mean that?"
"Yes, I do." I let my entire body sag against him, my lips ghosting over his. "I don't care where we do it as long as we do it right now."
He clasps the back of my head and kisses me. It's rough and hot and so damn good that I moan and rock my hips into him, desperate to have him inside me.
Dane flips me onto my back, spread lengthwise across the sofa with my feet on his lap. He doesn't even bother unbuttoning his shirt. He tears it off over his head and flings it away. Then he gets rid of his pants and underwear, his socks too. On his knees, naked and aroused, he rakes his hooded gaze over me from head to toe.
His steamy appraisal makes me so wet and achy for him that a tingle sweeps over my entire body. I'm about to get what I've wanted since day one. I bite down on my lip while I admire the view of him. Dane has muscles---oh yes, lots and lots of delicious muscles that I want to explore with my tongue---but the part of him that robs me of breath hangs between his hips. That beautiful, thick, long cock is hard and ready for action, its tip rosy and glistening.
Oh yes, please, give me that.
I've had his dick in my mouth, but I didn't get a good look at it earlier today. I'd been too obsessed with making him come to take the time to admire that gorgeous cock.
Dane removes my socks and hooks his fingers inside the waistband of my leggings and my panties. He tugs both down to my ankles. "Think I'll leave you like this for now."
The fact that he wants my ankles bound by my leggings, like he had earlier in his office, makes me even wetter. I have no idea what he plans to do to me, and I don't care.
He crouches over me on his hands and knees. "Take off your shirt and bra."
I get rid of them faster than I've ever stripped before. Yeah, I want him like crazy, remember? I've wanted him for what feels like forever, though it's only been a few weeks. Lying naked under him with that beautiful hard-on dangling between our bodies, I'm so damn ready for this.
"Bend your knees," he commands.
And I do it. Bending my knees forces me to spread my thighs. With my ankles caught in my own clothes, I can't wrap my legs around his hips the way I want to, but it doesn't matter. Any second, he'll take me. He'll fuck me. He'll do whatever the hell he wants to do to me, and I'll love it.
He freezes, not even blinking. "Bollocks."
"What's wrong?"
"Condom. I didn't---we need---I, ah, don't, um, have---"
"My pants pocket."
His brows squish together. "What?"
"Check my pants pocket." I've kept a condom on hand ever since I met Dane. Eternally hopeful, that's me.
He fumbles with my leggings, since they're lumped around my ankles, and finally extracts the item we both want.
A condom packet.
Dane looks so adorably relieved and gets the condom on in a matter of seconds.
Then he's over me again, his hands at either side of my head, his gaze locked on mine. He thrusts into me, consuming my body with one long, slow, sensuous stroke that makes me gasp and arch my back. Oh God, this feels even better than I'd imagined all those times when I fantasized about Dane fucking me while I got off with a vibrator. He's so firm and hot, and when he's buried himself as deep as he can go, he pauses there so we can both revel in the sensations of our bodies joined at last.
He kisses me tenderly, then he dips his head to latch on to my nipple, loving it with his lips and his tongue until I'm squirming and clutching his head. The heat of his intimate kiss robs me of breath. I grasp his biceps, gazing into his blue eyes and letting them lure me down into a warm pool of liquid desire.
Releasing my nipple, he begins to move, pulling his hips back and lunging them forward in a powerful rhythm, and I abandon myself to the moment. Since I can't grip him with my legs, I grip his arms even harder and let him do whatever he wants. My sex gets even slicker and molds to his length, creating a wet sucking sound with every thrust. He hisses in a breath every time he pulls out, until only the head of his cock brushes my entrance, then the air gusts out of his lungs when he plunges inside me again, over and over and over.
"Oh yes, Dane, yes," I gasp. "You feel so good, so incredible, don't ever stop."
He lowers onto his elbows, dropping his head to my shoulder.
And he keeps going. Every lush stroke ramps up my need, and I sling my arms around him, determined to hang on to him until the very end. But I never want this to end. I need him filling me up forever, so I'll never stop experiencing the sensations he evokes in me with every little movement. When he shoves a hand under my ass and lifts it, his strokes become slower, more sensual, though he's driving even deeper into my body.
"Rika," he groans into my ear. "I need you, Rika."
"I'm here." I turn my head just enough that my lips touch his ear. "I'm not going anywhere. Please, Dane, please don't ever stop."
He groans, and the sound is so husky, so intense, that my clit throbs. "Have to---ah. Can't wait---"
"Then don't wait. Do it now, please, make us both come."
Dane slips his fingers between our bodies to separate my folds, and suddenly, I feel him even more with every stroke. He rubs that aching bud, the one that makes me writhe and cry out, and he keeps rubbing until every muscle in my body tenses in anticipation of the release I feel coming, like a train barreling straight toward a cliff, faster and faster every second, about to plummet over the edge.
At the instant I go off, he hoists himself up on his straight arms and punches into me so hard and so deep that I come even more fiercely, my body clenching his length in rolling waves of pleasure. While my nails sink into his flesh, I scream his name and squeeze my eyes shut, overwhelmed by the power of my climax, and I feel him come apart inside me.
"Rika!"
I peel my lids open, still gasping for breath.
Dane is crouching over me, though his arms are shaking like he's too exhausted to hold himself up anymore but doesn't want to crush me with his body.
"Lay yourself on top of me," I say. "I want to feel you all over me. Please."
His brows do that squishing-up thing again, but after a couple seconds, he lowers his body onto mine.
The weight and heat of him feels heavenly.
With his head on my chest, he caresses my arm with his fingertips.
I comb my fingers through his hair. "That was so unbelievably spectacular. You are one incredible lover, Dane Dixon."
He tenses up, like I've told him something bad instead of paying him an awesome compliment.
"What's wrong?" I ask. "Most guys would love to be told they're fantastic lovers."
"It's, ah..." He lifts his head, searching my gaze. "You mean that, don't you?"
"That you were incredible? Hell yes, I mean it." I run my fingers over his lips. "Why does that surprise you?"
"I've, uh, been taken---been told---" He buries his face between my breasts and groans miserably. When he looks at me again, he's got the cutest befuddled expression on his face. "You really liked being with me?"
"No, Dane, I loved it."
He pushes up off me and sits back on his heels near my feet. "You're the only woman who has ever told me I'm spectacular and incredible. The others had...less-kind words for how sex with me made them feel."
I sit up and get rid of my leggings and panties, then I scoot closer to him. "What do these other women tell you?"
"Why can't you be as exciting as your toys. That's what they say."
Chapter Fourteen
Dane
I slump into the corner of the sofa, my legs hanging off the edge, while I watch Rika and wait for her to say she agrees with the idea that I'm not as exciting as a vibrator. She already said she loved being with me. The way she came, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and her expression evinced wonder and joy and total satisfaction. She loved it. So why am I still convinced she'll change her mind?
