After Hours

by Lynda Aicher

  Frustration burned where it coiled in her core. She turned her head and attempted to nip his ear right back, but he ducked away. That damn smirk added another level to her annoyance. But pain blazed through her nipple before she could do anything.

  She gasped, hunched forward but couldn’t escape it.

  Carson twisted the tender tip more, pinched until there was nothing but the pain. It spread through her chest, throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She whimpered and tried to escape his hold, but he held her tight. She clawed at the back of his hand in an attempt to pry it from its hold.

  “Breathe, Avery.”

  She sucked in a breath, tears forming. “Please,” she begged. The pain was so much worse than a little pinch to her bottom.

  “Look at her,” he growled.

  She complied with his order without thought. Her head whipped up, her eyes wide. The woman squirmed on the table, her nipples pulled taut and twisted within the fingers of the two men at her sides.

  Oh my God. The shared experience both sharpened and numbed the pain. The woman’s back was arched impossibly far, mouth open to release her panting breaths. A mix of pain and pleasure shifted over her features in a confused state of want and rejection Avery understood.

  Personally.

  She sucked in a ragged breath, thoughts skimmed past the pain to center on the dull buzzing that’d floated in to neutralize what had just been intolerable. How?

  Carson released her nipple, and she sagged in his arms. She’d barely processed the relief before he stroked her clit. She arched back, gasping at the shock of pleasure. Her nipple still throbbed, yet it seemed to intensify the desire racing through her. Every nerve ending vibrated with countering responses of good and bad. Right and wrong. Yes and no.

  And oddly now, her other nipple ached for the same hard treatment.

  “Carson,” she mumbled, lost once again to his deft touch.

  “Fuck her,” Carson commanded. Avery’s eyes snapped open. She hadn’t realized they’d closed.

  Yes. Please.

  Her leg quivered and she tried to widen her stance. “Don’t come,” he said by her ear. “Not yet.”

  “Why?” The question came out as both a plea and a demand. She nuzzled his jaw, his woodsy scent triggering another rush of want. She gripped his legs, slid her hands down his thighs, unable to stay still. She couldn’t think of anything but finding release.

  A loud grunt followed by a high-pitched “yes” yanked Avery’s attention back to the table. The other people. There were others in the room. Of course.

  The bare-chested guy was fucking the woman, his pants shoved down just far enough to free his dick. Long, hard drives that slapped with each impact. He held her hips in place and sank deep with a thrust that jarred her.

  “Can you feel that?” Carson asked Avery. He tapped his fingers over her entrance in time with the man’s thrust. The thin piece of her thong provided an annoying barrier, preventing even the little relief of his skin on hers.

  The small impacts became magnified by a thousand, need morphed to a blinding hunger. Her pussy clenched around the emptiness he teased her with.

  “Each thrust. Every plunge. He’s filling her. Driving her crazy,” he whispered.

  “Yes. God, yes.” She didn’t care if the others heard her or if they watched her either. And they were. The two other men at least, who now stood to the sides of the table. Their gazes traveled between the other couple and them. There was no mistaking the lust on their faces or the prominent outlines of their erections beneath their pants.

  In that moment, she felt truly decadent. The hunger in the other men’s eyes fed her own growing power that was new and freeing in a way she’d never expected.

  Carson traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. Hot waves slid down her chest. “Are you wet?”

  He knew she was. “Yes.” So damn wet and ready.

  “I can feel it,” he murmured. Yet he didn’t penetrate her. No, he kept up that insistent tapping that created an insane want to be filled, like the woman on the table. Hard, deep drives that would stretch her walls and make the ache go away.

  “God, I want you, Carson.” The truth spilled out in a blind tumble of breathy words. “Please. Please fuck me.” She was begging and didn’t care how it sounded. She was focused on one thing right then, and that was getting Carson Haggert’s dick in her.

  Chapter Twelve

  Christ, how he wanted to fuck Avery. So damn much.

  Carson clamped down on his own need demanding to be set loose and focused on the gorgeous woman slowly falling apart in his arms. “Soon,” he rasped. His dick was so hard it threatened to burst through his pants. And Avery rode the length of it in a swirling, wiggling bump and grind of her hips that was pure reaction.

  “Make her beg,” Carson ordered.

  “Please,” the women said in unison. The high lilt of Shelly’s voice blended with Avery’s breathy tone to create a beautiful chord.

  Carson reveled in the power they’d entrusted him with. Any of them could object at any time, but he worked damn hard to ensure everyone was pleased. That was his job. Hell, that’d always been his job.

  Dan slowed his pounding pace, his grunts quieting. Shelly protested with a half whine, half sob. She lifted her arms, but Drake quickly stopped her. “But...” Shelly twisted her head, back arching. “I need more.”

  “Me, too,” Avery said. She rocked her hips, but Carson only moved with her. He’d slowed his tapping beat to match Dan’s, even though his own hunger was urging him to bury his fingers deep into her wet heat.

  She grabbed his wrist and tried to shove his hand where she wanted it. He laughed softly against her neck and pinched her nipple in rebuke. Her low growl only added to the need he barely held in check. There was a fighter beneath that shy demeanor of hers. A passionate one who showed there was so much more to her than the demure image she presented.

  “Tease her,” Carson said to the other men. He caught their gazes, smirked. They’d both been eyeing Avery just as much as Shelly. Was it because she was with him when he’d never brought a woman with him before or simply because she was beautiful in her passion? “Shelly,” he clarified.

  No one touched Avery except him. That’d been her rule. He was just keeping his promise to her, right?

  That damn twinge in his chest called him a liar.

  Avery panted in his arms, tried to twist from his hold. “Please.” Her head fell forward, a wave of hair trailing down to shield her face. He brushed it back, then brought her chin around to claim her mouth. Her whimper tickled his lips, and he dove in for more. Another brush. A slow swipe. A trace of his tongue over her soft lips. She tried to shove up to deepen the kiss, but he backed away.

  The drive to haul her from the room and fuck her senseless hovered on the edge of his control. He had to maintain it, though. Want clamored at his chest. His balls ached in the confines of his pants. Precome coated his abdomen and had probably left a wet spot on his slacks. And all of it, every little discomfort and ache, reminded him of the power he held.

  But for once, he lost track of what the others were doing as his focus shifted solely to Avery. Her soft moans and sighs were notes of wonder that whispered her need. Her breasts were heavy in his palm, the nipples hard beads. Her wetness coated the thin cloth of her thong and slicked his fingers. The musky scent teased his senses with the memory of how it’d lingered on his fingers the last time.

  She was beautiful. Hungry. So damn open to him. Just him. For him.

  How had that happened?

  The low pleas and incoherent babble from Shelly slowly broke through Carson’s focus. He lifted his head and blinked at the table, dazed. “Give it to her.”

  He reclaimed Avery’s lips in the next breath. She’d turned in his arms, and he dove deeper with the improved angle. This was crazy. Hot. Intense
in a way he’d never experienced before.

  He jerked away, swung Avery back around. “Watch her come,” he growled, his own orgasm simmering so damn close.

  Dan powered into Shelly, and Carson kept up the tapping beat on Avery’s pussy. The muscles flexed and clamped beneath his fingers. It took very little imagination to picture them clenching around his dick. He groaned his own protest but didn’t give in. Not yet.

  “I’m... I’m...” Shelly tossed her head back. A loaded pause hung in the air. The tension prickled over his skin. She curled forward right before her cry filled the room with her release.

  He slid his fingers beneath Avery’s thong and sunk them deep into her heat. Fuck. The muscles grasped his fingers, her wetness soaking them. Her shudder trembled into him. Her little gasps and hiccups of breath matched the pounding rate of her heart where it thumped beneath his lips on her neck.

  She was close too. Begging for release even if she was silent.

  Indecision clawed at his resolve for a breath of a minute before he ushered her from the room. He didn’t think about what he was doing. Didn’t worry about what happened after.

  No. His only thought was of feeling her clench around him. Of her coming on his dick, not his fingers.

  The small conference room was only a few steps away, yet seemed to take forever to reach. He set her on the table and claimed her mouth before she could speak. He caught her cry on his lips and drove his tongue in to find hers. She clutched the back of his head and rose up to meet him in a wild dance of tongues and gasps for air.

  He scrambled to release his belt and pants. Her hands bumped his as she rushed to help him. She shoved his underwear down and grasped his dick. He choked out a hoarse groan, his peripheral vision going dark. “Avery.”

  “Yes,” she urged. She stroked his length in long, firm pulls that felt so damn good. Too good. Everything about her was too good.

  “This is only sex,” he said against her mouth. The reminder was for her. Just her.

  “I know,” she whispered back. She swiped her thumb over his tip and smeared the precome over the head. “I know. Just fuck me. Please.”

  He ripped her hand away and dug a condom from his pocket. Sweat plastered his shirt to his back and his tie was suddenly constricting, but he couldn’t take the time to remove it.

  He rolled the protection on in one quick move before he hauled her leg up, shoved her thong aside and finally slid into her. Their mutual groans rang through the room as her heat and wetness surrounded him.

  “Fuck.” He gripped her hips and dragged her to the edge of the table. He had to get deeper. He needed more of her. All of her.

  He bent his knees and drove into her, every thrust hard and fast with the need threatening to spill over. She gripped his nape, clutched at his shoulder. Her breaths were hot and fast near his ear. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and fucked her hard. Each snap of his hips ended in a slap of skin.

  He’d never been this desperate. Never this lost.

  Her fingernails bit into his neck. Tension strung around them. His balls drew up with the pressure building in his groin. He squeezed his eyes closed and held back that last surge. Her whimper was one of desperation.

  He shifted forward, lifted her leg higher and drove in again.

  “Yes.” Her head fell back, breasts thrusting up. “Right there.” Lust covered her expression. Her lips were parted, the pink stain muted. Her cheeks were flushed a beautiful red that spread over her exposed chest. Pride raced through him. He’d done this to her. Drove her to this state.

  He gave her everything then, letting go of the last of his restraint. Her release burst from her on a gasping sob that cut off as her muscles contracted around him. Fuck.

  He thrust harder, savored the clench and release that stroked his dick. Avery yanked him down and sank her teeth into his neck. Pain, sharp and distinct, stabbed the tender area. It jolted his system and unhinged the last thread of control he clung to.

  His hips bucked, euphoria exploding in a flash of darkness and light. Every muscle tensed, then relaxed in a last grinding jerk. He emptied himself within the sweet heat that still squeezed his dick so tightly. Her pussy milked every drop of frustration he’d held back since that first sight of Avery hot and turned-on had been lodged into his memory.

  The stillness slowly penetrated his awareness as he came back to himself. Avery’s raspy inhalations near his ear echoed his own ragged attempts to breathe. He sucked in deep gulps of air in his hunt for the stability he’d lost. His head spun and churned with emotions he didn’t want to acknowledge.

  A low grunt and the distinct slick and slap of skin jerked Carson from his floating fog with a nasty punch of reality. He jerked his head around and glared at Drake. The man was braced against the hallway wall, eyes heavy-lidded, dick in hand, stroking himself off.

  “That was so fucking hot,” Drake growled.

  The fucker.

  Carson stretched back and whipped the door closed. The slam reverberated through the room. Avery jumped, tensing in his arms.

  No. He hugged her close and ran soothing circles over her back. “It’s okay.” He refused to let that fucker ruin the night for her. This was her moment. Her freedom, and Drake wasn’t taking it from her.

  Her laughter started small. A short hiccup. A jerk. Then a bubbling tinkle that vibrated through her shoulders. Relief swept away his worry and released his own amazed chuckle.

  “Why are you laughing?” he asked. He brushed her hair away from her face and couldn’t resist placing a kiss over her smile. She giggled against his lips before pulling back to release a full laugh.

  Her beauty showed in another stunning revelation of pure freedom. The shadows hid little from him in that moment. The moonlight lent a soft glow to her hair that gave her an almost mystical sense. Her lips were puffy from their kisses, cheeks flushed, eyes dancing when they met his. She cupped a hand over her mouth and visibly tried to control her laughter.

  He shook his head, bemused. This was better than tears or anger. Much better, even if he didn’t understand it.

  “Sorry,” she muttered around another giggle.

  He pressed a lingering kiss to her temple and grabbed the base of the condom before he eased out of her. He looked around, frowned. What the fuck was he supposed to do with the condom? There were supplies in the Boardroom for this. Tissues and wipes and an obvious garbage can. But here? There was nothing in sight. Not even a napkin.

  Avery must have caught on to his dilemma, because she opened her purse and held out a couple of tissues. “Here.”

  “Thanks,” he mumbled, grateful yet embarrassed at how unprepared he was. He was the one who was supposed to be in control here, yet he felt very far from it.

  He scrambled to find his bearings in the jumble of emotions Avery had set free. His stomach twisted with nerves that had never appeared in this environment. What was going on?

  He stepped away and cleaned himself up in quick swipes before redoing his pants. A dark stain left a telling spot on the front near the zipper, and he scowled at it like his dick had betrayed him. Stupid.

  Avery sucked in a loud breath, blew it out. “I’m not laughing at you.”

  His brow flicked up. “I didn’t think you were.” Until now. And that was an insecurity he refused to have. There was no reason for it, especially not here.

  She smoothed her dress over her legs, a wad of tissues visible in her fist. He took the tissues from her, crumpled them with his and dumped them in the trash can he spotted by the back wall.

  The Bay Bridge twinkled over the water, a stream of headlights forming a chain as cars threaded their way over it. He took a moment to steady himself. The silence highlighted the tension slowly twisting into his afterglow. He straightened his suit coat and tried to get some air circulating over his sweaty back. It didn’t work.

 
; Avery still sat on the table when he turned back to her. She gave him a tentative smile that showed the nerves she was attempting to hide. Her hand shook, just a little, when she ran it through her hair. Her fingers snagged on a tangle and she winced, a frown following.

  He couldn’t stop himself from stepping up and replacing her fingers with his. He ran them through the silky strands and gently worked the small knot out. Her breath hitched, held. He swallowed, refusing to give in to the other, stronger urge he had to gather her up and bring her home.

  “Are you better now?” he asked instead.

  She nodded, eyes averted. “Yes. Thank you.”

  He slid his fingers over her brow to brush her bangs away. They should leave. He never lingered after the Boardroom. And they weren’t in the Boardroom now. Not technically.

  “I’m sorry about that.” He motioned to the doorway, hoping she’d follow his meaning. Drake had overstepped his bounds.

  “Oh.” She glanced up at him, a small smile in place. “That, ah... That was okay.”

  “Are you sure?” He stroked his thumb over her cheek, slightly fascinated by the softness.

  She held his gaze, that determination he admired blazing dark blue in her eyes. “Yes. I’m sure.”

  Could she get any sexier? She was owning her sexuality exactly as he’d hoped she would, and it was so damn hot on her.

  He swallowed, cursing his spiraling control. “Was there anything about tonight you didn’t like?” He could stay on track. Keep this...about sex. That was it.

  Her laugh came out in a soft snort. “Ah, no. Not really.”

  His brow went up, thumb stalling on her cheek. “Not really?” he repeated, his question implied. “Then what was the laughter about?”

  Her eyes sparked with humor and her lips quirked. Her laughter obviously itched to burst free again. She bit her lip, took a breath. “I’m not really sure,” she finally admitted. She shrugged, fingers fiddling on her lap. “I guess it was nerves and...” She glanced away, then back after a beat. “Relief? Amazement maybe?” Her brows dipped, and he found himself smoothing the frown lines away before he consciously thought to do so. Her smile softened, shoulders lowering, and he cursed himself for sending the wrong message. Whatever it was. However, he couldn’t get himself to regret it. “I didn’t expect to feel so free,” she added, wonder in her voice. “This is so far out of my realm of experience. I mean, I’ve obviously had sex before, including a few drunk events that pushed the normal boundaries. But absolutely nothing like this.”