by Erika Wilde
She huffed out a laugh. “I know that.”
Before she could say anything more, he thrust his hips against her lush ass and buried himself to the hilt inside her. She sucked in a startled breath, her hands gripping the sheets as she dropped her forehead to the mattress. “God, Hunter, you are so—”
“Good at making you come?” he suggested as he rubbed slow, firm circles against her clitoris that had her lower body trying to move against his fingers.
She squirmed beneath him, but he held all the control. “I was going to say that you’re insatiable, or maybe gluttonous is a better word.”
He grinned and dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder. “For you and this perfect, curvy, beautiful figure, I’m both those things.” He moved slowly in and out of her, taking his sweet time building the pleasure. “You can’t expect me to wake up next to your naked body and not take advantage of it. Now reach up and grab the slats in the headboard so you can push your hips back against me and I can get deeper inside you.”
She groaned and shook her head. “You’re deep enough.”
“I’m never deep enough in you,” he said, using the more authoritative tone he knew made her hot and ramped up her desire. “If you want to come, do what I say.” He caught her clit between two fingers and tugged gently, giving her an extra incentive.
She promptly wrapped her fingers around the sturdy wooden boards and came up on her knees just enough to lift her ass higher and give him the leverage he needed to surge balls deep into her. A soft cry escaped her as he continued thrusting, hard, fast, deep strokes while his fingers played over that hard nub of flesh, knowing now exactly what it took to send her spiraling. Her orgasm crashed through her quickly, and as soon as he felt those inner muscles clamped down around his dick, he was right there with her. Bliss exploded throughout his entire body, drugging his brain and squeezing his chest full of everything he felt for this woman.
He moved off her, and when they’d both recovered, he rolled back onto his side to face her. “I’d really like to take a shower before I make breakfast, and I swear to God, if I come back out and you’re gone, I will come after you and spank your ass so fucking hard you won’t be able to sit for a week. Better yet, I should take you into the shower with me.”
She laughed, her eyes sparkling happily, as she pulled the sheet up to her breasts. “You can’t even imagine how sore I am, in the best way, of course, but if I join you in there, you’ll be all over me again, and I need to be able to walk like a normal person. But I promise I’ll be here when you get out of the shower, though I do have to leave shortly because I need to go home, shower where all my stuff is, change into clean clothes, and head into the office.”
He frowned, because he’d been hoping to spend the day with her. “On a Saturday?”
She shrugged and averted her gaze. “I don’t have a choice. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
He sensed something else was going on, but for now he let it go because they still had breakfast to talk things over. She’d promised him she wouldn’t sneak out, and while he believed that she wouldn’t ghost him again, he had a feeling that convincing her to give them more than a two-night affair was going to be much more difficult.
“So, what sounds good for breakfast?” Hunter asked. “Pancakes or an omelet?”
Sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter as Hunter peered into his refrigerator, Elle found herself distracted by the gorgeous man in front of her. After his shower, he’d only put on a pair of faded jeans that rode low on his hips, which allowed her to admire his broad, bare shoulders, his perfectly toned back, and those two sexy dimples at the base of his spine she wanted to touch with the tip of her finger. Or lick with her tongue. Then there was his ass—tight, firm, and—
“Hey, quit ogling me,” he said, turning around and catching her gaze below his waist. Then he arched a brow playfully. “Unless you plan to do something about it?”
She laughed and shook her head, taking in his damp, tousled hair and the sexy stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave in the shower. “I don’t know how you can even think about sex after last night . . . and this morning.”
“That’s easy.” He strolled toward her, making her heart race as he neared.
When he reached where she was sitting, he slid a hand along her jaw and pushed his thumb beneath her chin. He tipped her head back so he could kiss her, sweetly, reverently, tasting of the same mint toothpaste she’d used a short while ago, too.
When he was done, he lifted his head and met her gaze. “It’s because I won’t ever get enough of you, sweetheart, so get used to it.”
She shivered at his heartfelt words, affectionate tone, and the possessive way he was looking at her, like she belonged to him in every way. Get used to it. As if he expected her to be a permanent fixture in his life, and as much as she might want that, she had to set him straight and let him know that she was in no position to start any kind of new relationship. She had zero extra time in her life to make that kind of commitment, and she wasn’t the kind of woman who could have a casual fling when the mood struck.
Her heart and emotions were already involved in this situation with Hunter, more than she ever thought possible, which meant this morning she really needed to make a clean break before she was so in over her head she drowned.
“So, breakfast?” he asked again, pulling her from her painful thoughts as he returned to the refrigerator, oblivious to her inner turmoil. “Pancakes or an omelet?”
She focused on her choices and opted for something light, just to keep her stomach feeling as normal as it did at the moment. “Can I have plain scrambled eggs?”
“Of course,” he said, bringing out a carton of eggs, along with some other items that he was most likely going to put in an omelet for himself. “How about a cup of coffee?” He walked over to the Keurig on the counter.
“No, thank you. I don’t drink coffee.”
He turned around and gave her a mock horrified look. “How do you function in life?”
She laughed. “Just fine, thank you very much. I drink hot tea. Loose leaf, mostly, that I buy at specialty tea shops. It’s something my mom and I shared when I was younger, and I just never developed a taste for coffee.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “That leaves you with the choice of water or orange juice.”
“Water.” She wasn’t willing to risk the acidity of the OJ.
She watched him work in the kitchen as he whipped up scrambled eggs for her and a huge omelet for himself overflowing with vegetables, chopped ham, and cheese. He joined her at the counter, settling into the chair beside hers. He took a few bites of his breakfast before he glanced at her and spoke.
“So, you’re working today, a Saturday, which I don’t agree with because I selfishly want you all to myself,” he said, his voice half-joking, half-serious. “Since I doubt I can convince you to take the day off, when can I see you again? I want to take you out, on a real date.”
She’d eaten about half of her scrambled eggs, and while her stomach felt fine, her appetite waned because she dreaded this conversation, but it was necessary and unavoidable. She set her fork on her plate and glanced at him, something in her chest twisting at the expectant way he was looking at her. God, if only she’d met him at a different time and place in her life, when she didn’t have difficult decisions to make that were going to undoubtedly add more turmoil and disruption to her life.
She exhaled a deep breath. “Hunter, I really like you. A lot . . .”
“But?” he pressed, his eyes holding hers over the rim of his coffee cup as he took a drink.
“But I’m not in a position to date anyone right now,” she said, rubbing her hands along the material of her skirt covering her thighs. “My life . . . it’s complicated.”
He tipped his head curiously. “How so?”
She weighed how much to tell him. On one hand, Hunter was incredibly easy to talk to, and she knew there would be no judgment from him, no matter what she
revealed. On the other, did she really want him to be privy to the drama that was her daily life?
He placed a hand over one of hers on her thigh, stopping her anxious fidgeting. “At least make me understand why you can’t, or won’t, give us a chance.”
His request was a fair one, which ultimately made her be honest with him. “What I didn’t tell you about Helena last night at dinner is that, when my dad passed away, he left half of the realty business to me and half to her . . . and she spends whatever her half of the profits is faster than it comes in, which puts me in a position to leave my half in the business account to keep us afloat, and it’s getting very difficult to make ends meet. My father also did the same thing with the house I grew up in . . . it’s a fifty-fifty split. Helena and I are co-owners, so between the business and the house, it makes it difficult for me to cut ties with her, but God, I wish I could. I still live in the house with her and Claire and Gwen, because right now I can’t afford half of a mortgage payment and to also pay for a place of my own. So for the foreseeable future, I’m stuck there, but she doesn’t make it easy . . . and with how hard I’m trying to save the company, not to mention the long hours and the stress I’m under, throwing in a relationship just wouldn’t be fair to you.”
He digested everything she said as he ate another couple bites of his omelet, and when he spoke again, she was surprised it wasn’t with an argument of why a relationship could work between them, but rather he seemed more concerned about the issue with her stepmother.
“Is Helena willing to sell her half of the business to you?” he asked, the question a serious one. “That might solve part of your predicament with her bleeding the company dry and you can build the company back up to where it was as sole owner.”
She shook her head sadly. “I’ve considered all that, but financially, I just don’t have the money to buy her out. I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I don’t have a good feeling about how all this is going to end with the business. It’s as though Helena doesn’t care that the company is on the verge of bankruptcy, she just wants whatever cash she can get out of it on a monthly basis.”
Finished with his breakfast, he set his fork on his plate and pushed it aside, then turned in his chair to more fully face her, his brows creased in contemplation. “What about the house you own with her? Why not sell it and split the proceeds? Depending on what your equity is, that would probably give you what you need to buy her out, and then the two of you could go your separate ways since the house would no longer be an issue, either. Kind of like a divorce,” he added with a light laugh.
She blinked at him, realizing how much sense that idea made. She’d been so wrapped up in saving the company and holding on to her childhood home that her mind hadn’t gone in that direction. Probably because Helena wouldn’t want to sell the home, which represented the lifestyle she adored. Any step Elle forced her to take would seem like a step down to her stepmother. On the other hand, Hunter was a businessman and also part owner of a multibillion-dollar tech company, so he definitely saw a bigger picture and could look at her situation less emotionally than she ever would. What he was suggesting could possibly work. If she approached Helena the right way and could get her to agree.
“When I checked the balance on the mortgage for the house almost six months ago, just to see what I had to work with if I needed the cash infusion, there was over four hundred thousand in equity,” she told him. “This past month, I’ve tried to talk to Helena about taking out a home equity loan to supplement the business, but she adamantly refuses, and I can’t do it without her signing off on everything.”
The furrow between Hunter’s dark brows deepened as he absently drummed his fingers on the countertop. “That’s odd for someone who likes to spend money,” he said thoughtfully. “That’s potentially a lot of cash and half of it would technically be hers, so why wouldn’t she agree?”
“I have no idea what she’s thinking,” Elle said, unable to understand any of Helena’s motives.
“Did your father have a life insurance policy when he died?” he asked curiously.
She nodded. “He did. It was for a quarter of a million dollars, but Helena was listed as sole beneficiary, so every penny went to her.”
“Why the hell would your father do that?” he asked incredulously.
“I have no idea.” She often wondered the same thing, but she had no answers, just her own theories. “I’m fairly certain Helena was somehow behind his decision, despite their rocky marriage, but I don’t have any proof. I’m just grateful I received half of the house and business.”
“Dare I ask what she did with all that money?” His voice vibrated with irritation on Elle’s behalf. “Clearly she’s done nothing to help you or the business.”
“No,” she agreed, fiddling with the fork on her plate. “As far as I know, she spent all of it on herself and her daughters. Nice cars, over-the-top expensive jewelry, designer clothes and accessories, lavish trips for her, Gwen, and Claire.” God, the purchases had been endless, as well as frivolous. “Considering how she keeps taking whatever she can from the company financially, I’m assuming what she received from my father’s life insurance policy is gone.”
“Selfish bitch,” Hunter said unapologetically, his jaw clenched in anger. “She’s off living an extravagant lifestyle she can’t really afford, while you’re working your ass off to make sure you don’t lose the company.”
Yep, pretty much. “The business means everything to me.” Emotionally, Darian Commercial Realty kept her connected to her mother and father and losing it would devastate her. “I think your idea of selling the house and using the equity to work out an agreement with Helena that would allow me to buy out her part of the company is a really good one.” In fact, the more Elle thought about it, the more she believed that could be her answer to ultimately saving the business and her walking away as sole owner, as it originally should have been.
“I have connections to good, reputable lawyers who can steer you in the right direction with all this, and I can help you though the process and at least be someone you can talk to or bounce ideas off of.”
Her heart swelled in her chest at this man’s kindness and caring. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his cheek, just to have that momentary connection with him. “Thank you, but this isn’t your problem to deal with. Trust me, you don’t want to involve yourself in this mess. It’s far more drama than anyone should have to deal with.”
“Including you,” he pointed out adamantly.
Unfortunately, Elle didn’t have any other options but to somehow figure out a way to reconcile the situation with Helena, the house, and the business, whereas Hunter did have a choice in sticking around. Elle wasn’t sure that Hunter’s patience could withstand all the issues she needed to deal with in her life . . . which could take a few weeks if things went well, or a few months, or possibly more than a year if Helena made things difficult, which she always did. Until the situation with her stepmother was resolved, Elle’s attention would be diverted elsewhere, and as she’d learned from experience, he’d get tired of waiting around and being put second to her problems, and that just wasn’t fair to a good, decent man like Hunter.
Hunter took the hand that was resting on his cheek and brought her palm to his mouth, placing a warm, tender kiss in the center, his golden gaze resolute. “Here’s what you need to know,” he said, weaving their fingers together and setting their joined hands on his lap. “You’re not dealing with this alone. I’m not giving up on you, Elle.”
She swallowed hard, battling back the desire to accept what he was offering, to lean on him, to share this burden that was slowly sucking the life out of her. But she knew better. “You’ll get tired of waiting,” she said softly. “I’ve been in this position before.”
“Explain.”
The one word was like an order, and she wanted to laugh, but she was too filled with sadness to enjoy that authoritative quirk of his. “Benjamin, the
guy I had been dating for two years before my father passed away, couldn’t handle all the crap with Helena once my dad was gone. My long hours at the office, hardly ever seeing me, and all the issues with my stepmother. So, he walked away when I needed him the most.”
Hunter swore beneath his breath. “He was clearly an asshole who didn’t deserve you.”
She’d since come to the same conclusion and agreed with Hunter’s assessment, but he was missing the point she was trying to make. “What I’m trying to say is that even after I was in a serious relationship with Benjamin for two years, he couldn’t handle the upheaval in my life, which is still happening. You and I haven’t even hit the serious part of whatever this is between us.”
“Yes, we have,” he replied in an even, matter-of-fact tone as he leaned toward her and kissed her on the cheek. “You just haven’t realized it yet, but you will.”
Chapter 13
After breakfast, Hunter drove Elle back to Darian Commercial Realty, where she’d left her car the evening before. The drive to her workplace was quiet, and he didn’t push Elle for conversation. That aside, he’d already said everything he could to make her believe he was sticking around and he wasn’t letting her go without a serious fight. He knew she was skeptical of his promises for all the reasons she’d told him this morning, but he was more than prepared to prove that he was a man of his word and he’d meant everything he’d said to her.
While every other woman in between Natalie’s death and meeting Elle had been nothing more than brief, mindless diversions, there was no question in his mind or his heart that what he felt for Elle was the real deal. He’d known that first night when he’d met her that she was special, and his feelings for her had only grown stronger. Life had somehow offered him a second chance, and he wasn’t about to fuck it up. Whatever it took, whatever Elle needed, he’d be around for her. And once she resolved her issues with Helena, then he could focus on what he wanted for their future.
