by Lizzie James
"It happened last year. They said it was a respiratory lung problem but I..." I shook my head, trying to clear the emotions that were clogging at the back of my throat. "I felt like I should have known, you know? I mean, what kind of mother doesn’t know when there is something wrong with their own child?"
"Where is her father?" His eyes trailed back to the photograph.
"He was never... It's why I don't do one night stands, Adam." I looked up at him, needing him to understand me. "Not everyone shows you who they really are in one night."
His fingers tightened around mine before he stepped away. "Then let's go and make some memories and you can find out who I am."
Taking a seat at a cocktail bar on the front near Sydney Harbor Bridge, I giggled when I thought back to our afternoon.
"I am never doing that again!"
"I knew I could get you up there."
We both turned to look at Sydney Harbor Bridge lit up in the twinkling evening lights.
"I can't believe you've never climbed it before."
"Some people are afraid of heights!" I defended, turning back to him.
"You did good going in front of me though!" He lifted his hand and tucked a curl behind my ear. "And the view was amazing."
"The view was beautiful," I agreed, nodding my head.
He smirked down at me. "That's not the view I meant."
"Perv much?" I grinned at him.
He shrugged his shoulders before ordering us a few pints of cider with the waitress. "So did I pass your test?" he asked, turning back to me.
"What test?" I asked.
He raised his eyebrows at me and I wasn't sure if it was in surprise or disappointment. "No one night stands. I felt that may have been a warning."
He wasn't stupid.
"And then Poppy. I'm sure a lot of people lose interest when there's talk of a child."
I shrugged my shoulders dismissively. "You're not wrong. Since I lost Poppy, I've buried myself in my work and I... I guess you can say I've become afraid of being in the world again. Especially without her."
"It can't have been easy." His gaze stayed on mine.
"It wasn't. People didn't understand how consumed by grief I became when she died."
"They don't have to understand," he whispered. "The only person's emotions or opinions that matter are your own." He reached out and took my face in his palms. "No one else matters. Only you and Poppy."
I stared up at him, wanting to believe his words. It was hard, however, when no one else in my life understood how desperately I missed her.
"You hear me?" He shook me. "No one else matters."
I nodded my head slowly before my eyes flicked down to his lips. I tried not to get sucked in by a man's words but right now, I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted nothing more than to feel his lips on mine and make me feel alive again. If there was anyone that could make me come alive, it would be him.
He must have seen what I wanted for he slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to mine. He kept it soft and sweet and it was completely unexpected.
I half-expected him to be rough and forceful like in the club, but feeling his lips against mine moved something inside of me.
He pulled back and gave me a small smile before rubbing his thumb across my cheekbone. "Do you want to get out of here?"
I nodded, not needing to think on it. I was ready.
I was ready to breathe again.
Adam
Standing in Kate's living area, I knew that what was about to happen was going to change things. For me and for her. I had never met a woman like Kate and I didn’t think I ever would.
She had been in the bathroom for the last ten minutes, and I knew that she was probably freaking out in there. She had nothing to freak out over though; she was already perfect as she was.
I turned to look at her when she finally walked back into the room and I smiled when I saw that she had changed into her pyjamas. She looked sexy in her casual clothing earlier but seeing in her pyjamas right now, she looked sinfully delicious.
"Sorry I took so long." She stared at the floor, her embarrassment taking over.
"I can go..." I pointed my thumb at the door. "If this isn't..."
She shook her head and walked over to me. She reached out to take my hand before meeting my gaze.
"I'm trusting you, Adam." She looked so vulnerable.
I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I won't break you, princess."
I was the worst fucker in the world because that is exactly what I was going to do. Neither of us would be the same after this and we would both be a little broken when we returned to our lives. I hoped that she wouldn't. I hoped that by the time I went back to my world in London, she would be a little healed.
She tightened her fingers around mine and slowly led me away. Walking into the bedroom, I didn't stop to notice anything in the room. The only thing that had my attention was the tight grip she had on my hand and the way she was trying—and failing—to act like she was in control.
What she didn't realise was that she was always in control. She didn't need to act like it.
I stopped walking and pulled on her hand, bringing her closer to me. "Come here." I reached up and placed my free hand against her cheek. "Let me kiss you."
She tilted her chin immediately and allowed me to place my lips on hers.
Falling back on the bed, I covered her body with mine and rocked softly against her. Her legs immediately opened for me and I wanted nothing more than to lose myself inside of her—lose myself to the way that she felt beneath me and lose myself to the way her lips felt against mine. If I was being honest, for the first time, I just wanted to lose myself to someone. Give up control for the first time and allow someone else to care for me in the way that I was really starting to care for her. I had only loved one woman in my lifetime and I never thought that another could come along and make me question that.
I was so fucking wrong. She made me question everything.
Rolling over, I pulled her on top of me and grasped the hem of her top. Slowly pulling it up, I waited for any hesitation on her part but when she only nodded, I pulled it the rest of the way up. She stared down at her chest before dipping her head lower. Her hair fell forward in long waves until her bra-clad breasts were covered from my sight.
"Don't." I took her chin in my hand. "Don't cover yourself from me. You have nothing to hide."
She slowly nodded before reaching down and pulled at the neck of my T-shirt.
I leaned forward so that I was sitting up and helped yank it up and over my head. It brought my head closer to her chest and I couldn't help but reach up and feel her breast in my hand. I lifted my head and pressed a kiss to her cleavage, my tongue peeking out to taste her.
"You taste delicious." I licked my way up over her collarbone until I could kiss her neck.
"That feels nice." She lifted her hand and placed it at the back of my head, threading her fingers through my hair.
I wrapped my arm around her waist and rolled her back over, my hands immediately going to the waistband of her bottoms. Stopping to look down at her, I again waited for her. Everything we did relied on her and she had to know that I wasn't going to move this further unless she showed me that this was what she wanted.
She didn't nod this time but instead slowly lifted her hips, giving me space to pull her pyjama bottoms down. Tossing them over my shoulder, they landed on the floor.
I leaned down and placed my lips on her stomach, leaving a trail of kisses up to where her bra covered her delectable breasts.
"I want you," she whispered, placing her hand on top of my head.
I had no words. She looked so vulnerable and seeing her beautiful blue eyes shining up at me, I came undone. I loved having her eyes on me but seeing her right now, she made me lose myself.
I quickly stood and undid the buckle on my jeans, yanking them down my legs before kicking my shoes off. I kept my gaze on my blue-eyed beauty and I loved that
she didn't even attempt to close her legs and hide herself from me.
Whatever idiot walked out on her, leaving her to take care of Poppy was a fucking fool.
Joining her back on the bed, I lay between her legs and pushed the hair back out of her face.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked.
She didn't answer but instead reached for my hand. She took the condom out of my palm and slowly brought it to her lips, tearing it open with her teeth. Seconds later, she was pushing the latex over my throbbing cock.
"You're going to make me blow my fucking load," I moaned, leaning my head back.
She giggled, making me look down at her. "Not so fast, mister." She removed her hand from my cock when she had the condom in place and wound her arms around my shoulders. "Like I said before"—she softly kissed me, dipping her tongue inside before pulling back—"I don't think that you can handle me."
I growled and reached down to grab her thighs to line myself up with her. "You might regret saying that."
I tilted my hips forwards slowly and moved inside of her, moaning as I felt her warm heat engulf me. I couldn't stop myself from rocking. She was soaking fucking wet and accepted me inside like she was made for me.
She moaned before reaching her arms around me and grasping my ass cheeks. "You feel so good."
I groaned at her words, pulling back before roughly slamming back inside. "Do you like that?" I did it again, loving the sound that it pulled from her. "Do you like having me inside of you?"
"Faster," she gasped. She tilted her hips causing her legs to spread wider.
That caused me to move deeper inside of her and I knew it wasn't going to take long before she would make me come. She dug her nails into my ass and pulled me harder against her.
"I need you to make me come." Her teeth bit my earlobe before giving it a gentle tug. "It's been so long."
I leaned down, resting my elbow next to her and slammed my hips forward. She tightened around me and I knew it wasn't going to take long for her either. I thrust against her harder, groaning when I felt my balls start to tingle. "Come for me, beautiful."
She turned her head and pressed her lips to mine, thrusting her tongue inside to rub against mine. Several thrusts later, she was moaning, coming apart in my arms. Her pussy tightened around me so hard, I had no chance of lasting any longer.
I thrust inside her one last time, coming hard inside the condom. I lay over her, trying to keep my weight off but failing miserably.
"That was..." I gasped as I slowly pulled out of her and removed the condom. I quickly tossed it in the bin before I rejoined her on the bed.
She immediately cuddled into my side, tossing a leg over mine before tucking the sheet around us.
"I have no words for that."
She giggled, cuddling her head closer to my neck. "You sound..."
"Speechless?" I asked.
"No." She shook her head before leaning up until her lips were right next to my ear. "You sound fucked."
“I am well and truly fucked.” I laughed.
She gasped mockingly. “And here I thought that Mr. Adam Walker, the big CEO of Walker Enterprises, was an experienced man in the bedroom who’d had his fair share of the female sex.” She giggled and I loved hearing the sound. It was a sound that I wanted to hear again as often as I could while I was here.
“I’m not going to lie. I have had my fair share of women.” I stared up at the ceiling, wondering how the fuck I was going to explain myself here. I have never had to explain myself to a woman before.
I looked down at her, expecting to see revulsion on her face, but all that I saw was acceptance.
“I’m sensing a ‘but’…”
“But.” I sighed. “This right now… this is different. Being here with you felt right. None of those other women ever felt right.”
She smiled at me before leaning up and gently pressing her lips to mine. She cuddled herself closer to me where she remained for the rest of the night.
Adam
Standing in the foyer to Porter Enterprises, I anxiously waited for my meeting. The doors to the elevator slowly opened and Kate appeared, her heels tapping their way down to the reception desk. She nodded at the lady sitting behind the desk before raising her hand and beckoning me to her with her finger.
Fuck, she looked sexy when she did that.
Walking over to her, I smiled at her before reaching out to take her hand.
"What are you doing?" she whispered. She quickly moved her hand away before leading the way to the elevator.
As we waited for the elevator, I couldn't help but stare at her ass.
"Stop staring at my ass!" she snapped.
The doors slowly opened and she walked inside. She was blushing the deepest shade of red and it made me want to do wicked things to her.
I waited for the doors to close before I walked to where she was leaning against the wall of the rather large elevator.
"Don't you dare!" She held her hand up against my chest and attempted to push me away. "I'm not doing whatever it is you're thinking about with you in this elevator."
The smirk on her face told me otherwise.
"You look so fucking sexy in this skirt." I placed my hands on her hips and attempted to pull her closer to me.
"Adam!" She glared at me before pushing me back a little. "You can have me outside of this room but in here—in this building—I am off-limits. Okay?"
Fuck, she was serious.
I raised my hands in mock surrender. "Fine." I leaned back against the wall of the elevator.
She giggled bringing my eyes back to her. "You look like I just kicked your puppy."
"You fucking kicked something," I muttered.
The elevator came to a stop before the doors slowly opened. "Come with me, Mr. Walker," she taunted.
I followed behind her, loving the way her ass swayed from side to side.
She led me straight to the CEO's office, reminding me where my mind should be. This meeting was the reason I was here and it was time for me to focus. There was no way in hell I could go home empty-handed. My life wouldn’t be worth fucking living.
"Sir, I have Adam Walker for you." She smiled politely at the older gentleman behind his desk.
I gave her a cheeky wink, causing that beautiful blush to appear before walking past her and greeting the gentleman I had come all this way to see.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Porter." I quickly shook his hand, keeping a firm grip before releasing his hand. It was the first lesson I was ever taught: always appear like you are the smartest person in the room. Even when you’re not.
"That will be all, Kate." He smiled over at her before turning his attention back to me. "Please take a seat."
I turned back to look at Kate but she was already shutting the door and disappearing from my sight. I took a seat, trying to get myself back into the work mode.
"I understand that Walker Enterprises is interested in securing ownership of my business." He sat behind his desk before looking over at me.
"I understand you have many offers to consider, sir. Especially considering the size of your investment, but I would just like to assure you..."
He raised his hand, interrupting me. "You don't need to assure me of anything, son. I spoke to your father yesterday on the telephone and he and I came to an agreement."
You have got to be fucking kidding me! So I can’t be trusted to close a deal now?
He slid a document across the desk to me. "I just need you to sign here and all shares and investments will be transferred to Walker Enterprises in ninety days."
I nodded and leaned forward, taking the pen from his grip. Flicking through the document, I saw that he had a master copy with his signatures all over it telling me the paperwork in my hand was legit. Looking at it, I was fucking pissed that I was here to basically be an authorised witness of the sale of this business to my prick of an old man. I quickly scribbled my scrawl on the line and slid it back to him.
&n
bsp; "Thank you for taking the time to come in, son."
Son. There was that word again: a term of endearment for some but right now... Now it just made me feel like it was an insult.
I nodded my head before standing and reaching across to shake his hand. "Thank you for seeing me." I turned and quickly departed his office, wanting to be as far away from this office as fast as I could.
Walking through the lobby, I headed straight for the only thing that could bring me back down from where I was. I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her with me.
"Adam, what are..." She sounded shocked: either at my actions or the force of my grip on her wrist.
I didn't stop to answer her. I continued my path out the door, needing to escape with her. Moving around the side of the building, I came to a stop and pressed her up against the wall.
I pressed my lips to her neck, crushing my body to hers.
"Adam... what are...?" She gasped before placing her hands on my shoulders. "What are you doing?"
"I need you," I whispered. I poked my tongue out, tasting her flesh.
She moaned, tilting her head back before she fisted my jacket in her grip and pushed me back slowly. "We can't do this..." She looked up at me, her beautiful blue eyes shining up at me.
Fuck. I'd pushed her too far.
"I'm sorry. I..." What the fuck could I say? I wasn't sorry. I wanted her and I was tired of pushing back my emotions. I wanted her and I wanted her to want me with the same level of passion that I wanted her.
"Don't be sorry." She gave me a shy smile before darting her eyes to the floor. "I've never been propositioned at the workplace before."
We both laughed at her choice of words.
"How about I take you home and I can proposition you correctly?" I wiggled my eyebrows, needing to hear that beautiful laugh of hers.
She didn't disappoint. She tossed her head back, laughing loudly. "I have some free time I can take off. Let me go back in and get my things and I'll be with you." She reached up and gave me a quick kiss on the lips before walking back inside.
No sooner had she left me did my phone start ringing. I sighed, bringing it up to my ear.
