Michael was shaking like an aspen leaf on a tree now, but still he obeyed, his hands and ankles right where I had placed them. And as much as I wanted to taste his release on my tongue again, I had waited long enough. I had promised him I would give him what he needed, and what he needed and I wanted were about to coincide.
Chapter Nine
Michael
He reached up and raised my blindfold so I could see him. I was so flipping close when Porter raised his head just barely enough for me to see his mischievous grin. The man had other plans. As much as I missed his mouth on me, there was no part of me that doubted what he planned was going to be a bazillion times better.
I tried not to second-guess why I chose to obey verbal bondage. I liked to be in control. I needed it. Except tonight I wanted to give all of that up and enjoy all that he was offering even if I didn’t quite know what that was yet. He read me well enough to know that using his belt would’ve had me freaking out and running for the hills.
A whimper escaped my lips. “I need…” I didn’t finish the sentence because I didn’t really know what I needed. Porter. He was what I needed.
“I know what you need.”
“Now.” I was begging. No shame.
“In due time.” He smirked in that sexy way he had before reaching into his discarded pants and fishing out a condom. Thank freaking goodness. “Luckily for you, that time is soon.” And with that, he plopped the condom on the bed. Bastard.
He climbed up, hovering so close, yet not touching me, the heat of his skin enveloping me. His face inched closer, my tongue darting out instinctively, licking my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, needing to taste him. He let out a small chuckle before sealing his lips to mine.
As our kiss broke, he chuckled merrily. “For the record, I am letting you feel like you’re in control.”
I was oddly okay with that. More than okay. His body was on mine. His scent wrapped around me. His kisses seared me.
“As I am you.” I nipped at his ear as I rocked into his erection, needing both the friction and the feeling of power it gave me when he groaned.
He returned to kissing me, this time starting at my neck and working his way down to my chest. I’d always been self-conscious of my scrawny physique, but the way he worshipped me with his teeth, his tongue, his hands, had me pushing myself toward him in a less than self-conscious manner.
Porter reached behind me, finding my slick entrance, and sank a finger in as he nipped my nipple. I reflexively arched into him, begging with the words I no longer had, the need too great. As his hand left my chest and grabbed the condom, I exhaled in relief. I needed him inside me in a way I didn’t even completely understand.
“Yes,” I whispered as I heard the tearing of the foil and watched him roll it down. “But I wanted to taste that,” I mumbled more to myself than him.
“And taste it you shall, but now…now I think you need to feel it.”
Heck to the yeah on that.
He settled between my legs, his cock teasing my entrance. He was forcing me to beg, the way it tormented me as he circled my hole, almost going where I needed it most. I hated it. I loved it.
After a searing kiss, he slowly entered me, his arms quaking. I thrust my hips to speed him along, and he entered me in one swift motion, breaching my tight ring of muscle and seating himself fully—I’d never felt so complete.
“You feel amazing wrapped around my cock.” His rhythm built slowly, his words of praise tumbling out the entire time. I’d never had someone speak to me in that way. Dirty, yet reverent.
“I can’t wait to watch you ride me. Look at how sexy you are as you are about to come apart beneath me.
“I can only imagine the way you are going to squeeze my cock when I finally let you come, your offerings shooting out as I fill you.
“You are sexiness personified, Michael. Your body is an architectural marvel, and I will worship at this altar until you see what I see when I look at you, until the universe wraps its cloak around you and the stars explode in the recognition of you, in the recognition of your new beginning.”
My legs tightened around his ass, trying to pull him toward me faster…harder…deeper, meeting each thrust with a move of my hips. I’d been on edge, ready to fall over into the abyss the entire time, but when his hand cupped my balls and then began to pump my dick, I fell…hard. My body shook with pleasure as I heard him groan, his knot forming inside me, his fingers working my cock the entire time, extending my ecstasy. When he finally collapsed on me, both of us out of breath, it was all I could do to stay awake long enough to murmur, “Thanks.”
Chapter Ten
Porter
My dreams were filled with the god who had brought me to the brink of religion that night. I woke slowly, the lingering dream of Michael slowly sliding off his boxers fueling my libido. He dipped them down enough so that I saw his glorious V and the patch at the top of his groin. I came to enough to realize I was waking, and the image faded. I reached for him, ready to enjoy another round, but I grasped only cold sheets.
My eyes flew open, and I looked around the room. Nothing. No clothes, no note. He was gone. I rolled over to find I needed a shower. Of course, it was the first time I’d wanted someone to linger in the morning, too. Normally, I was a wham-bam, thank you, sir, see you never again if I can help it kind of fellow.
Michael. I hadn’t desired a man the way I did him in...years. These days, I always had to be on my guard. Everyone was looking for a step up. An inside scoop. An easy in. But not Michael. He was a hard worker. He didn’t care what I had or what I could offer...outside of bed, that is. I had offered him a job, and he had flat-out refused me.
Damn it, even the memory of his tenacious independence was riling me up. And to have tamed that independence, even if only for a while, was the kind of challenge I ran after. I would have liked to have woken him up with my mouth on his dick, my fingers in his entrance, taking the time to enjoy tasting his release the way I had last night. My hand dropped to my slowly returning erection, and I envisioned him returning the favor, that steel will softened by my attentions, his pinked, kiss-roughened lips circling my girth as he took me prettily all the way to the back of his throat.
That got me up and going quickly. I tugged at my balls as I pulled on my shaft with long strokes, attempting to imitate my fantasy. My hand was too dry. A little spit smoothed the way, and soon I was in the middle of it, watching my cock move in and out of Michael’s mouth, his pace quickening as the pressure built, energy curling into a frantic ball deep on my groin until I exploded, cum shooting up my chest and lightning bolts racing down every limb.
Why had he scurried away so fast? It was only eight in the morning. I felt a curious sense of disappointment at finding Michael gone, though. The odd sense that things hadn’t gone according to plan lingered with me as I showered and then checked out. My car was still in Nick’s parking lot, unmolested. Not that I expected anything different.
I thought about looking up one of Betsy’s other kids, not that I was close to any of them, but they were my only connection to this town, and asking who Michael was and how I could get in touch with him, but I discarded the thought. What will be, will be.
Still, there might have been a way I could run a background check on him, just to see where he lived now. I discarded that thought, too. Clearly, Michael wasn’t interested. I knew myself well enough to trust he had enjoyed himself, but he clearly hadn’t been interested in anything more than a night. Part of me wanted to keep pushing until I found him. Another part of me wanted to jump in my car and drive away from this hellhole as fast as I could, no matter what treasures it held...
I couldn’t help but look for him in the cars lined up in traffic as I left, even though I knew I wouldn’t find him. It was time to say goodbye to this town for good. Now that Betsy was gone, I had no other reason to return. I wished Michael the best. He’d escape this town easily with his drive and spunk. A burie
d part of me wished I could see it.
Chapter Eleven
Michael
It had been over two months since I’d seen Porter. Life had become somewhat normal, until a few weeks ago when I began having a feeling that something was not right. Pushing a cart filled with far more products than I needed, I snuck the box into it, beneath the bread and cereal. I might be an adult, but some things were not meant to be announced across the universe or even the grocery aisle. That little box held answers I didn’t want to know, yet needed so very desperately. The one time in my life I let go and followed my wants instead of my map, it resulted in stealth shopping, late at night, in the hopes that one of the five people I knew in this city didn’t see the reality of my life.
Sneaking out of that motel room seemed a good idea at the time. We weren’t forever, or even for a while, so why ruin it with false promises and the awkward exchange of numbers? At least that was what I rationalized at the time. Two and a half months later, I would do anything to know who Porter was.
I asked around, but no one seemed to know where he was or what he was up to, if they knew him at all. I even looked up businesses he might own, but none of the ones that came up were even close to being his. The embarrassing part was that all of this was before I knew I might actually need to get ahold of him. I just wanted to see him again. How pathetic I turned out to be all because of some kind words, a heck of a lot of heat, and a connection that was probably not even real.
Two weeks after our time together when my life finally began to make some sense again.. I somehow managed to get my dream job, though I didn’t know how, only five hours from my brother. The company even paid relocation expenses. I might have a cubical in the least visible part of the office, but I was doing something I loved and getting paid well for it. Thank goodness for that because if the little box in my cart told me what I was sure it would, I was going to need every blessed penny.
I piled things onto the conveyor belt of the sole open cashier, cussing the broken-down self-check area. The last thing I wanted was for someone to interact with me as I bought it. I felt like a teenager buying his first condoms, although this was worse because this was from a choice I’d made, a bad one. Although I hadn’t, really. We had been safe. And there was no part of me that was going to bash myself for choosing to enjoy the physical company of Porter. I wasn’t living in a time where virginity held a man’s worth, and I refused to subject myself to guilt over it.
“ID, please,” the cashier said, a young man, of freaking course. Kill me now.
“For...for what?” I stammered as I pulled it out. No wonder pregnancy tests were stolen more often than purchased. I was kind of wishing I’d gone that route by this point.
“For this.” He held up a bottle of kombucha, a bewildered look on his face.
Who knew my love of the refreshing tea beverage would be the catalyst for my death by embarrassment. Wait… Why were they even carding me? Crap, maybe it was on the not to drink while pregnant list. If I even was. Denial wasn’t going to make it less true. If I was. I put research kombucha on my list of things to do.
I whipped out my driver’s license, swearing off the drink. He punched in my birthdate and handed the card back to me as he grabbed the next thing on the belt, my pregnancy test. He met my eyes briefly before scanning it and moving on, never again looking me in the eye. It was probably more my reaction to his simple request than the actual test, or so I tried to convince myself.
Chapter Twelve
Porter
“Mr. Dahl?” My personal aide buzzed me on his intercom, startling me from my thoughts. “You asked me to remind you that you have the department meeting in ten minutes.”
I leaned forward to press the button to respond. “Thank you, Cheryl.” I stood to stretch and straightened my suit coat. It wasn’t uncommon for tech CEOs like myself to take a much more casual approach these days, wearing shorts and flip-flops, even pajama pants, to the office, but that had never sat well with me. When I put on my suit each morning, it was like I was donning armor, preparing myself for the day to come. Style, or lack of it, was both a reflection of who you were and a reminder of what you aspired to be. And I had never aspired to be a beach-bum hippie type, which is what the shorts and flip-flops ensemble represented to me. I didn’t care how much those guys made, I was focused on building myself as much as I was focused on building my business.
I was grateful for Cheryl’s reminder. I’d been lost in thoughts of him again. When I’d discovered Michael missing that morning, I had taken it in stride, or so I thought. But on the drive home, my brain insisted on dwelling on it. It was common courtesy to at least leave a note. Maybe it was returning to that town, dredging up the childhood memories and feelings of abandonment, but by the time I’d reached the city, I was burning with indignation and a desire to turn right around, to track Michael down, and make him explain himself.
I knew that was crazy, though. It had been a one-night stand. I couldn’t expect him to take my personal hang-ups into account. We’d had a good night, a really hot, sexy night, and if he didn’t want to ruin it with morning-after chitchat, I should be thanking him.
I started making my way to the developers’ floor. It would be nice if I could address all of IT at once, but the developers were, as far as I was concerned, the heart and soul of the company. I didn’t do much development these days, but that was where I had started, building this company from the ground up. Now, I had teams for sales, teams for research, teams for operations. It was hard to believe that this had all started as a one-man operation.
I nodded to each person I passed, greeting them by name when I could. And that was most people. I made it a point of pride that I could identify anyone who had been with the company six months or more by name and position. So it didn’t surprise me when I exited the elevator and instantly recognized the man walking past, wearing tight black slacks and a blue button-down shirt with a matching pinstriped vest. What did surprise me was who it was. But I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. They’d been staring at me in my dreams every night since I’d met him.
“Michael?”
At the sound of his name, he stopped and turned, a look of confusion on his face. But if I had any questions about whether he would remember me, they were gone once those eyes met mine. He recognized me, all right.
“What in the world are you doing here?” I asked.
“I work here,” he said, and that damn determination that originally drew me to him flashed across his face. “I told you, I make my own way.”
“That was what, three months ago?” Two months, twenty days, to be exact, but who was counting? I told myself it was because it was Betsy’s funeral, that’s why I remembered the date so clearly. I knew I was full of shit.
He smoothed his hair back with a triumphant smile. “You actually gave me the idea. I researched paid internships, and here I am.” Another look crossed his face. I wasn’t sure what it was, what it meant, and before I could dig in, it was gone, and his expression was guarded. “What are you doing here?” he asked suspiciously.
“I...have some business here.” I had told him I owned a software consulting firm, right? I knew I had, because I had offered him a job. But, clearly, I hadn’t told him anything else about it, or he might have connected my company to me. I don’t know why I didn’t just come out with the full truth right there. I knew I wanted to crack open that emotional armor that had just slammed down between us, and hiding who I was wasn’t going to help. He’d find out soon enough. I was surprised we hadn’t run into each other yet, as it was.
I couldn’t help myself. I stepped close to him, taking in a great breath of his scent. He stepped back, but I followed. I had to ask him. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”
His lip trembled, and I couldn’t help but think how bitable it looked.
“It was just a thing, Porter. Just a night.”
Something in his eyes said it had been more than that. But if he had thou
ght of me the way I had been thinking of him, why was he keeping his distance now?
“It would have been nice to see you again,” I said simply.
He looked like he was at a loss for words, and then shrugged. “I’d love to have answers for you, Porter, but I don’t right now. I...I can’t talk. I have to get to a meeting.”
Without saying goodbye, he turned and walked away. I took the opportunity to enjoy the view as I followed him. Even if his name had come across my desk as a new hire, I wouldn’t have noticed it. Hell, I didn’t even know Michael’s last name and there must’ve been a million Michael’s in my city. , If he was headed where I thought he was heading, this department meeting had just gotten much more interesting.
Chapter Thirteen
Michael
Pull it together. Pull it together. Pull it together. I splashed the cold water on my face for the fourth time, thinking somehow it would help. Crap, he’d seen me like this, huge crescents under my eyes, proving my lack of sleep. Which shouldn’t be a concern considering the bun in my oven.
What was he doing here? I racked my brain for any recollection of gossip about a visiting CEO and came up blank. I’d only been here a couple of weeks, but from what I could tell, if a fancy schmancy CEO was stopping by, we were usually given the heads-up. According to my department head, Francine, it was so we stopped slacking. No one slacked in our department as far as I could tell. I got the impression it was so we dressed the part because casual Friday tended to seep into all of the days of the week. We were the behind-the-scenes people, so jeans and casual slacks were usually fine.
Grabbing a paper towel, I patted my face dry before glancing at the time. Great. I was five minutes late for the department meeting with my new boss, Montgomery Dahl. That was the last thing I needed. It was bad enough they were going to figure out before long that I had a six-week maternity leave with my name on it. That was going to go over well. I shook my head, needing to clear that thought and reminding myself it would all work out. It had to. I was no longer in this alone. I had a little one on the way who was going to rely on me for everything.
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