by Lexy Timms
“Oh?” She was shivering suddenly, with anticipation and need. “Tell me.” She ran a hand slowly up the length of his broad, muscled chest. “I want to hear it.”
Alex’s hands drifted to the back of her neck, brushing aside soft wisps of hair before pressing into the muscle there, massaging in a way that made her almost go limp. Damn, it felt good. “How’s this?”
Jamie adjusted herself slightly so she could tip her head forward, giving him better access to her neck and shoulders. For the next few minutes, Alex worked gently but firmly at the area, releasing the built up tension that hadn’t quite seemed to all go away even after the mess with Nicholas was over. Jamie let her eyes fall shut, reveling in the attention and the feeling of his hands on her skin.
“This good, baby?” Alex asked.
“Oh, yes,” she nearly moaned the words. “Just like that.”
For another minute or two at least, and then she was going to insist that he go a few more places, because as nice as the massage felt there was a lot more of her that needed to be touched. She imagined the aftermath of that train of thought, the two of them naked and sweaty and spent, tangled together on the bed. She knew exactly what it would look like. How it would feel.
“Alex…” This time she did moan.
He growled, and she pressed closer to him, wanting—needing—his body against hers. “Jamie?” he asked, breath washing warm against her ear and sending heat sparking through her.
She tipped her head up, curling a hand around the back of his neck, and dragged him down to kiss him hard on his beautiful mouth. They melted into each other, his arms wrapping around her waist, her hands cupping his face, and they kissed again. And then again, and his tongue lapped against her lips, seeking entrance, and she let him have it, moaning again at the taste of him.
When Jamie pulled away, she was breathless, aching with need.
“Alex…” she groaned, and she slid her hands from his face to chest, retracing the familiar lines of the muscles just underneath the thin fabric of his shirt. Her fingertips drifted down and further down, until they hovered right at the waistband of his pants.
“Roll over?” she asked, and Alex raised his eyebrows at her but did as she said, rolling onto his back.
Jamie settled herself over him, straddling his waist, her hands pressed against his chest. She leaned forward, a smile playing across her lips, and kissed him gently on the neck. And then, smile growing wider, she bit him.
“Jamie!” Alex’s back and neck arched, and he growled her name through clenched teeth, making her shudder and roll her hips down against his.
She didn’t manage to suppress the wide grin that broke over her face, and Alex looked at her like he wanted to make her pay for it, but he stayed still under her, his hands wrapped around her thighs. His thumbs stroked circles over the skin there, and Jamie didn’t know if she was going to be able to take it as slow as she had planned on after all, because she desperately wanted him.
“Take off your shirt,” Jamie said, already reaching for the buttons herself.
A huff of breathless laughter escaped him. “Like you needed to ask,” he retorted, his own hands reaching for the buttons so that he was unfastening the top and she was unfastening the bottom. They met in the middle, and Jamie took a moment to admire the view as his shirt fell open.
She kissed his neck again, gently this time, no biting, and then began kissing a trail down to his chest, letting her fingernails drag lightly down the length of him as she went. His hands tightened around her thighs in a way that suggested she had better get on with it before he took control himself. Jamie gave him a smile, and kept moving down until she stopped at his waistband. After a moment’s pause, he growled her name and ordered her to “Move a little faster. Fuck. Jamie…”
She slowly dragged his pants and boxers down his legs and tossed them aside.
He was hard already, and Jamie didn’t waste any time in wrapping her hands around the length of him. She gave him a long, heated gaze from beneath the curtain of her blond hair.
“Jamie. Come on, baby. Want to feel that perfect mouth of yours.”
Smiling, Jamie obligingly bent her head and wrapped her lips around him.
Alex groaned, hips rocking up against her hands pressed against them to hold them down. His fingers tangled themselves in her hair, his palms on the top of her head.
“Jamie,” Alex moaned. “Fuck. Jamie.”
His reaction was all the encouragement she needed. She thought about waiting for a second, allowing Alex to catch his breath, but no, she wanted to keep him right on the edge until he couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to hear him moan for her. And, if she was honest with herself, she couldn’t wait either.
She trailed her tongue up the length of his shaft, up and around the head, kissing the tip, before once again taking him whole in her mouth.
He shuddered as she worked her mouth on him, his hands tightening in her hair, although not enough to pull. He tried to say something, maybe say her name, but a throaty rasp seemed to be the only noise that came out, and Jamie let herself feel a little flush of pride at her ability to reduce him to this. So hungry for her.
The sounds he made were encouragement enough to keep doing exactly what she was doing. Her head bobbed up and down the length of him, tongue tasting every bit of him that he had to offer. She loved the way he felt in her mouth. Loved the way that his head tossed against the sheets like he could relieve some of the pressure that way. Usually she was the one begging for more. It was nice to turn the tables every once in a while, and drive her strong, handsome husband just a little wild.
She had one hand wrapped around the base of him, the other on his muscular thigh, and she could feel him tensing, his body pulling tight with pleasure and need. Already close to the edge.
“Jamie,” he gasped, taut as wire under her, and he gripped at her hair, closed his eyes, and spoke through clenched teeth. “Jamie. Fuck. I’m going to come.”
She didn’t stop.
He gasped suddenly and went still. Every tendon in his body seemed to strain as he overflowed, pulsing and spilling into her mouth. He was saying something incoherent that might have been her name. When he finished, he collapsed back on the bed, breathing heavily.
“Jesus,” he panted. “Jamie. You’re incredible.”
She looked up at him, then slowly, deliberately, licked the tip of his cock, grinning when he bucked and swore under her. Laughter bubbled up from her chest.
He glanced at her, and then he was laughing, too, a tired, happy sound. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up to lie next to him. “I love you, Jamie.” He kissed her once, twice, then pushed her hair back from her face. “And not just because you’re the hottest woman in the world and your mouth is perfect.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Jamie accused with no heat. She wrapped herself closer around him. “I love you, too.”
A comfortable, contented silence stretched between them. For a minute Jamie just enjoyed lying there, his arms wrapped securely around her and his body pressed so close to her own. In a minute she was going to start demanding her own satisfaction, but until then she just wanted to enjoy the lingering contentment in her husband’s embrace.
“You’re warm,” she said finally, and her hand drifted up to his chest and settled there. “I like you when you’re like this.”
Alex gave her a look that suggested he was wondering what had gotten into her. “I think sweaty might be a better description.”
“That, too.” She glanced up at him. “But also naked and smiling.” She grinned, pitching her voice a little lower. “And spent.”
“Well, we’ll just have to make sure that you have me like this more often,” he said, and Jamie was more than okay with that.
She rolled her hips, throwing one leg over his so that she could rock against his thigh. Suddenly the clothes she was wearing felt like way too much constriction, and she slid out of his arms so t
hat she could kneel up and strip off the sweater she’d worn for dinner, then shimmied out of her jeans. Her underwear followed, and she was as naked as he was. She dropped down again so that she was kneeling over him, and then she leaned down and kissed him.
It was meant to be brief, just a quick brush of her mouth against his, but Alex wrapped a hand around her neck and dragged her down into it again, kissing her long and slow until she was breathless and dizzy with want. When she pulled back, Alex looked up at her, those blue eyes warm with appreciation and love. He ran his big hands up her waist to hold the weight of her breasts in them, thumbs stroking over her nipples and making her spine arch.
He was hard again beneath her. Jamie’s stomach fluttered, and a pool of warmth had spread from her middle downward. She rocked her hips, grinding herself against him and making them both moan.
“Tell me what you want, baby.” She looked down at him, spread out on their bed. “Tell me.”
He gripped her hips tightly in his hands. “I want you, Jamie.” His voice was a growl again, that sound that always made her whole body flush with need. “I want you.”
“You have me,” she answered, and the fluttering in her stomach blossomed into white hot desperation.
Alex’s hands on her hips suddenly flipped them, turning so that she was looking up into his eyes, and Jamie grabbed at his shoulders. He pressed inside her, and she moaned.
“I love you,” he said, low and hot and wanting. “Damn, Jamie, I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” she breathed as he found his rhythm, rocking against her, filling her up with every thrust. “I love you so much, Alex.”
He bucked his hips, driving more of himself into her, groaning with the kind of pleasure that made her rock up to meet him, her stomach clenching and her whole body hot.
“Tell me,” she gasped suddenly, looking up into the face that was so familiar now, so beloved. “Tell me you want me.”
Alex looked down at her, his eyes smoldering with the same hot desire she could feel burning under her own skin. “I want you.” He growled the words low in his throat, his hand leaving her hip to trail down below her navel, below her waist until his fingers buried themselves between her thighs and found what they were looking for.
“I want you, Jamie,” he said as his fingers rubbed, flicking back and forth over the little nub of her pleasure, making her choke out his name, past the need tight in her throat.
“I want you,” he said again, fingers moving faster and faster, encouraged by Jamie’s keening moans, by the rocking of her hips. “I want you, Jamie. I want you.”
She sucked in her breath sharply, his name falling from her tongue. His fingers were still on her, building pressure and the longing, aching need. She was rocking against him faster and faster, couldn’t stop if she had wanted to, couldn’t think anymore.
“I want you, Jamie,” he said, low and urgent. “I need you. I love you.”
“Oh please,” she moaned, her whole body warm and aching, so much pressure building, and she was so close. So close. “Oh please, oh please.”
Alex thrust himself further into her, and she writhed and rocked into that perfect sensation, bodies tied together and rocking and needing. Pleasure shocked through her, burning along her nerves, and Jamie exploded with it, crying out his name again as she came.
“Jamie—” Her name on Alex’s lips, a low grown of pleasure and need, and every muscle in his body was suddenly as taut as a string about to snap. He shuddered suddenly, gasped, and followed her over.
He slumped over her, both of them breathing heavily.
“Alex…” Even saying that much seemed like a huge effort.
Alex shifted his weight just enough that he wasn’t leaning it all on her, and she could feel his heart pounding against his ribs, a rhythm to match the frantic beat of her own. He draped an arm over her and pressed up against her side. Neither of them spoke while their hearts and their breathing slowed.
“Is it just me,” Alex said finally, “or are we really good at this?”
Jamie laughed. “No,” she said, “I think we’re really good at this.”
“Glad to know I’m not imagining it, then,” he said, laughing with her, his hand reaching up to slide through her hair. “The more in love we are, the better the sex is, I think.”
“Well, then, it’s no wonder that the sex is so amazing.”
His mouth found hers, and the kiss was slow, and sweet, and perfect.
“Just think,” Jamie said when they separated again. “When you’re not working twelve hours a day, we can do this a lot more often.”
“I’m going to be looking forward to that,” Alex answered, “and to more time with the peanuts. They’re growing up so fast. I don’t want to miss it.”
He shifted, then, moving up the bed so that he could pull the blankets down, and Jamie crawled up beside him.
“You’re not going to miss it,” she said, settling down with her head on his chest and listening to the slow, steady beat of his heart in the dark. “You’re going to be here for every bit of it.”
His arm wrapped around her, holding her close. “I am,” he promised. “Always, Jamie. I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 17
“Big day today, isn’t it?” Zander said cheerfully as Alex stepped out onto his floor.
Alex smiled at the man who was going to be taking some of the work that he had finally been persuaded to delegate. He hadn’t been entirely sure, when he’d decided to promote him, how Zander would do with a more front and center place in the company when the other man had always seemed to work best behind the scenes, but the choice had proved to be a good one; Zander had been nothing but a help since the promotion.
“I’m not sure it’s really that much of an event,” Alex said. “But I have to say that I’m actually looking forward to going home at a decent time tonight.”
It surprised him, actually, how much he was looking forward to it. Not that he didn’t want to go home and spend time with Jamie and the twins, but Reid Enterprises had been the most important thing in his life until he met Jamie, and even after he hadn’t been sure that he wanted to give up the huge part it played. Or the part he played in it. He’d wondered if, when the day came, he would resent having to turn some of his company over to the hands of someone else. Now that it was here, he was finding that he was just glad to know that he would get back home at a reasonable time, that Jamie would be happy, and that he’d have more hours in the day to spend with his children instead of sitting behind a desk.
“More power to you,” Zander said, and Alex lifted his hand in a brief wave before ducking into his own office.
He wasn’t giving up Reid Enterprises entirely, at least. And he wasn’t going to have to worry anymore about Nicholas. The CEO of Sunrise Applications hadn’t managed to escape the long arm of the law a second time, and his trial was set for the end of January. Until then, he was out on bail, free to continue running his company, but his reputation had taken a hard turn for the worst, and most people didn’t want much to do with either of them. Which was just fine with Alex. It meant that Nicholas didn’t have enough power to threaten him. Even with his reduced presence at the office, Reid Enterprises would be safe. It was a good company. Well set up. He had confidence that it would be fine even if he wasn’t there to oversee almost every minute of every day.
Still feeling the pleasant lightness that came with knowing that he would be going home to a happy wife after a shorter workday than the ones he was used to, Alex pulled up the financial files he’d marked to go over last week when one of the accountants had brought them to his attention. Probably nothing much, he’d said, just a discrepancy in the numbers that might be the result of some kind of miscalculation, but it would be better if Alex checked it out. The financial records were tedious, but if there was something going on with them, Alex wanted to know.
He scrolled down the first report, pausing every so often to double-check the numbers. A
nd then he stopped. There, he could see, was the discrepancy that the accountant had pointed out. It wasn’t something that was that obvious, unless you were someone who worked with numbers on a daily basis. Just a small amount off from what Alex thought it should be. He checked the numbers.
Yes. It was off. Jaw tightening, Alex opened a new file and marked down the problem, then continued on.
There was another anomaly. And then, a few documents later, another.
They weren’t like the obvious charges that had started showing up on the company account when Gina had been a pawn for Nicholas’s tricks. These were slight fluctuations in the monthly investment numbers. Fluctuations that shouldn’t have been there. And every time, they affected the numbers for a different company, which should have made it less suspicious, but now that he’d seen the pattern Alex couldn’t believe it was anything but purposeful.
He called down to the accountant who’d had the papers sent up, and asked him what had made him notice the change in the numbers, because it wasn’t large enough that it would have immediately stood out as a red flag unless you were already looking for it.
“Well,” the accountant said, his voice nervous. “That’s actually the thing… I didn’t notice it on my own. One of the people from IT said to me that he’d noticed one of the employees opening files that didn’t seem to have any connection to business going on at the time. So he looked into it, and told me to check the numbers on the financials, to see if the trail led where he thought it did.”
“And it did,” Alex said. “Which is why you brought it to me.”
“Exactly, Mr. Reid. I just figured if something is going wrong, you’d want to know about it sooner rather than later.”
“Do you know which employee was pulling the files?”
“No. But I can tell you that the IT guy who brought it to me was Lebowitz.”
“I’ll give him a call, then,” Alex said. “Thank you, Mr. Martin. You’ve been helpful.”
He closed the call on the accountant, and called down to Mr. Lebowitz’s desk. The call was answered immediately.
