by Parker, Ali
“How about here?” I whispered. “Will your neighbors hear us when I make you scream my name?”
Her lips parted, her eyes dropping to my mouth. “I guess we’re going to find out.”
She leaned forward and kissed me. It was just as I said. Nothing else in the entire world mattered when I was with her. The last two weeks without her had been fraught with stress and worry. With her lips against mine, I wasn’t thinking about anything else except her. She was the salve I needed.
“Bedroom,” I murmured against her lips.
She got up, extending her hand to help me off the couch. She led me down the short hallway to her bedroom. There were several candles burning on the dresser. The curtains were drawn, and it was just me and her.
I pulled her close and kissed her slow and deep, savoring every breath and whimper she released.
Chapter 58
Evie
I told myself to guard my heart. That rational side of me was easily shushed and sent to a corner whenever he touched me. My body longed for his touch. I craved his kisses. I was addicted to the man in the worst way.
I could hear my inner dialogue as if I were a third party listening in. I bargained with myself. One night of passion with him and then I would stay away from him. Just one more night. I just needed him one more time to take the edge off.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered as his lips grazed my earlobe. “I dream about you every night. I think about touching you all the time. Sometimes, I think I smell you while I’m in bed, only to wake up and find myself alone.”
His words sent shivers up and down my spine. My entire body erupted into gooseflesh. “I think about you all the time.”
He ran his hands down my sides, stroking me through my clothes. He didn’t appear to be in any real hurry to strip me. I was feeling just the opposite. I felt as if I would erupt into flames if I didn’t have his skin against mine.
“I want you,” he breathed. His hands slid up my shirt, sliding up the fabric until I was reaching my hands to the ceiling. With one quick lift, it was over my head. I instinctively leaned into him, my breasts pushing against his hard chest.
“More,” I begged. “I need more.”
“I’m going to give you so much more.”
I rubbed against him like a cat rubbing against its owner. I demanded to be petted and stroked. “I’m so hot.”
“Yes, you are,” he teased. He pushed my pants down.
I very ungracefully stepped out of them and kicked them out of my way.
“You have too many clothes on,” I pouted, still rubbing my body against his.
“Shh,” he said before swallowing my complaints.
He slid his hand over my hip and circled around to move between my legs. The heat from his palm infused me with electricity as he pressed against my very core. I moaned, grinding my hips against his hand in an effort to seek more friction.
“More,” I begged. I was on fire. I had been too long without his touch. I needed him more than anything else in that moment.
“Take it,” he ordered. “I’m right here. You take what you need.”
I reached between us and held his hand against me before rubbing myself against the heel of his hand. I gasped, pure pleasure shooting through me. “Yes,” I whispered. I was in control.
I moved against his hand, riding it until I worked myself into a frenzy.
“Harder,” he commanded.
“More.”
“Harder,” he said again.
I was trembling with need. My body felt frenzied. It wasn’t enough. “More,” I said again with more force.
He grabbed me by the waist and lifted me several inches before dropping me onto the bed. I scrambled backward, waiting for him to join me. He crawled beside me without taking off his clothes. I was about to ask him what the hell he was doing when he put his hand over me once again. He didn’t move for several seconds, simply absorbing the heat emanating from between my legs. I writhed under him, desperate for penetration.
He pulled my panties away. I moaned, waiting for what I knew was coming next. His hand settled over my exposed center. When he didn’t slide the finger I was craving inside me, I took matters into my own hands. I placed my hand over his, pushing him against me. More heat and friction coursed through my body.
He made no move to put a finger inside me. Once again, I took the initiative. I adjusted his hand over me, and with my finger on the back of his index finger, I pushed him inside my slick opening. He was watching me with a fiery gaze, giving me the approval to keep going. I rocked against him, riding his finger as I held it right where I needed it to achieve the most satisfaction.
“There you go,” he growled. “Ride it. I know you can move faster.”
I cried out, rocking my hips and sliding his finger in and out of me. I pushed another one of his long fingers inside me, the tips of my own mingling with his. I could feel how wet I was. My mind blanked as I furiously worked toward the only thing I could focus on. Ecstasy. I was after it, chasing it until my body exploded in a series of brilliant flashes of white heat.
I moaned, writhing against him, his fingers still planted inside me. “There you go,” he coaxed. “That’s my girl. Take all you want.”
With the edge off, I was only getting started. I needed a lot more than a couple of fingers. I got up, pushing him to his back and furiously attacking him. First, it was his shirt. I yanked and tugged with no real thought to how I was going to get it off his body.
Once it was gone, I went after the pants. I slid down him, my feet hitting the floor as I tugged his pants and underwear off. I gave him no time to bark orders or tell me what he wanted. I knew what I wanted. I wanted him.
I slid my body back up his, trailing kisses over his defined abs and spending a little extra time on his chest before finally landing on his mouth.
I devoured him, rubbing my body against his. He reached up to unhook my bra, freeing my breasts. I purred against him, sliding my hard nipples against his chest. The crinkly hairs smattered over his chest teased and tickled.
Soon, I couldn’t resist the urge to ride him. I sat up, looking down at the man who was looking up at me with pure lust in his eyes. “Fuck me,” he said the words that nearly had me orgasming right then.
I moved, adjusting my body to take him in. With slow, purposeful moves, I swallowed him inside me. I moved my hips, taking the last little bit and leaned back, closing my eyes and relishing in the feel of him throbbing inside me.
His hands reached up, grabbing my breasts and squeezing and tugging. I began to move in a slow rhythm, taking the time to grind against his body. Sounds of pleasure echoed around us.
He wasn’t bossing me now. He was letting me take the lead. Usually, it was breakneck speed to pleasure for me, but I wanted to savor the moment. I wanted to relish in every little spark of ecstasy and follow it until a new one caught my attention.
“Damn,” he said. “You feel so good, so tight. You are so fucking hot.”
A lazy smile spread over my lips as I continued my ride. I moved like I was on a leisurely stroll through a beautiful garden on a warm sunny day. I pressed my lips together, moaning with pleasure. “I want to ride you all night.”
“Baby, you can ride me all week,” he answered. His hands moved to my thighs, sliding up and down. I could feel his need building as he squeezed my flesh.
“I have to move faster,” I told him. A wave of need overwhelmed me. I couldn’t stop my hips. I rode him hard and fast. My breasts bounced as I moved. I was on a mission and nothing was going to get in my way.
“Faster!” he shouted.
I cried out with frustration and need. I couldn’t seem to get fast enough for what my body was demanding. I tried. My hands settled on his chest, my fingertips digging in for purchase as I bounced harder and higher with every stroke.
“Oh god!” I cried out again when the orgasm slammed into me as if I had run face first into a wall. It actually threw me back. My
back bowed and I could feel my nails dig into his flesh. I was helpless to do anything but ride it out.
His hips were bucking off the bed, threatening to unseat me. I held on for dear life as the ecstasy coursed through my veins, setting my skin on fire. I could hear his grunts and curses signaling his own pleasure had been reached.
In a flash, the force that had been keeping me upright broke and I collapsed against his chest in one big heap. I struggled to catch my breath. My body trembled as his arms came around me, holding me close to him. I could feel his heart pounding so hard it felt as if it would pop out of his chest.
We had enjoyed countless orgasms together, but this one had been the most violent. The time apart had been too much for our bodies to handle. We were addicted to one another. I slowly slid off him, reaching for a blanket at the foot of the bed to cover our naked bodies. I had goosebumps and the shivering wouldn’t let up. It had nothing to do with being cold and everything to do with being pleasured beyond measure.
“Run away with me,” he said after several minutes of each of us trying to catch our breath.
“What?”
“I can support you. You don’t need to work. Come away with me. We can go anywhere, do anything.”
My heart jumped. It was what I wanted to hear, but now that he actually said it, I knew there was no way I could do that. “That is a conversation for another night. You are riding high on the afterglow.”
“I’m serious,” he said.
“I want to fall asleep in your arms. I don’t want to think about tomorrow or next week. Let’s just enjoy what we have right now in this moment.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I can do that.”
I said nothing more. There was a lump in my throat that prevented me from saying anything. I didn’t know how to answer him. Nelle had suggested I run away with him, but I wasn’t a runner. I needed to be grounded. Running from his problems wasn’t going to solve anything. Whatever he was trying to work through was still going to be waiting for him when he got back. Running solved nothing.
As much as it was going to kill me, I had to let him go. I had to let him run free. He wasn’t ready to settle down. He wasn’t ready to face the demons that were haunting him. There was nothing I could do to change that. I didn’t want to get caught up in the moment. Those demons would catch up with him eventually.
It would have been incredibly romantic if he was asking me to run away with him because he wanted me. I had a feeling he was asking me to run away with him because he didn’t want to be alone. I was only a slot filler. I was a distraction. That was not going to work for me. I needed more. Sadly, I didn’t think he was capable of offering more than an occasional night of really good sex. Not yet.
Maybe one day. Oh please, let it be one day. I could hold out for a little longer. I could hang on and pray he found a way to soothe his soul.
Chapter 59
Xander
It was like deja vu waking up with Evie in my arms. It reminded me of the hotel room in Oregon. I remembered how I felt in that moment. It was good. Holding her in my arms was damn near as good as making love to her. I knew I wanted it again and again. When we were in bed together, I could forget about everything else.
I wanted the moment to last forever. Why did it have to end? I told myself we could pull the blankets up to our chins and cocoon ourselves for days. I sighed, knowing she would never agree to that. There was no putting a social butterfly back in a cocoon. She loved her job and her people. I would be selfish to take her away from the world.
Just then, I didn’t give a fuck about the world. I wanted her all to myself.
“You are awake before me again,” she said in a sleepy voice.
“I am an early riser,” I said and wrapped her tighter in my arms. “I think I’m cursed. My father cursed us. If I sleep past eight, I feel as if I have broken the law.”
She groaned and snuggled against me. “What could you possibly do before eight?”
“Let’s see. I usually go for a swim, sometimes a run. Then I like to enjoy my coffee and browse the internet. I sometimes sketch out ideas that have popped in my head during the night. Sometimes, I just sit out on the patio and do nothing.”
“Do you go for a swim in your pool or the ocean?”
“Depends on the weather,” I answered. “I love a cool dip in the ocean, but I’ll admit, I don’t always feel that ambitious to climb up and down those stairs.”
“I do not blame you. I did that climb. It’s a miracle I had the strength to climb through your kitchen window.”
I chuckled. “I still cannot believe you did that.”
“A girl has to do what she has to do when things are desperate.”
“I’m glad you did it.”
“Have you been to your house?”
“No.”
“Did you take care of the business you had with Charlie?”
I blew out a breath, my hand absently traveling up and down her arm. “I don’t know. Not really.”
“What do you need to do?”
“That’s the thing. I’m not sure.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” she asked. “You only said it was something to do with the business.”
I didn’t want to tell her because I felt like an asshole for my part in the situation. I shouldn’t have left them hanging. I should have thought about what I was doing before I up and left. “That meeting I missed didn’t just cost me a sale. Charlie and I have worked together a lot. He understands me and can read between the lines of my designs. Other mechanics don’t always get what I’m trying to do. Because of that, Charlie’s company handles a large chunk of the manufacturing and building of my designs.”
“Does he own the company?”
“No, but he is one of the heads, even though no one would ever realize it. He’s always got dirty hands and his head in an engine. He hired a crew in anticipation of business picking up with the new fan and rudder design I was supposed to present. The shipping industry is just as rife with rumors and gossip as an old ladies’ book club.”
“Hey,” she said and slapped at my chest. “I used to be in a book club.”
“And how much reading did you actually do?”
She softly laughed. “Good point. Go on.”
“When I didn’t show, it pissed off a lot of people. I didn’t present the design, and therefore, Charlie’s guys have nothing to build. They have plenty of other work, but that’s the work that will keep his regular crew going. The extra team has nothing to do.”
“Ouch. That’s a lot of pressure to put on one guy.”
“Maybe, but I feel responsible. I paid the payroll for a month to keep those guys on, but that’s not going to solve the problem.”
“Does that mean you’re going to release that design then?”
I blew out a breath, staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. I suppose I could have a proxy do it for me, but I don’t think anyone can explain it as well as I can.”
“Of course not. You are the designer. You are the mastermind. You are the one they want to hear from.”
“Which is why I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I retired.”
She turned her face up to look at me. “You retired?”
“That was my plan.”
“Oh.”
“Not permanently,” I clarified. “At least I don’t think so. I sound like a nutjob. I really had not given it a lot of thought. I just knew I was done with the life I had. I wasn’t sure where I was going but something had to change.”
“I remember,” she said, sounding disappointed. “Are you rethinking your decision?”
“I think I am. Unfortunately, judging by the emails I have gotten and the messages my assistant has passed along to me, I think my retirement might be inevitable. It isn’t really my choice anymore.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I burned
some bridges. Not just burned. I blew them up. I imploded my own reputation. I’m not sure anyone will ever take me seriously again. The general consensus is something along the lines of I lost my shit and have moved to some hideaway. I’m a laughingstock in the industry. I don’t think I could get anyone to the table, let alone get them to buy my new idea. They will laugh me right out of the room. It was a stretch when my reputation was intact.”
She moved her head away from my chest and rested it on the pillow. I turned to my side to face her.
“I think your first question is to ask yourself what you want,” she said. “Like really want.”
“I want to fix the mess I made with Charlie.”
“And to do that, you need to send work his way, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not entirely sure how your business works, but the designs you have sold. Won’t they speak for themselves? Don’t companies always need new ships?”
I offered her a small smile. “Not when they are built right the first time. This new idea I had was more of a retrofit. I designed it with the idea of existing ships being fixed. It would save a fortune on future repairs and would be a hell of a lot cheaper than building a whole new ship.”
“It certainly sounds like it would be a good investment for those shipping magnates.”
“Yes, but now that my idea has been making the rounds, it isn’t going to be long before some other dude figures it out and puts it on the market.”
She looked irritated. “Do you think someone would really do that?”
“Oh, hell yeah. I have no doubt in my mind it’s already in progress.”
“Well, that’s bullshit!” she exclaimed.
I grinned, leaning forward to drop a kiss on her nose. “I agree but it’s the nature of the beast. You have to shit or get off the pot.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Gross.”
“Sorry.”
She looked thoughtful, gnawing on her lower lip. It was her habit to worry her poor lip when she wanted to say something. I learned to sit tight and let her get it out when she was good and ready. “You are not the only guy my dad knows in the world of shipping.”
