by Claire Adams
But, I couldn’t do that. I had to be professional. I had to make sure she understood that I didn’t have feelings for her. This had to be a business relationship and nothing more.
“How was the flight up there?” I asked.
“Let’s just get to the hotel,” she said breathlessly.
“We need to stop by the office first. Will you be alright with that?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said.
We walked out and flagged down a taxi, who took us to the client’s New York office. I needed to check in and make sure things were still on schedule for the meeting today, but the moment I told the secretary who I was, her face fell.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Gunn. The meeting got rescheduled for Monday morning. Did someone not call you?” she asked.
“No. No one called me. Could you get someone on the phone for me? We’re only in town for the weekend,” I said.
“They are in meetings all day. They double-booked. Here, what hotel are you and Miss Harte staying at? I can extend your stay free of charge,” she said.
“That would be wonderful, thank you,” Stella said as she stepped in. “We’re staying at the DoubleTree Suites downtown.”
“I will get them on the phone right now and extend your stay until Tuesday. If you want to leave your return flight information with me, I’d be happy to reschedule you both on first-class tickets for your return flight Tuesday morning,” she said.
“Thank you very much. I’ll email it to you. Is this email on your business card correct?” Stella asked.
“Yes, it is. I’ll look out for your email. And again, I’m so sorry for all the trouble.”
“No worries at all. Have a wonderful day,” Stella said, smiling.
I was impressed with how she handled herself. I hadn’t ever seen her talk with the type of confidence she just had. She used no filler words, and not once did she stumble over what she was trying to say.
She was perfect in the way she addressed that woman, especially since my anger and frustrations were getting the best of me.
“Come on, Christian,” she said. “Let’s go check into the hotel, get a bit of rest, and I’ll take you out to dinner tonight.”
“That won’t be necessary, though I could use the nap,” I said.
“Christian. You gave up your first-class seat to me. Let me treat you to a nice dinner.”
“Stella, I’m honestly not sure that is a good idea,” I said.
“I’m not going to jump your bones. We’ll stay away from the alcohol, and all will be well,” she said.
“Fine. I’ll let you take me to dinner tonight. But, only if I can get some rest. I’m exhausted.”
“That’s fine. I could use a nap, too,” she said.
“The two of you are aware it’s almost 5 in the afternoon, right?”
We both turned to look at the secretary before I looked over at a clock on the wall. She was right. Even though we’d left San Diego that morning, by the time all the bullshit was over and we took into account the time change, it was almost dinnertime as we spoke.
“Alright. Quick dinner, then bedtime. Sound good?” I asked.
“Wonderful,” she breathed.
I flagged down a car and told the cab driver to take us to the nearest place where we could get some decent food. We lugged our things into the restaurant and sat down to eat, and suddenly I felt myself slip into a natural pattern with Stella. We laughed over a drink and talked about how awful the flight had been, and I could feel myself falling back into that same familiar scenario that had happened a week ago.
“You really didn’t have to give up your seat,” she said.
“It really wasn’t anything. I wasn’t going to let you ride economy,” I said.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because everyone knows economy sucks. I didn’t want our first business trip to be that horrible for you,” I said.
“Well, that’s very kind of you to say. Next time, just double-check the tickets so we can both fly first class,” she said.
“Trust me; I learned my lesson with that one.”
“So, what are we going to do with the weekend? I don’t think either of us planned on having it,” she said.
“I plan on taking many baths in that jet tub I know is in that hotel room. Maybe a nice dip in the pool. Possibly getting away with a naked steam sauna trip.”
“We aren’t in Europe, you know. If someone walks in and sees that thing you’re swinging between your legs, they're going to run out screaming,” she said.
“It’s better than them walking out laughing,” I said, grinning.
Stella reached over and placed her hand on top of mine, and I turned my palm up to take her hand. Whether it was the low-lit atmosphere of the restaurant shrouding what I was trying to do or whether it was how warm her skin was, I couldn’t go another second without feeling it against mine.
If only for just a second.
We ate and laughed over dinner before Stella settled the check, then we headed over to the hotel. I could practically feel the way that pillow was going to mold to my head, and my eyes began to droop even as I leaned against the hotel lobby desk.
“Reservations under Christian Gunn and Stella Harte, please,” she said.
The woman typed something on her computer before her brow furrowed slightly, and I groaned before the words even left her mouth.
“Stella Harte, you said?” she asked.
“Yes, and Christian Gunn. Two n’s.”
“I’m sorry, but I only have a reservation for Christian Gunn. He has a suite, and it has two rooms in it, will that be alright?” she asked.
“You don’t have a reservation for Stella Harte?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I don’t see it in the system.”
“Christian, do you have the electronic receipt for the reservation you made?” she asked.
“Does it even matter?” I asked. “The room with be fine, ma’am; thank you.”
She gave us two room keys while Stella looked wildly up at me, and I grabbed her wrist. I pulled her toward the elevator, anxious to get to a bed to lay down, not thinking about what I was doing. I was pulling her along behind me as if she were nothing but property, and I felt her yank her arm away from me just as the elevator doors open.
“You can let go of me now,” she said.
“Sorry,” I murmured.
The two of us stood in the elevator as we rode it all the way to the top, and Stella got off first. She led us to the room before she threw the door open, and I headed straight for the room to the left. I was well aware of how I had let my guard down at dinner, and I had no intentions of being around her any longer than I had to tonight.
“Christian? Your room alright?” she called out.
“It’s just fine, Stella. Thank you for asking. See you in the morning.”
“You don’t want to stay up and talk or anything?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. I need to get some rest. I’ve got an early morning of going over these notes and preparing paperwork,” I said.
“The meeting isn’t until Monday. We could enjoy the city a little bit. Maybe get out and go walking around town tomorrow,” she said.
“Goodnight, Stella,” I said.
Suddenly, the light in my room turned on. I groaned at the harshness as I closed my eyes. I felt Stella’s hand on my shoulder as she whipped me around, and I pulled away from her grasp before I straightened my back and opened my eyes.
“What gives, Gunn?” she asked.
“I’m not sure I understand,” I said.
“One second you’re holding my hand and embracing me in your arms and kissing my ear, and the next you’ve thrown your guard up and are intentionally trying to get rid of me. You give me your first-class seat and crack jokes about how big we both know your dick is at dinner, and then you come into this room and try to brush off this entire weekend like it’s supposed to be something professional.”
“It is something p
rofessional,” I said. “And we need to treat it as such.”
“I’m not doing this with you anymore,” she said as she pushed my chest. “I’m not going to let you go all hot and cold on me like Greyson did.”
“What?” I asked.
“You’ve been weird ever since we slept together,” she said as she pushed my chest again. “You’ve been hot and then cold. Passionate and then guarded. Nice and then closed-off. What the hell is your deal?”
She pushed my chest one last time, and it threw me back into a wall. Her eyes were on fire, and her chest was panting, but there was hurt behind her eyes I didn’t see very often.
I saw it in the hospital just before I left, unable to handle watching my mother die. The look in her eyes broke my heart. Did I misread the situation? Did Stella feel differently than I thought she did?
“Stella, what do you want me to say?”
“Say it,” she said. “Say you don’t want to be with me. Say you don’t give a shit so I can get on with my life. Tell me you didn’t mean to sleep with me. That I was a drunken mistake you’re now trying to rid your system of. Say it, Gunn!”
I looked at her with wide eyes and a heavy soul. For an entire week, she had been walking around thinking this about me. That I didn’t want her or like her. That she was a mistake I didn’t want to wake up to. She was walking around comparing me to the likes of Greyson, accusing me of being removed and not caring about her or her feelings.
“I’m so sorry, Stella,” I said. “But, I can’t.”
“You can’t what?” she said. “Say it, for crying out loud.”
“I can’t tell you any of that. I can’t tell you that you were a drunken mistake. I can’t tell you I don’t give a shit about you, or that you didn’t mean anything to me. I can’t tell you any of that because it’s not true.”
I felt her hand slip from my body as she stood there, shocked by my words. They hung heavy in the air, impregnating the hotel room with tension as her eyes darted between mine. Her jet black hair was wild around her face, accenting her raging green eyes that had held all this confusion and heartache for days.
It made me feel sick to my stomach.
“It’s not true,” I whispered.
And before I could react to what was happening, Stella grabbed my shirt and thrust her lips onto mine.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Stella
His words rang in my ears as we fell toward the bed. My legs parted, capturing his body between them. I could feel him shaking, his emotions finally releasing from his self-imposed prison, and I scratched my fingers down his back in a feeble attempt to get to his skin. The warmth that radiated from his lips tainted mine with the steadfast reservations the both of us held against one another, and the cold demeanor I had witnessed in him this morning fell away as his lips trailed kisses down my cheek.
I scooted my body up onto the bed as his fingers nimbly opened my blouse. My bra was exposed to him, the white contrasting against the tone of my skin. I felt his teeth graze over my breasts, heading in the direction I so desperately wanted him to go.
And his hands were everywhere, drinking me up as if he had been lost in the desert for years.
Running my fingertips through his hair, I felt him dance around the hem of my jeans. I kicked my shoes off, wanting nothing more than for him to press my naked body close to his. My breaths came in short pants as I spilled into my panties, and I lifted my head to watch him peel my jeans off me.
His eyes connected with mine, never wavering for a second as he helped himself to my legs.
My blouse fluttered along the edges of the bed as his tongue rushed up the inside of my leg. His teeth bit into my thigh, causing me to twitch as his fingertips pulled back the fabric of my panties. My pussy was glistening with my juices, waiting patiently for him to clean it up.
But I was no longer patient, and I bucked toward him to let him know I was waiting.
“You are so beautiful, Stella,” he said. “And I’m so sorry.”
His words felt like velvet against my skin, and as they fluttered over my entire being, I felt myself melt into the bed. His tongue parted my pussy lips, spilling onto his face the pleasure I had for him. His tongue began their light ministrations, flicking my swollen clit just enough to make me moan and beg for more.
And if begging was what he wanted, begging was what he would get.
“Christian, please. Please, give into me. Oh fuck, please don’t stop. I’ll do anything. Just don’t stop.”
His arms wrapped around my thighs, pulling me closer to his face as I began bucking into him. His evening stubble tickled the sides of my pussy while his tongue pressed into my clit, and my legs started to shake against his head. I dug my heels into his back as my hands tugged at his hair, pulling him further into me while my body chased its own release.
I wanted it more than I could stand, but I wanted it to come from him.
My body unraveled underneath the guidance of his tongue as my clit pulsed against him. He sucked it between his lips, causing my body to quake as my legs pulled tight. My eyes screwed shut, and my back arched off the bed, and suddenly I was thrown into a cataclysmic reality where nothing existed by the two of us. I could feel the strength of his arms pushing me toward the bed, restraining my body as I floated up toward the ceiling. I could feel my heels digging into the rippling muscles of his back as he moaned with approval into my pussy.
And I could feel him smirk, proud of what he had accomplished as my back came crashing down to the bed.
I laid there, heaving and gasping for air while my head spun in blank reverence. His lips pressed wet kisses on my stomach, leaving a trail of shimmering lust behind him as his body crawled up mine. My body twitched with each kiss, crying out for more while it simultaneously lulled to rest, and the moment his lips captured mine I could feel the aching passion pouring from his body.
I fluttered my eyes open and caught a glimpse of those steely blue eyes, but all I saw was the bright blue eyes of a man who had finally given in to what he wanted. A man who had cast his reservations aside to reach for what he wanted most.
And I smiled before I pulled his shirt over his head.
Silently, I peeled him out of his clothes. They fell to the floor, covering the carpet until all that was left was his skin pulled taut over his gloriously naked body. My fingertips traced the divots of his chiseled chest, leading down into a sculpted abdomen I couldn’t help but dig my fingernails into. I heard him suck in a sharp breath of air, his face collapsing into the crook of my neck as his throbbing cock fell between my legs.
“Please let me have you,” he said into my ear.
“You already do, Christian,” I said. “I don’t understand it, and I don’t really get it, but you already do.”
Without another word uttered between the two of us, he planted his hands and rolled his hips. His dick found its home, inching in slowly as my legs spread to accommodate him. His thick cock pierced right through my walls, pushing and rubbing against places I didn’t even know existed, and I could feel my face twisting in pleasure with every inch my pussy gobbled down.
“Holy shit, you feel amazing,” he said.
I rose my hips to meet his, and I felt his legs shake between mine. I threw my hands around his neck, crashing his lips down onto mine, and soon his buried dick began to sheath itself into my warmth. Time and time again, his hips slapped against me, drawing from my throat breathless moans and groans meant only for him. My fingertips dug into the muscles of his back, feeling them work hard for me as he slammed his hips into mine.
I could hear the wet sound of skin slapping skin as his balls smacked my ass, and all at once I began to chant his name like the chorus of a song.
“Christian. Christian. Yes. Please. Oh, my shit. Yes. You feel, oh, fuck. So good. Shit.”
He pulled the lobe of my ear between his teeth, and it sent goosebumps down my neck. I bit into his shoulder, stifling the groans that were slowly turning into yelp
s. Every time his dick slammed into me, it grew thicker against my walls, and I felt that telltale electric burn begin to rise up from my toes.
“Oh, fuck. You feel so good around me, Stella. Holy hell. Milk that cock.”
I planted my heels on the bed and lifted my hips to meet his fevered thrusts. My head pressed into the pillow as my hands slid down his arms, massaging his rippling muscles as we breathed one another’s air. I watched him draw his lip between his teeth as his hips began to stutter, and just as I felt my pussy clench down hard onto his dick, he dipped his face into my breasts.
“I’m so close,” he said, groaning. “Oh, fuck. I’m so close.”
“Cum for me, Christian. Cum with me.”
I slammed my hips up into his one last time before my body completely unraveled. My back arched into his muscular chest as his arm wrapped around my back. He pulled me close to him, sucking in a patch of my skin as he marked me for his own pleasure. I could feel his teeth digging into my skin, forcing my orgasm to bubble to the surface, and all I could do was allow my body to be swallowed whole by his.
Sweat was dripping onto the bed, and the room was tainted with our humidified lust. His dick throbbed against my walls, filling me with the evidence of his passion for my body. I felt him pumping stream after stream of cum deep inside my body before it started spilling out onto the bed, and as I felt him collapse on top of me, I dropped us both to the bed.
We gasped for breath together, two bodies exhausted and trembling in the night of the New York City skyline, and all I could think about was how I wanted to hold him.
So, I snaked my weakened arms around his body and held him close to mine.
I cared for this man. This man that was a completely different person from when we were children. Gone were the days of him pulling my hair, getting on my nerves, and making me scream for him at the top of my lungs when it was dinner time. Gone were the days of us arguing over whose parent was better or who would get to open the first Christmas gift.
Gone were the days of us drifting apart.
In that little child’s place was a man. A man I’d needed in my life more than I was willing to admit. A man more like who people envisioned me with instead of the man I’d settled for. A man who made me feel beautiful, protected, and covered from a world that had ripped everything from me.
