by Gina Drayer
A loud pounding on the door broke through the muffled sounds from below. “Lee. Are you okay?” Dylon shouted above the noise.
“I’m fine.” Just weak. She wanted to beg him to go away.
“Cash said you left in a hurry. Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine. I just have a headache,” she said, pressing her cheek against the wood or the door. Please go before I do something stupid.
“Can I get you anything?”
“No. I’ll be okay in a while.” Her head spun, trying to think of something she could say that would make him leave.
“Open the door.”
“Why?”
“I want to see your face. I need to know that you are okay. I’m not leaving until I see you.”
She considered ignoring him, but knowing him, he wouldn’t go away until he got what he wanted. And according to Cash, he wanted her. Again, her treacherous heart picked up speed. She could open the door a crack, let him see her, then tell him to leave.
At least, that had been the plan. But as she moved to open the door, she couldn’t get her limbs to cooperate. She fumbled with the lock, and when she opened it, it swung wide. She saw his face and realized she was standing in front of him in a bra and half-slip. Her face grew hot, but she stood her ground.
“I’m okay,” she repeated, hating the weakness in her voice.
He stared at her like a starving man, but there was still a note of worry in his eyes.
“No, you aren’t.” He seemed to be struggling to breathe. He gripped the door. “And neither am I.”
“I’m fine. You can go ba—”
He stepped toward her, took her in his arms, and kissed her. For a moment her body went rigid, but when his strong arms wrapped around her, she was lost. His warmth seeped into her, and she melted against him.
This was such a bad idea. She wanted to tell him to stop, but his urgent, heady kiss drove all thoughts from her head. He tasted of desire—of every sexual urge she’d managed to suppress since walking into his bar. It called up every erotic dream of Dylon from the nights alone in her bed and every fantasy that had crept into her head when she would glance at him across the crowded bar.
And now they were alone, with his hands exploring her back as he kissed her, setting her on fire. Any chance of resistance was long gone.
He’d meant to stay away. He was trying to respect her boundaries, but when she opened the door all thoughts of boundaries and respectability vanished. He pushed her against the wall and kicked the door shut behind him.
Her lips tasted better than he imagined, and the feel of her soft, creamy skin under his fingers was enough to drive him to the edge. He found the hooks of her bra and undid them as he kissed her neck and sucked her earlobe. She let out a little whimper and grabbed a fistful of his hair
She was just as responsive as he knew she’d be. Her body practically vibrated with pleasure as he bent his face down to nuzzle her breasts, to rub his face against their softness. He gripped one of the plump mounds and captured its nipple in his mouth. The soft whimpers turned into loud moans as he sucked the tip and teased the hard peak with his tongue.
She ran her hands over him, tracing the lines of his neck, the muscles of his back.
He lifted his head to look into her eyes. They’d gone from soft gray to molten silver with passion. They had played this game long enough. He grabbed her ass and lifted her off her feet. She looped her arms around his neck as he turned and carried her to her bed.
It was happening. Wrong or right, he was taking her to bed. They could deal with the consequences later. He ached for this woman with his entire being, and it was past time he did something about it.
He put her on the bed and moved over her, kissing and teasing every inch of her body. She was just as eager, tearing at his clothes. He ached to be inside her, and her teasing little hands on his body were just pouring gas on the fire.
He tugged at her underwear, and she arched her back, helping him get them down her legs. Tossing them aside, he took a moment to admire her naked body. She was perfection. All supple, creamy skin laid out before him, and yes, the carpeting matched the drapes.
Unable to resist the draw of her fire bush, he bent down and slipped his hands under her ass, lifting her off the bed. She gasped as his lips touched her navel. His tongue flicked over the bare skin of her belly before moving deliciously down to her pussy.
“Dylon,” she whimpered and gripped his arms as the first touch of his tongue brushed the delicate flesh.
“I’ve been thinking about doing this since the moment I set eyes on you.”
He slipped his tongue into her moist heat, teasing at first. She responded to every touch, nip, and nibble, and that just made him want to give more. She grabbed a fistful of his hair in each hand, and she was using it to pull his face tighter against her as his tongue went to work.
He tipped her hips up and sent the tip of his tongue dancing through the pink flesh of her pussy. He explored it, mapped its contours its recesses, devouring her in every sense of the word. Her breathing came in ragged gasps and fingers dug painfully into his skin.
He sucked her into his mouth, holding the delicate flesh in his teeth and inhaling, drawing air over it. Her body shook and with a few flicks of his tongue over the sensitive flesh, she came hard.
He lowered her limp and trembling body to the bed. Her breathing was labored, her thighs damp and those pretty eyes half-shut. A perfect picture of satisfaction.
“You are gorgeous, Lee. Gorgeous and delicious.”
He got up on his knees and pulled his shirt over his head. He moved to finish undressing but stopped when she reached up to touch him.
“I don’t like tattoos,” she said. “But these suit you.”
Her fingertip trailed down his chest, tracing the designs. He held still to watch her fingers explore his body. She followed the designs lower until they reached his waist. Without hesitation, she undid his belt and moved to the snap of his pants.
He’d assumed she’d be timid and shy, but Lee was anything but. He watched as she unzipped his slacks and reached inside, palming his throbbing, hard cock. He rocked his hips forward and let out a moan as she wrapped her fingers around it. She worked her treasure out of his pants, bringing it out where she could see it and stroke it. He pushed them down to his knees as she took him into her mouth.
“Here,” he said, fumbling to reach into the pocket of his pants and pull out a condom. As good as her mouth felt, he needed to be inside of her.
She took the packet and rolled the condom over his shaft, taking her time to stroke the length. He didn’t want to rush her exploration, but if she kept handling him like that, he was going to blow.
“Lee,” he breathed. It was more plea than anything else.
“Fuck me, Dylon,” she said. “Right now.”
He didn’t need a written invitation. Shifting their positions, he thrust into her wet heat. They moaned in unison as he filled her. She wrapped her legs around him, and as she requested, he began to fuck her.
It wasn’t an elegant seduction or a sweet joining. It was fast, filled with raw need and pent-up desire.
“Harder,” she cried and rocked her hips, urging him to go deeper, faster.
The new position pulled him farther inside her tight channel. She cried out a hoarse, breathless “yes,” as her body clenched around him. Each time he filled her she gasped and let out another wordless cry of pleasure.
“Fuck,” he moaned as he pounded into her, knowing that it was all over. He arched his back and gripped her hips as he tipped over the edge.
Spent, he collapsed on top of her, keeping his softening cock inside her, not wanting to lose that connection yet.
“Damn, that was good,” he said, whisper soft. “I’m going to want to screw that sweet little pussy of yours again and again.”
“I’m going to hold you to that promise.” She sucked his earlobe into her mouth and nipped the edge.
His
pulse finally settling, Dylon moved off of her and flopped onto the bed at her side. The silence was punctuated by the bass vibrating through the floors. Two opposing thoughts danced in his mind: he intended to keep his word, and fuck her again before left the bed. Yet he was equally content just lying next to this woman.
But there was the nagging question he wasn’t ready to face. What happens next?
Chapter Eleven
The next morning, Dylon woke feeling incredible and delighted to find himself wrapped in the delicious, warm smells of sex and the soft, warm tangle of arms and legs that was Lee Taylor. The wild sex they’d engaged in the night before was fresh in his memory and the mellowness that came from having exhausted himself making love weighed on his limbs.
He felt good but cautious. The morning-after was always a delicate time. It was a time of slippery words that came off the tongue easy but were weighted with meanings. Meanings that had different definitions to different people.
It was the easiest thing in the world to turn to a woman he’d made love to and call it that, but even saying “Good morning, love” set his feet squarely in a minefield that he had no maps for.
Dylon loved women, and he loved making love to women. But that wasn’t the same as being in love. Over time and after several nasty incidents, he’d learned that. Now his trained instinct was to be quiet, to simply leave things unsaid.
But this particular morning, for the first time, he thought that the slippery word might be appropriate—he felt the romantic impulse to say … to use that word, and see what happened. But sated by the wild night, he knew better than to trust his judgment. Already he’d broken his rule about not sleeping with the help as well as gone against his considered decision that being involved with Lee would bring trouble.
Thoughts of love were dangerous.
So, rather than speak, he simply enjoyed the pleasure of her naked body pressed against his. He was in her bed. He had had her, enjoyed her body. He inhaled her scent, smelling the last fading traces of her perfume and the heady odors of sex. He buried his face in her wild curls, memorizing the smell.
She giggled and grabbed his head and tilted it up. She looked into his eyes. A drowsy, happy look. “You need a shave. Your stubble is scratchy.” She pushed him off her, and he flopped down at her side.
“Not scratchy, sexy. Scientists have discovered that the feeling of beard stubble against a woman’s soft skin is wildly erotic.”
“To whom?” Her hand brushed his swelling cock as it lay on her thigh. “Well, now it seems I have the answer to that question well in hand.” He sighed as she stroked him.
He nuzzled his chin along her collarbone and said, “You need to have more faith in science.”
She squealed and pulled away. “Right now, I need a shower.”
“More than hot sex?”
“Do I have to choose one or the other?”
“Of course not,” he said, flashing her a wolfish grin.
“We could have hot sex in the shower, or we could take turns cleaning up and then spend the rest of the morning in bed.”
“Lady’s choice,” he said.
“How gallant. I think I’ll shower first.”
She kissed him and put her leg over his. Not one to waste an opportunity, he grabbed her hips and rocked her sex against his needy dick. They continued like that until both of them were breathless and on the verge of coming.
“You know this is a mistake, right, Dylon?”
He froze, looking into her eyes to see if she were joking. He couldn’t tell. “A mistake? Do you mean us?”
She laughed, then kissed him. “That too. That is a mistake of monumental proportions. The one I meant was waiting until after a shower to fuck again.” She slid down and kissed his cock. “After all, I have you where I want you.”
She grabbed a condom from the nightstand and slid it on him with touches that were efficient and yet arousing. She was right. This, being together, was a mistake, but he wasn’t going to regret it for one second. She straddled his body, and she rubbed her pussy against it, letting her fingers toy with the head. He let go of any reservations he’d had and lost himself in the feel of her tight body.
He’d been right from the start. Lee wasn’t the type of woman you could have for one night. He could easily fall in love with her. Yeah, he’d said it. What he felt for her was already close to that dangerous emotion.
Of course, he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself, let alone her.
She lifted her hips and sank down on his hungry shaft, taking it inside her. “I love the way you feel inside me,” she moaned.
There was that slippery word again. As she began rocking her hips, he watched her. It was a mistake. He was on his back, looking up and feeling his heart being sucked into the depths of her shifting silver eyes as thoroughly and irretrievably as his cock was slipping into her warm, wet pussy.
He wanted her. More than just her body. He wanted to wake up next to her and fall asleep in her arms. He wanted to steal kisses in the back room and hear her laugh at his jokes. He wanted it all and that frightened the hell out of him.
Love was unreliable. It was an emotion that he’d learned at an early age not to trust. And Lee herself was a still a mystery. There were so many parts of her she wouldn’t open up to him.
Yet, despite all that, he was helpless to resist.
He reached up and touched her while she rode him, moving her hips in ways that lit up all the pleasure centers of her brain until her face glowed. He watched the muscles of her neck tighten as she took her pleasure from him.
And he fell a little bit more.
When she came down from her release, Lee gave him a languid look that oozed sexuality. He flipped her over, and he eased his still-hard cock into her, fucking her until the world around him exploded.
This redheaded demon might be trouble, but he wasn’t sure he gave a fuck anymore.
After lounging in bed for most of the morning, she slipped off to get that shower. Dylon lay in bed listening to the water run, picturing her rubbing soap over that sleek body. If he hadn’t just made love to her, he’d go in and join her. But for the moment, she’d taken all he had to give; he was running on empty.
Normally, he’d be gone by now. There was no need to leave her room and every reason to stay. It was early in the day, and he looked forward to seeing her emerge from the shower, sparkling fresh and smelling of soap and shampoo. He wanted to be close to sully that clean body of hers.
It was delightful to think about.
He looked at the small desk she’d set up in the room. She was working on a project, she said. She had a good sense for business. Her ideas were magic, and he saw that. Although it would take some time, she’d put him on better financial footing. The bar was already doing well, but with her changes, it would be even stronger. Soon he might even be able to raise the funds to renovate this apartment.
He strolled over to the desk to check on her progress, and one of the folders caught his attention. It was filled with financial papers, but there were way too many zeroes to be Bernadette’s books.
His curiosity was superficial at first, but as he glanced at the papers, he saw names. He knew those names, had heard them on the news. Christian Evans had been some financial guy that was involved in some scandal. And Rafael Del Rossi ran a security firm that worked for the rich and famous. The numbers that were attached to the files were mind-bogglingly large amounts. There were sticky notes with short descriptions. “Transaction A: Leveraged derivatives swapped for currency basket from African National Congress leaders. Transaction B: Currencies converted to silver futures, Singapore exchange.”
None of it made sense, but it was big. Very big. The documents in his hand were so out of his league big. And the people named had the kind of power and wealth to make things happen. The thought sent a chill down his spine. Whatever this shit was, Lee didn’t have any business getting involved. But for some reason, she was researching the big money boys and thei
r dirty games.
He wondered how she even got her hands on this information. It wasn’t like they posted this crap on their company websites. And it wasn’t something you could get from the library.
Did she know these people? Was that why she was hiding here in this little room? Were they after her because of this information? What if she …
His brain froze with the realization that he didn’t know what she was involved with. She could be anything. Anyone. He knew she was a good worker and a good bookkeeper who was helping him out, at least as far as he could tell. But then again, she could easily be an embezzler, an accountant for the mob. She could be almost anything.
There had to be a reason for all the secrecy. He’d kept expecting her to finally tell him what was behind the dark curtain, and it worried him, unnerved him that she hadn’t. And now this … This was big stakes, the kind of money that made people do really shitty things to each other.
The shower shut off, and Dylon moved to put on his clothes. She’d be out in a minute, but his sweet fantasy was gone from his head. He needed to talk to her, but not when his head was so fucked up. For now, he needed some distance from her—whoever she was.
“I need to take care of some things downstairs. I think the whiskey delivery is today.”
“Sounds good” she shouted from the bathroom. “I need to finish up this work, so I’ll see you downstairs later.”
When Lee finally called Janet, using her old cell, she got an earful.
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for the last few days. My boss is hounding me about where you are.”
“I’m safe.”
“Well, you’re little MIA stunt has put me in an awkward position. He wants me to request a bench warrant and have you taken into custody.”
“Put me under lock and key, making damn sure I’m available to you? I thought I was the good guy here.”
“I told him I didn’t think that was a good idea.”
“Good, because that’s a dick move. I’m cooperating.”
