Aftershock

by Laurie Roma

  Praying she wouldn’t get hit by a car, she had run across the street, trying to make it before she was washed away in the rushing currents of water flooding down the drains. She had just made it onto the sidewalk when a brutal gust of wind had literally ripped the umbrella right out of her hand, turning it inside out. Caitlyn had turned just in time to watch in horror as her umbrella sped like a heat seeking torpedo right at her dream man as he got out of a car in front of the Steel Technologies building.

  As if in slow motion, Caitlyn had watched the dark god open his own umbrella, unaware of the chaos she had unleashed. She tried to call out, but before she could shout out a warning, her umbrella hit his, jerking it from his startled grasp. Mockingly, both umbrellas waltzed in the air for a moment before being swept away in the swirling wind.

  Caitlyn had stood there, frozen in mortification as she watched her dream man’s head whip around to zero in on her through the torrential downpour. She had call out a pathetic apology, glad that he couldn’t see her tears of embarrassment mingling with the rain streaming down her face.

  Both of them soaked, he had started toward her.

  “I’m sorry,” she had whispered again, watching as his dark brows creased in what could only be anger. She had let a choking sob escape before she turned and ran, leaving her dream man and her umbrella behind.

  Caitlyn had been having nightmares about that last incident all week. She couldn’t even imagine how much he must hate her after destroying his beautiful suit. She knew she should seek him out to give him a real apology, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was terrified that she would end up injuring him somehow and she’d end up getting sued, or worse, killing him by accident.

  Obviously, god seemed to have a twisted sense of humor where she was concerned because as soon as Caitlyn entered the elegant lobby of the Steele Tech building, she saw him. There he was, the bane of her existence, in all his dark gorgeous glory, standing at the front desk speaking to one of the security guards. Panicking, she hurried across the marble expanse toward the elevators. She didn’t want to give him a chance to have her thrown out of the building and if she missed the meeting she had a good chance of being fired.

  Punching the up button to the elevators, she kept her head down, praying with all her might that he hadn’t seen her. She waited impatiently for the elevator and stepped in as soon as the steel doors opened, pressing the button for the top floor.

  To her extreme horror, Caitlyn looked up just in time to see her dream man step into the small space of the elevator with her and her breath caught. He pushed a button on the inside panel and the doors silently slid closed, locking them in together. She blinked her eyes a few times, praying that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but no such luck.

  Their eyes met and she forgot how to breathe. Jesus, he truly was the most breathtakingly handsome man in the world. A cold dose of reality swept through her as she remembered their last encounter when she had practically tried to kill him with a freaking umbrella. What the hell could she possibly say to him now?

  “I’m s—sorry,” she stuttered out. “I didn’t mean to try and kill you last week. It was my umbrella’s fault. Or the wind. Or, well…”

  Shit, was she mentally handicapped or what?

  A slow smile spread across his perfect face as the elevator began to move. Dear god, she didn’t think it was possible for him to get any better looking, but his smile made her heart race like it wanted to jump right out of her chest to give itself to him.

  Behave!

  Suddenly, a rumbling sound started, surprising her into tearing her gaze away from his. She looked around, franticly hoping that she was imagining what was happening as the elevator began to shake, jostling them. A startled gasp escaped her lips as her dream man suddenly wrapped his muscular arms around her, sheltering her smaller frame as the earthquake rocked their world and the ominous groaning of metal filled the air.

  Oh god, I am going to end up killing him!

  Fuck it, she officially quit.

  Even nature seemed to be working against her. As least it couldn’t get any worse now, she thought then cursed as the lights went out.

  ***

  Chapter Three

  Grayson Taggart Steele, or Tag as his family and close friends called him, had first watched the raven haired beauty walk into the building across the street from his new office almost two months ago. Since that first day, his fascination with her had grown into a hunger he had never felt the likes of before.

  Compared to his six foot two she was a petite little thing, but she had a woman’s curvy figure. It was a body that had haunted his dreams to the point that his hands actually ached to touch her smooth skin while she trembled beneath him. As a strong man who was very aware of his own strength he couldn’t stand women that were built like toothpicks. It made him afraid he would snap them in two.

  No, even though she was petite, his sweet girl had a body made for loving.

  From the window of his office he would glance down at the streets below just to catch a glimpse of her exquisite body moving gracefully down the street. By some lucky coincidence, he discovered that his office was on the same level as the floor his dream girl worked on. Sure, he was the CEO of his company and everyone expected him to have his office on the top floor, but he didn’t play by other people’s rules.

  Never had and never would.

  He did have an office on the top floor of the high-rise, but that was mostly for show. It wasn’t where he worked on a daily basis. The truth was he hated heights and preferred to have his office on a much lower floor, where he could look out the window without wanting to close his eyes and pray.

  He hadn’t known where his dream girl worked when he had chosen to put his office on the seventh floor. Seven was just his lucky number, and that was why he had chosen it. And lucky it had been. So, what if he happened to have a telescope in his office? He’d had it in there before he even knew she had existed. But that didn’t stop him from using it once he knew she was there. When he needed a break from work he began to watch for signs of her during the day, looking forward to seeing her face.

  And watching her day by day just made him want to see more.

  Up close and very personal.

  She was almost always alone, unless she was with her one friend. At first he had assumed that the man had been more than her friend, until he saw him kissing another man in front of their office. Tag had watched his dream girl join the two men. It had relieved him greatly when she had hugged them like brothers before the three of them walked down the street together to a local bar down the street.

  Watching as her co-workers left for lunch or after work, she was never with them. It made him wonder, about her life, her friends, her family.

  How she tasted.

  What she cried out in ecstasy.

  He was driving himself fucking crazy constantly thinking about her. He was not a stalker, damn it. He was powerful, wealthy and women pursued him all the time.

  But he wanted her.

  He had tried to approach his dream girl several times now and somehow he always managed to fuck it up. The first time he had seen her he had just gotten out of one of the company cars with a friend when she had suddenly appeared across the street. He had never been one to believe in love at first sight, but he had been struck dumb in that moment.

  “Jesus, Tag. You’re eye fucking that poor woman on the street in front of her boyfriend,” Adam had said as he nudged Tag in the shoulder. Tag has smiled sheepishly at his friend, but he sobered as his dream girl fled inside her office building, out of sight.

  The next time he had tried to approach her it had been before work. He had seen her walking and jogged across the street to meet her. Before he could speak, he had accidently knocked her down on her sweet ass. Feeling like an idiot he had tried to apologize, but obviously hadn’t done a very good job of it as she hurried away from him.

  Last week had been another clusterfuck of epi
c proportions.

  It had been raining like crazy when he arrived back at his office from a very long lunch meeting with a very annoying colleague. Tag had been in a bad mood as he got out of the car, when his umbrella was ripped out of his hand. Soaked to the skin in a matter of seconds, he had looked over and his anger had faded under the weight of his concern as he saw his dream girl shivering in the onslaught of rain. With no thought but to take her inside with him, he had started forward, but she had let out a sob and ran from him…again.

  Every damn time he saw her, his cock would twitch, angry with him for not pursuing what it craved. That day it had been painful to let her go when she was so upset, but he hadn’t wanted to scare her even more by chasing her down and carrying her off like some sort of raging caveman. And that is exactly what he would have done. The rain had plastered her blouse to her full breasts and he had remembered her hard nipples poking through the thin material.

  It had almost pushed him beyond his control.

  Now here she was, in his arms, crying out in fear. A wave of fierce protectiveness swept through him as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him. He felt her own arms wrap around his waist so their bodies were pressed together as the elevator went pitch black. She let out a low moan of distress and his hold on her tightened, trying to give her what comfort he could. A few seconds later the low amber glow of the emergency lights kicked on, chasing the darkness away.

  Feeling like a fool, Caitlyn released her death grip on him and pulled back, but he didn’t let go of her. His face was an expressionless mask. Black hair hung down over his forehead and she saw him clench his chiseled, square jaw. Dark obsidian eyes held hers in their intense gaze making it impossible for her to look away. She could feel a blush rising to stain her cheeks pink as she tried to remove herself from his arms, but again his steel roped arms held her still.

  “Oh shit, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I’m all over you, and I don’t even know who you are,” Caitlyn managed to croak out.

  “My name is Tag. Don’t worry, I like you where you are. I’ll keep you safe.” He spoke softly as he held her against him tenderly, like a precious treasure.

  “I’m ah, Cait…Caitlyn. Really, you can let me go now. I think the earthquake is over.”

  A phone rang from a panel inset into the wall of the elevator right below the panel of buttons. Without looking away, Tag retained his hold on her as he reached down to flip the panel door open. He pulled out the phone, bringing it up to his ear, his piercing eyes never leaving her.

  Desire flared to life within her as she stared into his eyes and she felt herself falling within the dark depths. She shifted in his hold and her breath caught as she felt the hot, hard length of him against her. Caitlyn heard the soft mumbling of a voice on the other end of the phone, but couldn’t seem to focus on anything except for the throbbing erection poking into her stomach.

  “Work on the system, don’t worry about us. Take your time. We’re fine. We’ll be here.” Tag hung up the phone.

  At his words, Caitlyn’s eyes went wide and had her sputtering.

  “What the hell! Did you…you just told them to take their time? We’re stuck in here and you told them to take their time? Are you fucking crazy?”

  “We’ll be fine in here, Caitlyn.” His deep voice was calm, but he words explained nothing and she started to panic.

  “We are not fine. We are stuck in a goddamn elevator. We are definitely not fine!”

  She struggled against his hold, but it did no good. She started to fight in earnest, but he didn’t release her. Her strength was no match for his. Tag moved forward to press her back against the wall while his body caged her in, holding her steady. He was almost a foot taller then her, but he leaned down to maintain contact. Her eyes were hauntingly beautiful. They gave her an almost ethereal aura, damning any mortal man who thought he could touch her.

  His hands reached up to gently cup her face and his thumbs rubbed her cheeks slowly, dark eyes searching. “Sweetheart, the earthquake blew out the electricity and they’re worried because the emergency generators aren’t working properly either. They haven’t completely finished the work on the building, so they are checking things over carefully. We are only a few floors up. The emergency crews have a lot to worry about right now. We should be low on their priority list. Nothing is going to happen to you. Don’t worry baby, we’ll be fine. I promise.”

  A shiver ran up Caitlyn’s spine as she tried to hold her panic at bay. Panting for breath, Caitlyn closed her eyes trying to pull herself together. She didn’t do well in enclosed places like this nor did she like the dark.

  In fact, she hated it.

  On top of that, Caitlyn had to fight the insane urge to throw herself back into Tag’s arms and jump him. He was going to think she was crazy…more than he already did.

  Damn, this was a nightmare.

  She opened her mouth to speak, but lost her train of thought as she looked up into his dark eyes. It was like he had this unexplainable power over her that she couldn’t control. Her body began to tremble, and it wasn’t from the thought of being stuck in the elevator. She wanted him like she wanted her next breath.

  Tag murmured soothingly as he pushed her hair back from her face. He seemed to be searching for something. “This is not exactly how I wanted our first official meeting to go,” he said softly.

  She choked out a laugh. “You mean me trying to kill you with an umbrella didn’t count?”

  He slowly grinned as he shook his head. “No, that doesn’t count. Although, I have been trying to meet you for a while. You’ve been my dream girl, just out of my reach…until now.”

  He couldn’t be serious, could he?

  Her eyes widened as she looked down to see that he was undoing the buttons of her jacket. “W—what are you doing?”

  “We might be in here for a while. We might as well get comfortable.” He slowly slid the jacket down her arms so it fell to the floor.

  In the low amber glow that shimmered like candlelight, she was breathtaking. His breath sucked in sharply as he looked down and saw her lacy pink bra showing through her pale yellow blouse. “Damn,” he whispered.

  She looked down and groaned, wanting to beat her head against the wall in mortification. “Ah…I need to do laundry.”

  He smiled. “I like it. Pink looks good on you.”

  She felt her cheeks heat even more and felt him stroke his thumb over her skin as he gently gripped the side of her neck. His eyes met hers, blazing with a hunger that she had never seen before and it was for her. All for her. It didn’t seem real. Like this truly was a dream with him touching her, wanting her.

  If it was, she never wanted to wake up.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered as he touched her soft skin, wanting to feel more of her. Her full lips were slightly parted, her sparkling aqua eyes wide as he struggled for control. Caitlyn’s tongue slipped out in a nervous gesture running along her bottom lip and his gaze dropped down, mesmerized by the pink tip.

  He swore softly.

  Christ, he felt like an animal ready to pounce.

  His heart thudding in his chest as all the blood in his body surged down to his cock, making him feel like he was going to rip right through the zipper of his pants. He watched her throat working as she gulped, and couldn’t help but imagine watching her drink his seed down as he came in her mouth.

  “Damn, I need to taste you.”

  Her breath caught as his lips came down to meet hers in a scorching kiss.

  ***

  Chapter Four

  Oh, yeah…

  Wanting more, Caitlyn rose onto her toes and angled her head, trying to get closer. Her panic at being confined in such a small space was momentarily forgotten as she immersed herself in the feel of him. Their tongues mingled together, stroking and tasting.

  More, she desperately ached for more.

  Tag was holding her tight, so tight against his body that she could feel the steel
hard spike of his desire through his pants, thick and hot against her stomach as he pushed her back against the wall. His large body caged her in, pushing his massive erection against her. She could feel a rush of liquid slickening her channel as her body prepared itself for him, wanting to feel that rock-hard column moving in her. Caitlyn had never been casual about sex before, but right now the only thing driving her was this need for him.

  Oh god, she wanted him with a passion that rivaled the heat of the sun. Each touch of his hands on her body made her crazy for more. Lost in a sea of sensation, she was barely aware she had reached for his suit jacket, trying to shove it off his broad shoulders, wanting, needing to get closer to him. To feel the smooth slide of his bare flesh against hers.

  As if sensing her need, he cursed again and pulled back long enough to rip his jacket off himself then pulled her blouse up and off, dropping it carelessly on the growing pile of clothes on the floor. He plastered his body back against her, his mouth fused to hers again as if she was somehow the very thing he needed to survive.

  His large hands came up to rid her of her bra. She moaned as he palmed her heavy breasts, shivering as he tugged at her taut nipples. His mouth ravaged hers, fueling the fire of their need as Caitlyn’s arms wound around his body to hold him close, craving the feel of him. Her small hands played over the thick corded muscles of Tag’s back. She could feel the power there, waiting to be unleashed.

  She wanted, ached…absolutely burned for him.

  Caitlyn fumbled with his tie, pulling it off him. It had been to long for her. She immersed herself in the pleasure of feeling him against her. His hands met hers as she went to work on the buttons of his dress shirt. She let out a purring hum as she stroked her hands over the expanse of his muscular chest, trailing her fingers down the contours of his tight abs.

  She wanted her mouth on him, licking and sucking all of those hard lines. He let out a low groan as she explored his body. To her delight, he tore his shirt off and threw it to the floor, baring all that gorgeous, golden flesh to her seeking hands. She sucked on his tongue playfully as her hands began to wander lower.