Jacob took her bet and raised. “All I know is you’ve totally rocked my world, and I’m not talking about the earthquake.”
Their lips found each other again, this time with a new urgency. As his hands caressed her body, she let her own palms rest on that muscular chest she’d first felt as he’d protected her in the initial quake. As their tongues danced, their hands explored, pulling off pieces of clothing one by one until her breasts were free of her bra and captured first by his palm just before he broke their kiss to latch onto her left nipple instead.
Lanie threw her head back with a groan, loving every sensation he brought out in her. His dark hair was thick between her fingers as she subconsciously humped against the hard rod poking her through their remaining clothes.
Jacob somehow managed to pay homage to her ample breasts with his warm mouth while moving his hands down to unbuckle his own belt without so much as missing a beat.
“Lift your skirt up to your waist and straddle me. I want to take you for a little ride.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. She’d never bothered to put her panties back on after taking them off hours before. When she pushed up long enough to move into the new position, Jacob used the opportunity to push his own pants down to his knees. His cock sprang out, thick and long.
It wasn’t until she felt the head of his shaft sliding through her wet and ready folds that he froze, a look of regret on his face.
“Shit, I don’t have a condom. Any chance you have one in that magical box of tricks of yours?”
“Oh sure, I kept boxes of condoms in my desk in the off-chance I’d need them when I got stuck in the elevator.” She could have left it there, but as he started to pull away from her, the thought of stopping seemed inconceivable. “But… well… I’m on the pill. As long as we’re both clean, that should take care of…”
She didn’t get to finish her sentence. Jacob pulled her the final inches until she impaled herself on his erection in one lusty thrust. His tongue was back in her mouth, dueling with her own just as his cock filled her again and again. She was grateful for the help he gave her, cupping her bare ass and lifting her with the muscular forearms she’d admired before letting gravity crash her down onto his rod, deeper with each thrust.
The sexy sounds of their fucking bounced off the walls of their temporary prison, adding to the excitement of the moment. She hadn’t thought the masculine scent of his could get any better, but she’d been wrong. The smell of their joint arousal surrounded them, permeating the enclosed space.
Her lover read her body language perfectly, recognizing her legs were getting tired from her position on-top. Without missing a single beat, Jacob lifted her, keeping their bodies connected like perfect fitting puzzle pieces as he lay her on her back on the floor of the elevator. His hands grasped her own, moving them above her head so he could lay atop her, unfettered as he plunged his hips forward, burying his cock again and again.
She felt his breath on her cheek as he spoke near her ear. “Damn, Lanie, you feel perfect beneath me.”
Despite the odd location, or maybe because of it, her orgasm built quickly. A niggling guilt tried to break into her euphoria, but she pushed it down. There would be plenty of time to wonder if she was making a mistake later, but one thing was certain as Jacob’s lips nibbled behind her ear and into the crook of her neck—sex had never been better. Ever.
“Jacob! Fuck, that feels good. So good,” she repeated as she leveraged her hips up to take him as deep as possible while squeezing their linked hands in hopes of never letting go.
She wasn’t prepared for the intensity of his gaze when he lifted up, high enough to look into her eyes as he ordered her, “Come with me, baby.”
After all she’d gone through that crazy day, his intimate use of the term of endearment brought tears to her eyes. She was a career woman. Independent. She’d never felt the need to get entangled in messy relationships that would distract her from pursuing her grander goals. Yet, as they each shouted out their pleasure in perfect unison, the first drop of sadness that this was more than likely just a one-time encounter closed in.
His weight blanketed her as they each came down from their high. Their hitched breathing returned to normal, and the hardness that had brought her such pleasure slipped out of her body. As warm as the enclosed space was, Lanie felt the brush of a chill as Jacob pushed off her, stopping just long enough to place a tender kiss on her forehead before kneeling up between her legs.
“Let’s see if I can find us a few napkins in this box of tricks of yours to clean up a bit,” he teased, reaching to his right to rummage through her belongings, holding up a handful of fast-food napkins victoriously. His smile was contagious.
Like the gentleman he appeared to be, he helped clean up their spilled wetness before putting some of his clothing back together. She should try to find her bra… and her blouse, but when she sat up, Jacob pulled her back into his lap instead, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug.
Like a light switch, a wave of fatigue fell over her. It had been such a long and eventful day, and adrenaline had kept her going strong. But between the combo of her sexual release and JR’s protective arms wrapped around her, figuratively holding back the wave of bullshit waiting to wash over her again when they got out of the elevator, all Lanie wanted to do was lay her head on his shoulder and close her eyes.
“It’s late. Why don’t you take a little nap,” he murmured.
One minute she was trying to talk herself into getting redressed—the next, Jacob was gently shaking her awake. It took several long seconds to remember where she was and whose arms she was snuggled in, regretting that she couldn’t stay there longer.
It was the blaring light when she opened her eyes that jolted her fully awake. She had to squint against the sudden brightness.
“Looks like the city got electricity restored to the building. We’d better get redressed before we give the security guys a surprise if they get the elevator moving again.”
His words got her moving faster, scrambling off his lap, heading in the direction she’d last seen her bra and blouse. She managed to pull her skirt back down her legs, covering her bare ass that had spent some untold amount of time in Jacob’s lap.
She hated that the same awkwardness they had started their journey with had started to seep back into the elevator along with the electricity. As she hooked her bra in place and buttoned up her corporate-looking blouse, Lanie mourned the intimacy they’d shared and now lost.
Jacob’s arms encircled her in a hug from behind, pulling her against his chest in the same way he had when protecting her during the initial quake. How could so much change in just a few short hours?
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” he said, rocking them gently just as the crackling sound of the intercom could be heard.
“This is building security. As you noticed, we have been able to restore electricity to the building, and the elevator inspector is already on the premises and in the process of running a safety check on the system. Assuming no damage was done, we should have your elevator moving and you freed within the next few minutes. Please stand by.”
As soon as the announcement completed, Jacob added, “See, just like I told you. It’s all going to be okay now.”
Hugging his arms to her, enjoying their last minutes together before she’d probably never see him again, Lanie couldn’t hold back her truth. “Easy for you to say. I’m still unemployed. I still have to figure out how to get all this crap back to my apartment. And I’ll still have to try to find another job with an accusation of embezzlement hanging over my head. It’s not like anyone here at Rossi, Anderson, & Hart are going to give me a glowing recommendation.”
Jacob’s “You don’t need to worry about any of those things,” felt dismissive. Maybe he didn’t need to worry about them, but she sure as hell did.
The elevator sounding a quick alarm tone just before slowly moving into motion towards the ground forced her t
o stop wallowing in her self-pity. She wiggled in his arms until he released her. Together, they silently bent to pick up the debris of items they’d strewn about in their hours of captivity, throwing everything into that same box carrying her belongings.
With each floor they passed, Alaina’s pulse sped up. She’d spent hours wishing their ordeal would end, and now, when she was seconds from freedom… she wanted nothing more than to sink to the floor and take shelter in Jacob’s arms all over again.
It was the definition of insanity.
Just as the elevator slid to a soft landing on the ground floor, Jacob reached out, grabbing her hand and linking their fingers together. As the doors finally opened to the controlled chaos of the lobby level, they were greeted by a contingent of security guards, fire fighters, and building engineers busy trying to put things right. She’d expected all of them.
Who she hadn’t expected was Jack Leahy, the CFO who’d fired her just before she’d gotten in the elevator. He was about twenty feet away from the elevator bank, talking on his cell phone. He was the absolutely last person she was prepared to see. Desperate to escape the building before he turned and saw her, Lanie struggled to pull her hand out of Jacob’s grip, but the harder she pulled, the tighter he squeezed until she finally had to turn to confront him.
Her breath hitched at the sight of Jacob. Even with all they’d gone through, in the light of the lobby, he looked like he could be a magazine cover model. But it was the unreadable glare in his eyes that drew all her attention.
“Lanie… I need you to stick with me here for a few minutes. I promise you, I’ll explain everything.”
What the hell was he talking about?
It was one of the building security guards in his uniform black suit that approached them first. “I’m so sorry, sir. You should have identified yourself at the start of the event. We’ve just recently identified those of you stuck in the elevators.”
Typical. True, RAH had just fired her, but seriously could they be any more sexist? Was she invisible? The asshole had completely ignored Lanie while tripping over himself to apologize to Jacob for his inconvenience.
“It’s fine,” Jacob assured the man.
“No, it’s definitely not. Mr. Rossi is on his way in. He is not happy.”
“Shit,” Jacob cursed. Turning her direction, he quickly said, “I want to give you a ride home. We should go.”
“What? What time is it anyway? How long were we stuck in there?” she asked.
The security guard glanced at his watch before answering, “It’s almost one in the morning. You were in there about eight hours.”
“Lanie, come on. I want to get you home and fed, and then I have a few things we need to talk about.”
The part of her who had been dreading saying goodbye cheered at his invitation, wanting nothing more than to grab up her beleaguered belongings and leave the building, never to return again. But a tiny nugget of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on kept her feet grounded next to the elevator door.
“JR, thank goodness you’ve been extricated. What an unfortunate mishap.”
Lanie turned to face the man who’d spoke. The voice was familiar.
She felt her knees give way. She would have stumbled to the ground if Jacob hadn’t wrapped his arms around her, holding her up. Anxiety gripped her hard.
Jack Leahy—her boss’s boss’s boss—the same man who had fired her eight hours before—stood just feet away, and had addressed Jacob, not her.
“How?” She had to fight to get the rest of her question out. “How do you know Jacob?”
The CFO glanced behind her, confused, before finally speaking to her.
“Ms. Bennett, you’re trespassing. You are no longer employed here. I’ll have security call you a cab.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m taking her home.”
Darkness flashed in Jack Leahy’s eyes as he turned on JR. “That would not be appropriate. There’s a good chance we may end up in litigation with this little embezzler. You should distance yourself from her immediately.”
He wasn’t making any sense. Why would a guy they hadn’t even hired yet need to distance himself from her?
But if they hadn’t hired him, how did Jack Leahy even know who he was?
The niggling doubt she’d felt minutes before exploded into a shower of uncertainty.
She didn’t have time to figure it out before a balding, older man shouted, “Jacob!” from across the lobby, rushing towards them.
She’d only met the man a few times at corporate social events, but there was no mistaking the President and CEO of the company, James Rossi. That the company patriarch was there was bad enough. That he knew Jacob, was worse. That he rushed to her side and pulled JR away from her and into his arms, giving him a hug, was the worst.
That was until he exclaimed, “We’ve looked all over for you. Why the hell didn’t you have your cell phone on? I thought something bad had happened to you during the quake. Thank God we had security check the camera footage to confirm you’d been here in one of the elevators all along.” The man then added the death blow to Lanie. “Let’s get you to my house, son. Your mother is a nervous wreck. You need to call her right away.”
Guilt doused Jacob’s face as he pulled out of the man-hug, making eye contact with her. “Lanie…”
Her mind raced, flitting through every minute of their time together, piecing it all together.
“You said your friends call you JR.” She paused, hating to say it out loud, but knowing she had to. “You’re Jacob Rossi.”
Chapter 4
“Lanie, please. I can explain.”
Her ears were ringing as unwanted tears threatened to fall.
Luckily, her anger won. Taking a step around the elder Rossi, Lanie pressed her palms to Jacob’s chest and shoved as hard as she could yelling, “You jerk, you lied to me!” She took great satisfaction in watching him fall back against the wall, struggling to stay upright.
Like a predatory animal, he pounced back at her, grabbing both her biceps and not letting go.
“I never lied to you. Not once.” Her venomous glare must have made him rethink his position because he added, “I just didn’t tell you the whole truth, is all.”
“I can’t believe you! I pour my whole sordid story out and you pretend you were just here for an interview.”
“I wasn’t pretending. I did have an interview right before I took the elevator. It’s just, well, I was the interviewer, not the interviewee.”
“You knew what I thought.”
“Yeah, but at first I didn’t want you to know I already worked here.”
“Why, so you could trick me?”
“No! At first because I selfishly didn’t want to get involved with the drama of you having been fired. But then, as you told me what had happened, I wanted you to just tell me the truth of everything you’d found. I worried if you knew who I was, you’d either hold something back or worse… that you might lie to sway me to your side.”
She hated that he was making sense. She was furious. She didn’t want him to make any sense.
“We haven’t talked about RAH for hours. Don’t you think at some point during all of our… discussions… that you might have been able to bring up the truth?”
“I promise you, if it had been important, I would have told you. But…” Jacob’s voice trailed off as he ran his hand through his hair nervously. He finally finished his thought. “Maybe I wanted to see if you liked me for just me… Jacob. Not my last name.”
“Why the hell would I like you for your last name?” she spat.
“Because my last name, and all that comes with it, is what almost all women want first from me.”
Lanie hated the sadness in his eyes as he admitted what she suspected was a hard truth for him.
It was Jack Leahy who saved her from having to reply. He had the gall to step next to them, unbelievably attempting to pull Lanie out of Jacob’s grasp.
“I’m sorry you were trapped in the elevator at all, JR, but even more sorry you got stuck with this criminal. I made a grave error in not calling the police when I had the chance. Had I done that, she would have been in the back of a squad car when the quake hit instead of trapped with you.”
A dark shadow passed across Jacob’s face just before he released her biceps, spinning to the side, and grabbing Jack Leahy by the shirt collar. The CFO was forced to release Lanie when Jacob half-lifted, half-shoved the executive hard enough that he fell back against the security guard standing nearby.
“JR! What’s gotten into you?” James Rossi shouted, trying to pull his son off the CFO.
“I hate to tell you this, but someone has been embezzling money from Rossi, Anderson, & Hart, Dad. And when Alaina Bennett, a member of our accounting team, discovered the missing money and reported it to her supervisor, she was immediately fired and thrown out without notice. I find it curious that our Chief Financial Officer didn’t bother to do any investigation before jumping to conclusions and firing the very team member that reported the problem. I think he’s hiding something.”
James Rossi shook his head in doubt. “You’re not making any sense. Jack Leahy has been a member of the executive committee of RAH for over eight years now. Your brother hired him long before you joined the business. They went to Harvard together.”
“I’m telling you, Dad, something’s wrong and I trust Ms. Bennett’s investigation. Now, you convinced me to finally come and join the family business. Are you going to trust me, or do I need to pack up and head back to Denver?”
“What? You’re that sure?” Mr. Rossi questioned his son. “I find this very difficult to believe.”
Jack Leahy was less patient. “This is ridiculous. I told you Jacob didn’t have what it took to step into leadership of RAH after you retire. He’s thinking with his johnson instead of his brain. Anyone can look at these two, cooped up in the elevator together for eight hours—she’s got him wrapped around her finger, believing all her lies.”
I Have Lived And I Have Loved: A Charity Romance Collection Page 32
