by Wylie Kinson
“Yeah, that’s exactly what it sounded like, especially the part where you want to take her home and make her howl until the sun rises.”
“Oh, ouch. You heard the best part, didn’t you?” Simon chuckled.
“I didn’t just hear you Simon, I saw you!” Ellis shouted, angry that he seemed to find amusement in the incident that had plagued her all afternoon. “I saw her legs wrapped around you, saw your hand up her skirt! That was interesting pretending, Simon. Did you just pretend to fuck her, too?”
Simon dropped his head, realizing how it must have looked. “I say things like that to Cynthia because that’s what she wants to hear. And that’s what keeps our working relationship a pleasant one. I pretend to enjoy her attention and she doesn’t have temper tantrums on me, okay? You obviously didn’t see the whole incident or you would have seen me cautiously extricate myself from underneath her and get the hell out of there as fast as I could.” He wanted to confess that he told Cynthia he was involved with someone else but it was too soon for that. Those details would surface eventually.
“Good story Simon. I’ll pretend to believe you.”
“What do you want from me Ellis?”
“Nothing!” she shouted, pushing the chair she’d been white-knuckling. “I want nothing from you!”
“Oh really? That’s rich! What about ‘oh Simon, fix the closet’ and ‘please get the special wood’ and ‘get out of bed at five-o’-bloody-clock in the morning and come and repaint’! That’s not nothing Ellis!”
With each mimicking phrase he took a step closer, until he was in her personal space, but Ellis refused to be intimidated, fighting every instinct to step back. “Well I’m so sorry to have bothered you,” she countered, stepping forward to initiate some intimidation of her own. “After tomorrow we won’t ever have to work together again.”
“Damn right, sister. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I get involved in another project with you!”
“Then leave! I didn’t ask you—”
“You are the most annoying—”
“What? I’m the most annoying what?”
“Woman!”
“Woman?” Hardly the insult Ellis was expecting.
“Oh Christ,” he growled softly, dangerously. He leaned into her. “Yes, woman. You’re the most annoying, gorgeous, sexy woman…” Simon lowered his head and pressed his lips hard against her partially open mouth.
She wasn’t surprised. She could feign shock and indignation but the truth was Ellis could feel the sexual tension between them whenever they were in the same room. Primal instincts were bound to override their clashing personalities. He was like cold hard steel and Ellis an electric magnet. Once their bodies were in close proximity—CLANG—they couldn’t fight the elemental attraction.
Simon’s powerful arms wrapped around her as their mouths collided. There was no gentleness in their kisses, only desperate need. They punished each other with dueling tongues, nipping and sucking at each other’s lips. Her fingers played over the hard ripples of his abdomen. The feel of his muscular flesh, hot, hard and smooth, made Ellis moan. Like the walls that spoke to her, his skin begged to be touched, rubbed, stroked.
Simon stepped back, momentarily stunned by a rush of pure emotional heat. It wasn’t more than a split second and their mouths reconnected with such force that Ellis lost her balance and clung to him. Without breaking their connection, Simon picked her up and carried her to the cloth-covered desk. She wantonly locked her long legs around him, her hips writhing as she pushed against the glorious strength of his erection.
Simon let out a throaty growl and lowered Ellis onto her back. He broke contact with her mouth and let his tongue roam over her neck and down to her ample cleavage. Ellis shivered with pleasure as he kissed her breasts through the lace fabric of her bra. He tugged the delicate material down to let one succulent orb free.
“Ahhh, Goldilocks.” As close as they’d physically been with their previous petting, Simon hadn’t laid eyes on her naked breasts. He touched one delicately, like it was the finest Fabergé egg, glorying in its beauty. He leaned forward and kissed the vulnerable underside, working around in a broad circle until he kissed the entire perimeter of her breast.
She felt the day’s growth of his stubble on the tender, sensitive flesh and arched her back in response. His mouth ravished her perfect brown nipple, laving it, flicking its tight peak with his tongue, gripping it gently between his teeth. Ellis gasped with pleasure when he sucked it hard, pulling half her breast into his mouth. He licked his way over to her other breast, released it from the restraining lace and gave it the same treatment.
While his mouth was otherwise occupied, his rough hands roamed her abdomen and thighs, feeling, kneading, memorizing every curve and hollow of her flesh. Every nerve he touched sent sparks of white-hot intensity up her spine until she was writhing with need. She tugged at his triceps, trying to pull him closer, craving body-to-body contact.
His fingers brushed against the crotch of her panties. Her hips rose instinctively as he pressed his palm into her. He could feel the dampness, the heat, the need. She was ready for him—and this time he wasn’t going to disappoint her.
Ellis’ abdominal muscles shivered as his mouth left her ravished breasts and glided lower, kissing and licking her tummy and sides. It was if he couldn’t let a square inch of her go untasted. His tongue playfully delved into the tiny depression of her belly button, eliciting a schoolgirl giggle, then stopped at the lace waistband of her panties.
The tug and rip came a split second before she felt his mouth descend on her pussy. He nudged her knees apart and nibbled the soft lips, sending shimmering waves of profound bliss over and through her. He was tender yet needy, gentle but for his whiskers that grazed the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs. No longer able to reach his shoulders, grab his muscled flesh, she grabbed a fistful of the drop cloth that covered the desk.
Deeper…she yearned for him to be inside her completely. She wiggled against him. She felt his thumbs part her flesh and moaned, knowing that he was seeing her most secret spot, knowing that his intuitive gray-green eyes were drinking in her luscious core. He flicked the tip of his hard tongue against her clitoris, eliciting a powerful convulsion that rocked her body. But he didn’t bring her to orgasm. He pressed his mouth into her, feasting on her, probing her core and causing lava waves of pleasure that had her rocking her hips against him, building the intensity until she was aching to release.
He slipped two fingers inside her, testing her, stretching her, making her moan one word over and over. “Yes!”
His mouth nuzzled her clitoris, sucking and nipping the hard, sensitive nub. When Ellis began to mewl, Simon changed to a rhythmic pressure of his tongue, sending her crashing over the edge of climactic ecstasy. Her pelvic muscles clenched and released involuntarily around the fingers that were still embedded inside her. He eased out slowly, waiting for her shudders to cease before standing to position himself between her legs.
She opened her eyes long enough to appreciate his muscled chest and rippling torso as he prepared to enter her with his steely erection. He slipped the head of his cock between her folds, moving it up and down the wet slit. Ellis gasped and gripped the sides of the desk when it touched her still-throbbing clitoris.
“Please,” she whimpered, begging him to complete entry. He leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth and released it. Then he pushed his cock into her, slowly, gently, about halfway before drawing back. Ellis, wide-eyed, moaned as he repeated the gesture over and over, each time sinking a bit farther in. He was enormous, this master builder, but she loved the feel of him, loved the girth of his sex inside her.
Simon withdrew so only the tip of his cock was inside her. He paused, teasing her, relishing their shared moment of intensity. Ellis shuddered and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him to her, hungry for him to fill her. He gave a throaty growl and plowed into her. His hand splayed
across her pelvis possessively as he thrust in and out with urgency. Ellis rocked her hips in motion, urging him harder, deeper.
Denying himself a quick release, he changed position slightly and rotated his hips with each plunge. He closed his eyes so he couldn’t see her beauty, her erotic body, her own passionate response—anything to prolong his experience. He used the pad of his thumb to stimulate her clitoris, making tight circles around the hypersensitive nub. He waited until her hips began to buck wildly against him and her inner muscles pulsed and squeezed, milking him to orgasm before letting go, shooting his seed deep within her.
The sensation, a thousand volts of pure pleasure, shocked them both. He collapsed on top of her, his body trembling. Ellis buried her face in his neck and breathed in his musky scent. She could feel his heart pounding against her chest, matching her own erratic rhythm.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Simon…”
“Shhhh,” he groaned, barely able to speak. “Don’t say anything.”
“What if I told you that was the best, most mind-blowing sex I’ve ever had?”
Simon lay still, breathing in her feminine scent, the taste of her still on his lips. He smiled against her hair.
“Well, okay then.” Me too, he thought, but would never dare say it aloud.
“How ’bout you?”
Oh shit. Now he had to come up with something. He raised his head and looked down at this woman who tumbled into his life a few short weeks ago. Her honey-brown hair was mussed, flecks of paint dotted her shoulders, nose and forehead, her cheeks were dark pink with whisker burn, her golden-flecked eyes watery and her lips puffy and swollen. She was a mess. But her beauty rendered him breathless.
“I think you blinded me,” he said with a smile in his whisper and planted a kiss on her paint-smeared nose.
If he wasn’t blind already then surely Ellis’ smile would have finished him off.
“I really need to go wash up. My hands are starting to stiffen from this paint.”
Simon was struck by a bolt of inspiration and felt himself getting aroused again. He lifted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Despite her giggling protests, he carried her half-naked form out of the office, through the hallway, up the stairs and into the darkness of Cynthia’s beautifully appointed master bedroom.
“What are you—”
“Just be quiet, woman. We’re not finished yet,” Simon growled as he carried Ellis into the bathroom and plopped her into the immense soaker tub.
Ellis watched, shocked, as he filled up the bath.
“Simon, we can’t do this,” she said, backing away from the initial splash of cool water. “It’s not our…I mean…the open house, it’s tomorrow. We can’t do this in the—”
“Course we can.”
“No Simon,” she protested and started to rise. “We can’t. I will not do this to another designer. It’s…it’s…” Before she could spit out the right word, Simon continued.
“Before you get on your moral high horse, there’s something you should know.” He waited a beat as Ellis sat back down in the rising water. “Cynthia was the one who gave your office a pink makeover. This afternoon, when you saw us…what you didn’t see was me telling Cynthia that I couldn’t help her celebrate because I was celebrating with somebody else.”
Simon sighed. He really didn’t want to hurt Ellis by relating the scathing things Cynthia had said but she needed to hear the truth. “Cyn had heard rumors about us Ellis, but she as much admitted that she didn’t believe they were true. She suggested that the little talent you had you stole from her and that I was embarrassing myself by association. I got defensive and downright mad so I made some remarks about how brilliant I thought you were. That you may have learned how to be a good designer from her but you’d now left her in the dust. I provoked her by saying you’d probably win the competition. I’m sorry babe, but I’m the reason she tried to sabotage you.”
He admitted his interest in her! He championed her! That was so out of character for a “Simon” she almost didn’t know what to say—so much for her bad-guy theory.
Before she could thank him, the reality of Cynthia’s actions hit her square in the gut. “What? After I stuck up for her? That no-good tramp! Slut, liar, cheater—”
Simon leaned down to kiss her mouth. “Hold that rage. Anger makes for great sex.”
His smile was so naughty that Ellis’ fury abated as quickly as it arrived.
“Be right back,” he said, leaving her to appreciate his naked Greek-god ass.
She watched until he was no longer in sight then rested her head on the back of the tub, the warm water swirling around the tops of her legs. The absurdity of the situation was too much for Ellis. After all, if it wasn’t for the sabotage…
A glimmer on the ceiling caught her eye and she squinted up into the shadows. The fractured light from the hallway offered little more than a gray wash to the surroundings, though Ellis could clearly see that Cynthia had done a marvelous job on the luxurious bathroom. The bath was surrounded by candles and baskets of upscale spa products in fancy glass bottles. The judges looked for these little details but Ellis wondered how Cynthia could afford all these extras on the budget she was given. She and Remi had scarcely enough for a few pillar candles and a vase. And if the fixture that hung above her was what she suspected, something smelled like rotten carp. It didn’t make sense! And from what she saw earlier, Cynthia hadn’t scrimped on any of the materials in the bedroom to be able to afford to outlay the bathroom in such luxury.
“Found these downstairs,” Simon said as he entered with a bottle, two glasses and a lighter. “Guess they’re for the opening tomorrow. I’m sure no one will miss them.”
“Turn on the light, please.”
“But I was going to light the candles,” Simon said, suspicious of the seriousness of her tone.
“Please Simon, just humor me.”
Simon pushed his elbow up the dimmer switch, illuminating the room in a soft glow.
“Oh. My. God. That,” Ellis said, pointing straight up, “is a Zaremsky chandelier.”
Ellis was awed by its beauty. Small crystal teardrops were threaded irregularly onto a circular curtain of the finest silver threads. Frosted pale blue-green glass covered the bulb at the center of the circle, giving the impression of a shimmering waterfall.
“Simon, it retails for about two thousand.”
“Couldn’t be! For that little thing?”
“Never mind couldn’t be. I know what it is and exactly what it costs because my last client desperately wanted one in her dining room and was mortified to find that even the smallest Zaremskys were so costly.”
Simon only shook his head before sliding the dimmer back down.
“And see this stuff?” Ellis asked, picking up a bottle of scented bath oil. “I’ve seen this brand in a boutique. It’s about three hundred a bottle. And she’s practically got the entire product line here. How can she afford these accessories?”
“She probably sleeps with suppliers and gets freebies,” Simon joked while he lit the candles around the tub and slipped in behind her, pulling her to rest against his chest. The water rose almost to their necks, so he turned the elegantly curved taps off.
“But she can’t. The rules are strict about getting products at fair market price so no designer will have an advantage. She may be a cheating liar, but this? She doesn’t need it. This room is beautiful without the Zaremsky, without these little baskets of stuff.”
“Well then, let’s even the score,” Simon said, pouring the bath oil into the tub. “Why do you keep sticking up for her anyway?”
“I don’t know…maybe because I don’t want to believe that anyone in my profession would stoop so low. She wronged me, damaged my career, but I still credit her for teaching me almost everything I know. And in my mind, I just can’t understand why she, a very talented, gorgeous woman, would ever sabotage anyone else’s work.”
“You’re very naïve Ellis
, but in a kindhearted way,” Simon said gently, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Cynthia is indeed talented but she probably feels threatened by you and other up-and-coming designers. For a woman who takes great pride in appearances and has always relied heavily on her looks, it can’t be easy giving in to fifty. She can’t be queen of the castle forever and I suspect her actions show how desperate she’s getting to stay at the top of her game.
“Then again,” he added thoughtfully, “I couldn’t believe that one of my own men would steal from me.”
“You’re more astute than I thought, Mr. Callon,” she replied, surprised at the logic of his reasoning. She chose a second bottle of oil from the basket, vanilla spice, and watched the viscous drops bead on the surface of the water. She swept her hand through the warm liquid on the pretence of stirring it up, playfully tickling his thigh as she did.
