by Tawny Taylor
“I’m not pawning. That’s not what I’m trying to do.”
“Then what are you trying to do?”
“Truth?”
She nodded. “Nothing but.”
“I’m trying to convince the woman I love that I’m the best guy for her.”
Her eyebrows scrunched together. “By going on a date with me? I’m not following you.”
“Are you in the mood to listen to a long story?”
“Sure! What the hell. I took the afternoon off. Amuse me.”
“Have you ever loved someone so much you’d do anything to get them to notice you? Even be obnoxious, make a fool out of yourself, risk your career. Just to catch a glimpse of a smile?”
Starr shook her head. “She must be something special.”
“Fate is. I’ve known her for years, since college. We dated for a short time, but we were young, and I was stupid. My mother died when I was young, and my father wasn’t exactly the best role model for how to treat a woman.” He closed his eyes and let images from his college days wash through his mind. “I still remember the first time I saw her. She slipped on the ice outside the cafeteria, and I helped her up. She was so beautiful, so smart. After the first touch, I was hooked. I didn’t want to let her go for nothing. My roommates teased me to no end. Said I was whipped. And I admit it, I fell. Hard. I even let my grades go and almost lost my scholarship. All that mattered was being with her.”
“That’s very romantic. So what happened?” Starr took a forkful of salad into her mouth and chewed.
“She decided to move on, not that I could blame her. I wasn’t mature enough. My father was so determined to make up for our not having a mother, he babied the hell out of both me and my older brother. It took years for me to grow up, but since then, I’ve been trying to break through her resistance. Hell, I’d even provoke her because it was better than indifference. And it’s worked.” He smiled. “It’s finally worked.”
*****
When Fate returned to the office, she caught the look on Gabe’s face. It was an odd expression, one of expectation and maybe a hint of a few other things. Impossible to read.
“Well?” he asked, scooting his chair back to its position at the side of her desk. She wondered why he even bothered to move it to his desk. It didn’t stay there long.
“Well, it was okay.”
“Just okay?” His eyebrows raised behind a cascade of runaway curls on his forehead. She was tempted to toy with them. They looked so silky. Soft.
“The guy was nice enough. Smart. Good looking. A little funny…” What had been missing? That spark? That irresistible urge to get close? The immediate rush of tingly expectation between her legs: The Gabe Factor. “What about you?”
“I had a good time. She was very…” He raised his gaze to the ceiling. “Very colorful. Smart. Creative. Unique.”
“Sounds like she was right up your alley. Did she like your watch?”
“She didn’t comment on it.”
“Was she attractive?”
“In an urbane way, I suppose.”
What did that mean? “Would you go out with her again?”
He shrugged.
Was he trying to make her jealous? A spike of something shot up her spine.
By God, she was jealous!
“So,” she said, trying like hell to swallow the ugly feeling in her gut, “what did we learn from this exercise?”
“That you missed me?”
She didn’t like that answer. “No, remember, we did this for research?”
He grinned. “Oh, yeah. What’s wrong?” He leaned a little closer…too close…no, not close enough…
Oh, hell! He was doing it again! Her whole body tingled. Her nerve endings ignited.
She thought about reaching for him and kissing that cocky grin off his lips. “Nothing’s wrong. What makes you ask a question like that?”
He shrugged. “You just look a little tense.” He glanced at the window then moved away.
She took a deep breath. Why did he move? Had she said something wrong? “I could say the same thing about you.”
He slumped back in his chair. “I’d say I learned we have some tough competition in the market and need to have a very specific strategy if we’re going to survive.”
“Well, did we really have to go through all the trouble of a blind date to figure that out?”
Pencil in hand, he reached forward, running the eraser up her jaw line. “Maybe not. But I thought it might be fun.”
“Well…” What was she going to say? Those shocking gray eyes were hypnotizing her, wiping her brain clean. She couldn’t put a coherent thought together.
“What?”
“Um…” Out of sheer desperation, she dropped her gaze. Much better! At least she could think. “Next time you think something might be amusing, maybe you should leave me out.”
“Never. Besides, I don’t think you’d appreciate that one bit.”
A fingertip tickled her neck, just below her ear. Her head, of its own accord tipped, giving him full access to the sensitive skin. Her mind went blank again.
“I thought you had a nice lunch,” he said, his voice so incredibly seductive, she’d swear she could come right there.
“I did. He even wanted to go out on a second date.” Why had she told him that? Did she really want him to know? Did she want him to be jealous?
Would he be?
“Really,” he drawled. His fingertips trailed higher, and he tugged at the scrunchy at her nape. Her curls spilled over her shoulders, and he gripped them and tugged. Not too hard. Just hard enough. Damn!
Her panties became instantly wet.
She smiled. Wouldn’t he like to see those panties! Red lace. A thong. They made her feel just a little naughty, and she wondered what he would say, how he would look, if she lifted her skirt.
“You like that?” he whispered.
“Yeah.”
“You want to get outta here? Go somewhere private to talk?”
Now, things were going the right direction! She met his gaze. “Do you honestly want to talk?”
He tugged again. “What do you think?”
As if her thong wasn’t soaked enough!
*****
His cock was ready, so hard he could penetrate marble.
He needed to get the hell out of the office. Now. He took Fate’s hand. Where to go?
His place was too far. “Can we go to your place?”
Fate nodded but didn’t say a word. She simply followed him. She looked as flush-faced as he’d ever seen her, and if he was a betting man, he’d put money on the fact that she was as ready to fuck as he was. For appearances sake, he released Fate’s hand long before they reached the bottom of the staircase.
He stopped at the reception desk and told Alexa they were going to check out another competitor. Alexa gave him a knowing smile.
That woman knew him too well.
Then again, that was his fault. Their brief relationship—if you’d call it that—a couple years ago had been a big mistake. It hadn’t worked from day one, but it had taken Alexa almost a full year to accept it.
If he didn’t know better, he’d swear the woman was attempting a silent plea. Knowing her, she wanted a threesome.
He didn’t wait around to find out if that was where she was headed. Instead, he dropped behind Fate and settled a hand on the base of her spine, just above that hot ass.
Damn, he loved the way it swayed when she walked.
If he didn’t possess a fair amount of control, he’d have come right there.
“Whose car should we take?” Fate asked over her shoulder.
“We can take mine.”
“What if we don’t make it back?”
“We’ll either pick it up later, or I can drive you to work tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
He unlocked the door for her and caught a glimpse of delectable cleavage as she dropped into the seat. She looked up at him, a sexy s
mile curving two perfect lips. Then she released one more button.
“Tease,” he grumbled. Her giggles greeted him as he took the driver’s seat and started the car. In a heartbeat, they were on their way.
Her hand slid between his legs, and he almost went blind with need.
“Mmmm…” she whispered. “Someone’s hard.”
He blew out a huff of air. “That’s an understatement.”
“I can’t wait to run my tongue from the base of that cock to the tip.”
His hard-on strained against his pants. He tried like hell to pay attention to what he was doing, or he knew he’d end up parking the car in the middle of a tree.
A wicked smile on her face, she unzipped his khakis. “Damn! You’re huge. I don’t remember you being that big.” She squeezed at the base then slowly pulled up. Before he could stop her, she leaned down and teased the head with her tongue.
White heat shot through his body. His eyelids grew so heavy he needed tent stakes to keep them up. His cock reared against his stomach.
He pulled into a parking lot at the back of a wooded park. Good thing school didn’t let out for an hour or so. He turned off the car, yanked up his pants, and went around to the passenger side. She watched him, visibly curious.
He’d never fucked in his car. It was tiny, cramped. But what the hell? He opened the passenger door and hit the passenger side seat recline lever. “I can’t wait another minute.”
“I like the sound of that.”
He took another glance around. Not a soul. Then he reached between her legs. “I want to taste you.”
She turned in her seat, facing him, and leaned down to remove her shoes. Then she stood and shimmied out of her pantyhose. “This is intense—in a park. I’ve never done it outside before. Kind of dangerous.”
Good God! The motion she used to wiggle out of those pantyhose was driving him nuts. “Does that make you hot?”
She nodded and sat, hiking her skirt up around her hips.
His gaze fixed on one spot. Between her legs. What was she wearing? Red? “Stand up.”
She stood.
“Turn around and lift your skirt.”
She did as he asked, flashing him the roundest, hottest ass he’d ever seen. Another burst of heat shot to his cock. “Bend over the hood.”
She did, glancing over her shoulder, a playful smile on her face. Damn it! Where did she learn to do that? She was driving him crazy with that look.
He slid a finger inside her. She was so wet. He could take her right there. Her legs quivered as he thrust two fingers inside. “Do you like that?”
“Ohhh…yeah…”
“Get back in the car.”
She settled in her seat, her legs spread wide for him. He pulled the wet thong aside and parted her thatch of red hair. When he licked her clit she moaned, her tight abs clenching. She tasted sweet, absolutely intoxicating. He needed more.
He lifted her knees and spread them wider, then plunged two fingers inside as he laved her folds. Her hips gyrated in tempo to his hand as he plunged in and out.
She tasted so good. Smelled so good. Felt so good.
He had to fuck her.
He pulled her legs until her ass was on the edge of the seat then kneeled, and in one smooth stroke he was inside.
Fuck! She was tight. Hot. Ready. He felt his come at the base of his cock. Could he hold back? He quit moving.
And then she squeezed that tight cunt, clamping around him. It was all he could do to keep himself from filling her.
He thumbed her clit and she moaned again, parting her legs further. “Oh, yeah.” He felt the telling pulse around his cock as she came. Her back arched, and he hammered her until he reached his own orgasm.
His breathing came in short bursts as he opened his eyes.
She smiled up at him. “Fuck me again.”
His cock, which had begun to slacken inside her, hardened readily.
He regretfully pulled out and pulled up his drawers. “Let’s get to your place first. I want more room next time. I want access to every inch of you.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I can’t wait.” She closed her legs—a crime—and turned to face forward.
He zipped his pants and sat in the driver’s seat. In ten torturous minutes they parked in her driveway. She gathered her hose and shoes from the back seat as he came around to open her door.
She led him into the house and dropped her belongings on a table by the front door. When he stepped inside, she shut the door behind him. “Something to drink?”
“Sure. I’d love a glass of ice water.”
“Okay.” She didn’t walk to the kitchen.
What was she doing?
She lifted her hands, releasing each button of her blouse slowly, letting him drink in the sight of her chest as it was slowly revealed. When she shrugged out of her blouse, letting it slip to the floor, he lunged at her. She stepped back. “Uh uh! You had your fun. Now it’s my turn.”
She reached between her breasts and unhooked her bra—a front loader. Cool. When she opened it, two perfect breasts with pink nipples stood erect.
He wanted to touch her. He needed to touch her.
She shook her head as though she’d read his mind. “Not yet.”
Then she reached down and unhooked her skirt, shimmying out of it. There was that hip action thing again. It was driving him crazy.
She had great legs. Tight stomach. Hips with just enough curve. She turned around.
And a perfect ass.
The sight of that red thong running up the center left him burning.
She bent over and ran her hand over her ass.
Damn! Fuck! His cock strained against his pants.
Turning, she smiled. “Do you like what you see?”
“Oh baby. You’re perfect.”
She smiled. “Take off your clothes. I want to see you.”
He didn’t need a written invitation. Off came the shirt, pants, shoes, socks and shorts. His cock reared up against his stomach as he stood before her, relishing the way her gaze traveled over his body.
She sighed. “You have the most amazing body I’ve ever seen. What do you do? Spend hours in the gym every day?”
“Maybe one.”
She nodded. “Whatever you’re doing, it’s working. I’m wet just looking at you.”
“Can I touch you yet?” All he could think about was getting back inside that tight cunt.
With a tip of her head, she gave him her answer. And in two quick strides he was on her, his mouth devouring hers. His hands teasing two nipples then slipping down to cup that ass.
Someday he’d fuck it, if she let him.
She ground her hips into him, rubbing those slick folds up and down his cock as he dropped to the floor. She forced him onto his back.
God! That was a sight. Her on top. That face, those tits. Her stomach.
She straddled him then dropped a hand, a fingertip rubbing her clit. Her head dropped back, and he watched, mesmerized by the sight of her masturbating over him.
Inch by inch, she lowered herself down, taking him deep. Her slick pussy walls welcomed him inside, at first opening to accommodate his girth, then clamping tight.
His own moan shot from his chest. She lifted her hips and slammed down again, and he cried out. He couldn’t stand it. He had to take control.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice teasing.
“Not a damn thing. That’s the problem.”
She shot him a wicked grin then spun around, his cock still deep inside. Now he had a full view of her back and ass as she rode him. That ass slapped the base of his stomach, and he felt the flood of come shoot up his cock.
And then the pulsing of her pussy.
They cried out in unison as they came together, both their bodies wracked by throbbing, pulsing, mind-numbing heat.
And when it was over, she stood and pulled him up, leading him to the bedroom. They lay in bed, his arms wrapped around that amazing body, his e
yelids heavy, his mind awash in that muddy after sex bog.
He would never forget today, the day his precious Fate had finally returned to him. I should do a list. White picket fence, lazy-boys, big TV and a dog.
“Do you think we should go back to work?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“Do you want something to eat?”
“Nope.”
“Drink?”
“Nope. All I want is you. Here. In my arms.”
She sighed and snuggled closer, her head in the crook of his arm.
Yes, this is exactly what he’d wanted all these years. Fate Doherty was finally his.
Chapter 8
Getting what you want always comes at a price.
Fate couldn’t remember ever feeling so at ease with another human being. Normally after sex, a dark, gloomy mood fell over her. Not this time. She wondered why.
It felt so right having him there with her, in her home, in her bed, snuggled so close. Her head rested on his chest, rising and falling with each breath he took. His heartbeat thumped in her ear.
“Tell me about your life since college. Outside of the obvious, what’s happened between now and then?” she asked, relishing the feel of his hand running up and down her arm.
“Well, I’ve been working, but you know that already.”
“Did you ever marry?”
“Nope.”
She lifted her head and looked at him. “Why not?”
“What about you?”
“Aren’t you going to answer my question first?”
“No. You first.” He smiled.
“I didn’t get married.” She sat up, fluffed a couple pillows and leaned back against them. “Never found the right one.”
He rolled over on his side, propped himself up on an elbow, and rested his head in his hand. His bicep swelled. Yum. “Who’s the right one?”
“I don’t know.” You? “I’ve just been waiting for that feeling, that certainty you see in the movies. Do you think it’s real?”
“Yep. I know it is.”
Her gaze wandered over his face, and a knot tightened in her gut. “You sound so sure.”
“I am.”
She didn’t have to ask what he was talking about. It was all over his face.
Was he the right one for her? Was there any doubt? Funny, in less than a week, she’d gone from hating the man to…to falling in love with him? Could it be? How had that happened?
