I started to wonder if he bought the same standard slip for all of the other “serious” women he’d been with. But, as I looked at my reflection, I noticed that there was white cursive threading sewn onto the lace that covered my left breast. It read, “For Claire.”
“I’ve never bought lingerie for anyone else,” he whispered. “Only you.” He clasped my hand and led me out of the bathroom and down the hall.
We walked past four doors and a small staircase before stopping in front of a set of white French doors. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked one of the doors, pushing me inside.
My eyes widened as I took in the room: The silky taupe drapes that fell down to floor, the perfectly polished wood floors, the large mahogany poster bed that stood on the far side of the room, and the large scale paintings that featured the greatest American authors.
I walked over the bookshelf that covered the entire back wall, pulling out the only book that wasn’t perfectly aligned with the others.
“I’m only thirty pages in.” Jonathan stepped in front of me. “It’s actually not that bad. Don’t follow her lead and get any ideas about leaving me though.” He smiled as he took Eat, Pray, Love from my hands, placing it back on the shelf.
“Come here.” He took my hand in his and led me over to the bed. “Wine?”
I nodded and he laughed.
“You can answer questions, Claire.” He uncorked a bottle and poured two glasses. “You just can’t initiate anything.” He handed me my drink.
I took several slow sips and smiled. It was the same wine I’d ordered on our first date—my favorite wine; he’d remembered.
Why is he so perfect?
“Did you have a good day at work today?” He eyed me as he set his glass down.
“Yes…”
“Anything interesting happen?”
My body was trembling uncontrollably again. No matter how hard I tried to control it, it wouldn’t stop.
“Claire?” He took my glass away and cupped my face in his hands. “Are you there?”
“It was okay…” I wished he would stop looking at me like that, like he wanted to devour me on the spot. “We let the associates go home early since their work has improved over the past few weeks. We’re still trying to figure out what approach we’re going to—”
“I honestly don’t give two fucks about my company right now.” He crushed his lips onto mine and pushed me back onto the bed.
I shut my eyes as he caressed me, as he placed small kisses up and down my neck.
As he pulled my slip over my head, he whispered, “Open your eyes.”
I hesitated a second before blinking them open, and when I did I was staring directly into his beautiful eyes.
He tossed the slip onto the floor and arched his brow. “You’re very tense today…” He shifted his body so he was lying next to me. “And you haven’t stopped shaking since we took a shower together.” He held one of my quaking palms up to make a point. “Are you that nervous?”
I didn’t want to admit it, but I was.
“Hmmm.” He kissed my hand and stood up.
I watched him walk over to the closet and take out a small brown bottle.
“Lay on your stomach,” he said as he walked back over to me.
I rolled over, still trembling, and felt warm oil being poured onto my back. I exhaled as his palms spread it up and down my spine, as he spread it all over me.
Pressing his fingertips into my sides, he caressed me with a “back and forth” motion—over and over. Every now and then, he would leave a wet kiss against my skin, and he would follow up with another deep press of his hands.
“Does this relax you?” He kneaded the back of my thighs.
“Umm hmmm….”
“Are you still nervous?” He moved down to my calves, then to my ankles.
I didn’t answer the question. I was getting lost in the incredible sensations he was giving me.
He flipped me over and began applying pressure to my feet—using his thumbs to rub my heels.
“What does this cursive July 16th stand for?” he asked.
“The date of—” I gasped as he kissed my instep. “The date of my divorce.”
He laughed. “And the white and red flags tattooed on your ankle? Just your fascination with flags?”
“Yes…”
“Okay.” He let go of my foot and began massaging his way back up my body—using the same sensual motions against the front of my thighs and my stomach, spending extra time to caress my breasts.
He smiled at me and left the bed again, putting the bottle away in the closet. Then he disappeared.
Minutes later, he came back into the room with a glass of ice and set it on the night stand.
I was tempted to ask what the ice was for, but he gave me a look that said, “I dare you.” I bit down on my bottom lip and watched as he grabbed a pillow from the other side of the bed, as he propped it underneath me.
Straddling me, he reached over and plucked an ice cube from the glass. “Let’s make sure you’re as relaxed as possible.” He rolled it between his fingertips, letting the cold droplets drip onto my chest.
Then he placed the cube onto my neck, slowly trailing it between my breasts—circling it around both of my hardening nipples.
“Ahhh…” I groaned as he took one of them into his mouth, sucking on it as he continued to tease the other one with ice. “Jonathan…”
“Shhh.” He switched positions and I shut my eyes, trying to stay as still as possible.
The next thing I felt was another ice cube, a larger one, drifting down past my breasts, and into my navel.
My stomach started to quiver again—not as intensely as it was before, but noticeable enough for Jonathan to hold me still and laugh.
“Relax, Claire.” He leaned over me and grabbed another cube. “I’m going to make you feel really good…” He placed the cube into his mouth and kissed the inside of my thighs, alternating between using his warm tongue and the cold ice.
The kisses started moving closer and closer, and then he slipped a finger inside of me, groaning at how wet I was.
He looked up at me one more time, and then he put his head down, gently brushing his tongue against my clit.
I gasped and sat up, bringing my knees up to my chest. “Wait.”
“For?”
“I can’t…I’m not...Can we just have traditional sex?”
“No.” He rose up and glared at me, but I could tell he was slightly amused.
“I know this seems crazy because I’m not a virgin but…I told you this has never been done to me before…I didn’t honestly expect you to—”
“Claire…”
“I’m sure you would make it amazing. Actually, I know that you would, but—”
“Claire…”
“Yes?”
“Lay back down…”
I blinked. I couldn’t move.
“You’re going to make me ask you again?” He raised his eyebrow.
I blinked twice.
He shook his head and smiled. “Okay, Claire.” He walked over to where I was curled up on the bed and picked me up, tossing me over his shoulder.
He grabbed that cup of ice, and then he placed me at the edge of the bed. He lay me down against the mattress and untied the sash from his robe. Before I could figure out what he was doing, he spread my legs and tied my right one to the bed’s post. Then he reached inside his robe’s pocket and pulled out his tie, using it to hold down my left one.
I tugged at my legs, seeing if my movement would topple the posts, but it didn’t; they didn’t even rock.
“I should’ve known you would be difficult about this.” He kneeled between my legs with his cup of ice. “Do I need to tie your hands too?’
I shook my head.
“If you try to make me stop, I will tie them. Understand?”
“Yes…”
“Good.” He placed an ice cube in his mouth and leaned forward, pressing
it against my lower stomach, moving it down lower and lower.
I moaned as two of his fingers plunged deep, and then I felt his tongue pressing the cube inside of me.
I gasped at the coldness, trying to squeeze my legs shut, but they wouldn’t move.
“Jonathan...” My voice was airy, strained. “Jonathan, stop…”
He kept pushing the ice in and out of me, flicking his tongue against my lips as he did it, rendering me completely helpless.
“Oh—Oh my god…” I could feel it melting, could feel his tongue lapping up the drops. “Stop…”
He ignored me. He began kissing my lips like he was kissing my mouth—driving his tongue deeper and deeper, softly biting down on my clit—sucking on it as I writhed and pleaded for him to stop.
The pleasure was too intense, too raw, and my body was convulsing with every stroke of his tongue.
I reached down and threaded my fingers through his hair, too weak to push him away.
As he placed his hands underneath my thighs, slightly lifting me up for a better angle, his lashes became more forceful, more vigorous.
“Stop fighting it…” He drew my clit into his mouth—rolling his tongue all around it, and I lost all sense of time.
I could hear myself screaming like I’d never screamed before—not sure how he could stand it, how he could keep torturing me like this.
“Come for me, Claire,” he whispered, refusing to relent his pleasurable kisses.
“Ahhh…I…I…” I felt him sucking me even harder—faster, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. Every nerve in me exploded and my body began shuddering violently.
I clung to the sheets as my toes curled, as he made me cum harder than I’d ever cum in my life.
My breathing was out of control; my body was still quivering, struggling to come down from an extreme high.
“Claire?” I heard him say my name as he untied my legs, but I didn’t respond. I was too dazed, shocked. I could barely feel the kisses he was now placing against my stomach, against my chest.
As he moved on top of me, tremors were still making their way through my body. I tried to calm down, but I felt him sliding into me—filling me, and I gasped.
“Look at me,” he whispered, waiting for me to oblige.
I held my head up, looking into his eyes, and he pressed his lips against my cheek. “You’re mine…You’ll always be mine…”
He slowly pulled out of me, pushing his way back in, and for the first time there was nothing between us; we were skin to skin and I could feel a dramatic difference. I felt closer to him, more complete.
He took his time making love to me, holding my hands above my head as he pushed me into another mind-blowing climax.
Once my body stopped convulsing, he slipped his arms around me and kissed my lips. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded because that’s all I could do.
When I finally regained some strength, I pressed myself closer to him and stared into his eyes.
I wasn’t sure how long we lay entwined together, or how long he held me tight and kissed me over and over again—telling me how beautiful I was.
Every second seemed to blur together, but at some point I felt him getting out of the bed.
My heart started to race. “Where are you going?” I cleared my throat, wincing when I felt how dry it was from screaming.
“To get some more ice.” He smiled. “We’re going to do that again…And then I’m going to punish you for talking.”
Chapter 19
Claire
Stop looking at him…Stop looking at him…
I tried to keep my eyes focused on the interns that were standing at the front of the room. They were talking about why they deserved to have my two IPO ball tickets, but I couldn’t help but stare at Jonathan.
He was sitting directly across from me and he wasn’t making it any easier for me to focus. He flashed a lusty smile every few seconds, playfully licked his lips, or gave me a look that said he wanted to take me across the conference table right after this meeting was over.
I’d spent all day yesterday lying in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying every single second of Friday night—wishing it hadn’t come to an end. It was the most amazing sex I’d ever had and I still couldn’t believe how perfect it had been.
“Miss Gracen?” Mr. Barnes cleared his throat. “Which team do you think did the best? Who do you pick?”
I looked over at the four interns who stood in the corner with their eyes shut, hoping to be selected. They’d all done an incredible job and both teams technically deserved to go.
“I pick both.” I smiled.
“What? You only have two tickets to—”
“One team can have my tickets to the IPO ball and the other team can have my tickets to the one day retreat in Napa Valley this weekend.”
Everyone in the room let out a collective gasp; Jonathan’s eyes widened.
“You’re giving up a private flight and a winery day?” Mr. Barnes sounded shocked. “Seriously?”
I nodded. I’d been thrilled when the board sent all the directors an email about rewarding us for our hard work. They’d announced that they were giving us a first class flight to one of the best wineries in the country, but I knew I wouldn’t accept it as soon as they sent us the tickets.
“I am…This will make the rest of the interns work even harder, don’t you think? I may still meet you guys there though. It is only a one hour drive away and I do love wine.” I laughed and the rest of the directors laughed with me.
“Wow, that’s very generous of you.” He smiled. “Thank you interns for all your hard work and we’ll email you about which team gets what tickets later today.”
We gave them one last round of applause as they left the room. As soon as the door shut, we all stood up and stretched while Mr. Barnes prepared the projector screen for our weekly “come together” session.
“That was very nice of you…” Jonathan texted me.
“Thank you.”
“I designed that reward just for you. Why did you give it up?”
“I was trying to be nice.”
“A little too nice…”
I looked up so I could give him a dramatic eye roll, but he wasn’t in front of me anymore. He was sitting right beside me.
“Jonathan,” I whispered. “You can’t…Please don’t—”
“Please don’t what? I can’t sit next to you during the film?”
“No…”
“Why not?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and he smiled.
“Am I allowed to touch you in public yet?” He reached for the pen I was holding and pressed his fingers against my hand as he slowly drew it away.
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?” He purposely dropped the pen in my lap.
I jumped up from the table and cleared my throat. “I’m going to get some coffee from downstairs before we start. Does anyone else want anything?”
“Oh! Can you get me a caramel macchiato?” “I’ll take a regular coffee with extra foam!” “I’ll have a mocha latte!”
I ripped a sheet of paper out of my notebook and held it out for people to write down their orders.
“I’ll help you get the coffee, Miss Gracen.” Jonathan stood up and smiled at me.
Shit…Why didn’t I think about that?
I watched the paper stop at every single director, wondering if someone else would volunteer to help me bring it back, but by the time the paper made it full circle, no one had offered.
“You don’t have to rush to get back.” Mr. Barnes handed me the paper. “It’s apparently going to take twenty to thirty minutes for our satellite advisor to join us on the video chat today. He’s having difficulties with his login.”
“Right.” I walked out of the room and rushed towards the elevators. “I don’t need your help, Mr. Statham. I’ll just get a coffee cart and roll it back.”
He rolled his eyes and hit the down button.
>
“It’s too early for us to do anything...” I looked up at him, pleading. “It’s way too risky and you know it…”
The elevator doors sprang open and he pushed me inside. I thought he was going to hit the stop button and kiss me anyway, but he pressed the button for the lobby and looked over at me.
“I’m not trying to sleep with you right now, Claire,” he said. “I just want to be around you. That’s it.”
“Okay…”
The elevator reached the lobby and we both grabbed a coffee cart as soon as we stepped off.
I tore the list in half and handed it to him. “It was nice of you to install a free Starbucks here…Everyone loves it.”
“I’d hoped so. One of my employees thought the old coffee we served tasted like shit.”
“It did.”
He laughed. “Why did you really give up your winery ticket? Wine is one of your favorite things…”
It’s my number one favorite thing… “I honestly just wanted to be nice…The interns have been working late hours too and they haven’t been getting paid extra so...” I handed my coffee list to the barista. “I didn’t know you planned that trip with me in mind.”
“Well, now that you’re not going we can do something else together.”
“Like what?”
“I’ll think of something…” He handed his list to the other barista and helped me load napkins and pastries onto the cart. His phone started to ring and he stepped away. “I’ll be right back.”
The barista set more coffees on the counter and I loaded them onto our carts.
“Claire? Is that you?” Mr. Henderson stepped in front of me. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been well and yourself? I haven’t seen you around in a while. Have you been sick?”
“No, I got a promotion.” He smiled. “I work in Operations now. I’m glad I ran into you though. Are you still going out with someone else?”
“Yes.”
He dramatically frowned and then he laughed. “Lucky guy. You know, if you ever—”
“Mr. Henderson.” Jonathan came back and reached out for a handshake. “How are things in the Operations Department so far?”
“They’re amazing. Thank you so much for the personal recommendation. I’d been applying for a position there for years.”
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