“You find that amusing?”
“It’s a long story, but I’ll save you a warm seat in hell. Laurel and Grace have promised to join me, so we’ll just throw one big bash.” Cynthia had been leaning over the arm of the couch, but she unfolded her slender frame before setting her wineglass back down on the side table. She’d balanced the delicate stem between her fingers as she landed the glass on the stone surface with a purpose. She glided across the room, giving him the pleasure of viewing the sensual sway of her hips. His eyes might be trained elsewhere, but he didn’t miss the slow fade of her beautiful smile. “We’ve both sinned, Gareth. We’re human. And I realized after today that my expectations were set a bit higher than even most saints could meet. I expected nothing short of perfection from you, and that wasn’t quite fair. But neither one of us are going anywhere at the moment. There’s plenty of time to talk, but what I truly need right now is you.”
Cynthia was now standing directly behind him. She quietly rested her hands on his shoulders before stepping even closer, crushing the heat that was simmering between their bodies. The alcohol he’d consumed was no match for her intoxicating mixture of scent and touch.
“I like this spot,” Cynthia whispered encouragingly, pulling down his shirt collar so that she could press her lips to the back of his neck. “I can do this small gesture so simple and sweet, yet still enjoy the vastness of the view before us.”
Cynthia gradually reached around him and began to unfasten the buttons on his shirt one by one. She was peering over his shoulder and observing her handiwork, especially when she finished tugging the trapped fabric from his dress pants.
“We might be on a floor of this hotel high enough so that no one can see what we’re doing, but that doesn’t mean someone hasn’t gone the extra mile and invested in a pair of binoculars or a gold-plated telescope designed for this specific purpose.”
Gareth switched the glass of whiskey to his other hand as she pulled the material down his arms. She didn’t stop there, pulling his sleeveless undershirt up and over his head. He did love her determination.
“Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint someone who’s gone that extra mile, now would we?” Cynthia trailed one of her manicured nails across his back as she began to walk around him. She took her time admiring his frame until she was standing directly in front of him. “Unless a little exhibitionism makes you uncomfortable?”
Gareth drained the rest of his whiskey to prevent himself from reacting to her taunt.
She wanted to play?
He sure as hell wasn’t about to say no to that.
“Just remember, Cyn, it goes both ways.”
Gareth had to remind himself to follow through with his promise, but it was rather hard to concentrate when she gracefully lowered herself to her knees. The stimulating reflection in the window had his cock hardening in anticipation.
“I expected nothing less,” Cynthia said provocatively, unhooking his belt before slipping the small black onyx oval through the buttonhole.
Any reply Gareth would have made was stopped when she withdrew his throbbing member from its confines. Damn if he couldn’t have come right then and there. He widened his stance to give himself better leverage.
It was a good thing he’d locked his knees. The arousing sensation of her tongue flicking against his tip was nearly enough to have made him collapse and join her on the floor.
He tightened his grip on the empty glass, wishing he hadn’t finished its contents quite so quickly.
The red brake lights and the illuminating headlights on the vehicles below continued to pass one another in an array of colorful streaks. Under normal circumstances, he would have been happy to observe the world carry on at a rapid pace below. Nothing was as captivating as witnessing Cynthia take him in her mouth before slowly setting up a rhythm where the edges of her black hair moved against her jawline in time with her rhythmic movements.
“Don’t—”
Gareth’s words became strangled when she did the exact thing he’d intended to warn her against. She’d taken his cock to the back of her throat and swallowed. The tight constriction around his tip was beyond intense. He instinctively used his free hand and threaded his fingers through her silky strands.
“Hmmmm.”
Cynthia no doubt hummed on purpose, allowing the vibrations of her voice travel down his shaft.
“Cyn. Pure sin.”
His play on her name didn’t escape her, but she didn’t allow that to distract her from pleasuring him at her pace. She drew her head back, caressed the underside of his cock with her tongue, and sucked him back into her mouth until his tip hit the back of her throat.
Once again, he tightened his hold on her hair in warning. She ignored his attempt to control the situation by using her hands to pull him forward. His sac began to tighten in its natural bid to release its contents.
It was clear that she wanted to finish him off in this manner, but she was denying them both the prolonged pleasure of what lay before them this evening.
“Cyn, that’s enough.”
Her answer was to quicken the pace and accent the rhythm that she’d set. Gareth wasn’t kidding himself, because he could have easily prevented her from continuing just from his hold of her hair. He would have to adjust his stance accordingly. The influence she had over him was too much to resist.
Cyn quickened the cadence at which her lips and tongue glided over his cock, but it was when she suddenly stopped that her exploit triggered his release. She was very gifted with her tongue and managed to stroke just the right area that had her name flying off his lips.
“Do you think whoever invested in that telescope got their money’s worth?”
“If they hadn’t before, they sure have now,” Gareth muttered before helping her stand. Her arched eyebrow all but dared him to spin her around so that she was facing the window. “Hold this. And whatever you do, don’t drop it.”
Gareth had given her his empty glass, allowing him free rein to unfasten the small buttons on her silk blouse. The action allowed him the ability to come down off the high she’d initiated. By the time he’d uncovered her white lace bra, he was somewhat in control of his breathing.
“There’s something wickedly delicious about you wearing white lingerie.” Gareth began to hike her penciled skirt, though that wasn’t an easy endeavor. He managed to get the taut material up and around her hips, giving him the distinct pleasure of seeing her matching delicate panties. “So angelic and pure, yet so enticingly sinful.”
Gareth met her gaze in the reflection of the window.
“Lift your arms, Cyn.” She did as he instructed, though he didn’t doubt this was exactly how she wanted things to go. “And remember, don’t drop the cut crystal.”
Cynthia had bent her arms at her elbows, almost as if she were embracing him. He lowered his eyes to her bare feet. Her smile in the reflection told him that she was very much going to enjoy this next part.
What she didn’t know was that he wasn’t going to let her off that easy.
“Gareth, what makes you think you could make me drop this hunk of glass?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cynthia sucked in a breath when Gareth slid his fingers under the waistband of her lace panties. His fixed gaze at her eyes’ opaque reflection in the windowpane never wavered from hers, which told her that he intended to watch every single expression of euphoria that crossed her features.
They both liked to play games in the bedroom, although relishing in each other’s pleasure had never been done quite so publicly.
She wasn’t worried at the off chance someone was watching.
They were too high up for the traffic below to make out what anyone was doing behind the glass panels. Yet his comment about binoculars and telescopes had certainly added an exciting edge of intrigue to their evening.
“You do like playing with fire, don’t you?” Gareth murmured, wrapping an arm underneath her breast to pull her tighter against his ch
est. “Spread your legs, Cyn. Let’s see who wins this duel.”
She loved a challenge, but he always managed to up the ante by that last all in chip count.
“And if I win?”
Gareth barely grazed his middle finger over her clit, but it was enough to awaken every single nerve in her entire body. She didn’t spread her legs for him as much in obedience as she did out of instinct. Her knees had almost buckled at the first simple caress. She didn’t doubt there was more to come that would have her begging for her release.
“You won’t,” Gareth replied with total confidence. “You’re soaked, Cyn. And we haven’t even begun to explore your depths.”
Gareth spread her juices over his fingers, slowly dipping into her. This time he traced around the very edges of her clit to draw out her pleasure to an exquisite yearning. She didn’t doubt that he’d try to do his worst, but she had the advantage in this position. All she had to do was rock her hips away from his touch, but she couldn’t quite manage to spoil all the fun as of yet.
The heat of his breath caressing her neck sent shivers of arousal down her spine. His body was solid as a rock wall against her supple skin. There was something inherently sexual about the strength of a man’s taut physique.
The manner in which he was continually stroking the sides of her clit as if he was thrusting against her intensified her awareness.
“Don’t close your eyes.” Gareth’s small directive somehow heightened her responsiveness even more. “I want to see your reaction when I make you come with just the slightest touch of my fingers.”
Cynthia tried to lock her knees into place to prevent them from trembling, but he was now pressing on her sensitive nub while moving his fingers in centric circular motions.
When his other hand slipped under the lace of her bra and brushed her nipples, her grip on his glass marginally slipped an inch.
Laughter bubbled when she heard him chuckle, but she wasn’t ready to give in quite yet.
“I was just testing you to see if you were paying attention,” Cynthia said somewhat breathlessly, trying to gain back a bit of control. It was rather hard when he was steadfast in his endeavor to make her come. “You’ll have to do more than touch my—”
Gareth lightly pinched her nipple to bring her up short.
“Better,” Cynthia encourage, though the word sounded a bit strangled. A spasm of pleasure took hold the exact moment he slipped a finger inside of her. When he added another, it was then she realized that he was going to use the base of his hand to maintain pressure on her clit. With every slow thrust of his fingers, her clit was massaged simultaneously. “Hmmm, I see you’re attacking on all fronts.”
“You wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Every caress and stroke he gifted her with was nothing compared to the sight of him pleasuring her.
There they stood, two people in the throes of passion, basically on top of the world. Everyone else was going about their lives, but she and Gareth had blocked off everything and everyone to concentrate on each other.
They’d become one with the reflection in front of them.
The more moans he elicited from his touch, the darker his gaze became as he watched her come apart, giving him the ultimate gift—submission to his will.
Cynthia involuntarily cried out his name when the addition of a third finger had her sheath clamping down on his fingers. Her knees could no longer hold her upright, but she didn’t need to worry about falling. He’d released her breast and was holding her body tightly against his chest.
She rode the waves of blissful indulgence until all she wanted to do was curl up in his embrace and recover for the next round.
There was always a next round with him.
“Gareth?” She’d laid her head back on his shoulder, so she didn’t doubt that he’d heard her. To preface her next statement, she brought her left arm down so that he could witness her victory. “I win.”
“I was around twenty years old when I found out the name of my birth mother.”
Cynthia opened her eyes upon Gareth’s confession, his warmth surrounding her more so than the comforter he’d pulled over them sometime in the middle of the night. The morning sun was beginning to shine through the heavy drapes of the hotel’s bedroom, but she’d heard somewhere that snow was in the forecast. Seeing as it was Saturday, there was no need to rush out of bed and into the office.
“Did you go and meet her?”
Their quiet tones maintained a semblance of intimacy. During the past eight months, they’d learned a lot about each other physically and mentally. She’d come to find that Gareth had a rather high IQ, but he was also wise beyond his years. He’d rubbed shoulders with every sort in his life’s pursuit of understanding. Honestly, there were times his patience made her look like a teenage girl who was told she couldn’t have the new model iPhone that all her evolutionally challenged friends already enjoyed.
Gareth claimed her ability to speak bluntly and make no apologies for her opinions was endearing. He did the same, though it was done with a lot more elegance. She tried her best now to give him the courtesy she hadn’t yesterday.
“Yes.” Gareth rested an arm over her hip, allowing her to snuggle deeper into his embrace. She wasn’t able to witness his expressions, but she didn’t need to. Emotion had thickened his voice. “I wasn’t expecting her to have an older son. Usually, it’s the other way around. From what she told me, she’d had Brad at a young age. It wasn’t until later that she met a man who’d taken her for every penny she’d ever worked for, leaving her high and dry.”
“And pregnant?”
“Yes. She went on to explain that she could barely make ends meet and that it was clearly impossible for her to raise two children.” Gareth displayed no resentment. None. There was almost a sense of closure to his tone. “I don’t begrudge her for making the obviously necessary decision. In hindsight, it was probably the best for everyone involved. She was able to give Brad Manon a secure foundation and raise him without the worry of added expenses, all the while knowing that I was being raised by a good, solidly grounded family.”
“Did you meet Brad then?”
“Yes.” Had she not been paying attention, she would have missed the slight tension in his bicep. “Honestly, he had no interest in me or who I was. Looking back, I believe that my presence brought up bad memories of a time that he would have rather forgotten entirely. I can’t say I blame him. From what I’d heard, my biological father hadn’t been the most upstanding man. He had been a player without any morals.”
Cynthia thought back to those times when Gareth would visit the office to discuss his investment. Every one of those meetings had involved Paul. Had she known that Gareth and Brad were related, it would have been more than obvious that there was bad blood between the two. As it stood, Gareth had appeared to her as any other client.
“When did the two of you reconnect?”
“At his mother’s funeral. It was somewhat apropos.”
Cynthia no longer wanted to be staring at the dim rays of sunshine that faded every time a cloud passed overhead. He was sharing with her one of the most private moments of his life. He deserved her full attention.
She scooted forward a bit so that she could roll over, using the blankets as leverage. Once she was in position, she rested her cheek against the pillow so they were eye to eye.
His tender smile spoke volumes.
“Jenny and Todd Nicollet are my parents. They raised me, provided for me, and loved me as they do their own biological children.” Gareth brushed away a strand of her black hair that had fallen on her cheek. “You’ll have to come to one of our family gatherings. Grounded is an understatement in so many ways. My brothers and sisters can be a riot when we start competing for the family cornhole championship.”
The smooth manner in which Gareth had brought up meeting his parents was not lost on her. She allowed him that small victory. It was a much-needed diversion for him to take a small break b
efore diving into the barely discernable relationship he’d clearly had with his brother.
“It’s good that you recognize healthy competition. My father is the reigning champ of the billiards table in our house. Actually, straight pool is his favorite, and he calls every shot.”
Cynthia had taken a minor victory a time or two, but it was never for the title. They detoured a bit by talking about what sports they used to play, who held the titles of which activity, and made some side bets that would no doubt make for interesting stakes.
“What happened at the funeral?” Cynthia finally asked when they’d both fallen quiet. She stroked her foot over his calf so that he wouldn’t feel so isolated on this short visit to the past. “Did Brad finally want a relationship of any kind?”
“You could say that.” Gareth sighed in resignation. He propped himself up on his elbow, a low level of agitation entering his body. “He wanted access to part of my family’s money. He was in the beginning phases of starting up the hedge fund. I obviously couldn’t do that, because the trust funds are run by a rather prestigious accounting firm. And I wasn’t going anywhere near the finances of the charity organizations we support with established endowments.”
Cynthia wasn’t the compliance officer at the firm’s inception. She’d come on a couple of years later when their former employee decided to move to California for his wife’s promotion to a recently established regional sales manager’s position with Pfizer during a reorganization of territories. He’d done a fine enough job, but there were areas that he’d been lax. He wasn’t exactly the family’s breadwinner anymore. The choice had been a simple one to make, and he’d turned over his duties happily. All in all, the transition had been seamless.
It was due to her role in the company that she was well aware that the money Gareth had invested in Manon Investments was from his own personal income. Being on several corporate boards, dabbling in prime key real estate that was vulnerable after the bubble burst, and some very high-risk investments had turned him quite a hefty profit, which had continued to exponentially redouble his wealth in his young life thus far with unlimited potential.
Opportunity (Office Roulette, Book Three) Page 5
