Addie rubbed his cock and smiled. “I don’t think this is going to work if you keep your clothes on. How about you do a slow and sexy striptease?”
Will slid from underneath her and stood. “Don’t blink.”
She giggled as he kicked off his shoes, yanked off his socks, ripped his shirt from his back, sending buttons flying, and scrambled out of his dark blue chinos and boxers.
“Well you failed on the slow but full marks for the sexy,” she said.
His stomach was flat and hard, his hips narrow. She loved the dark wiry line that ran down the centre of his body to his groin, and knelt to entwine her fingers in the thicker hair around his cock. The tip glistened with pre-cum and Addie ran her finger over the velvety, mushroom-shaped head, then put her finger in her mouth. Will released a strangled groan.
“Yum.”
He lay next to her. “That all I get? Yum?”
“Lots of bold citrus, strawberry, raspberry and cherry flavours with the aroma of coffee and chocolate, which turns in the mouth to a lively mineral tease with hints of roasted pistachio and seaweed.”
“I think I liked yum better.” Will laughed.
“You have the most beautiful body,” she whispered.
“Nowhere near as beautiful as yours. But I just have to see one thing. Show me how you lick your own nipples.”
It wasn’t as easy as she’d thought, but her struggles didn’t make him laugh, only groan louder.
“You’re such a naughty girl.”
Addie squirmed with delight.
“My turn.” Will gently squeezed a nipple with one hand as he bent to take the other in his mouth. His hot, wet tongue curled around the tip of her breast and Addie wrapped her arms around his shoulders as her brain began to fog.
Will’s hand slipped between her legs and he nudged her clit with his thumb. The fog thickened. Impossible to focus on anything, all Addie could do was surrender to sensation and enjoy the ride. Her limbs trembled. Her body blazed. It hurt to breathe. The feeling of Will’s finger rubbing, teasing, wound her on and on. Pressure built in Addie’s core, the tightly twisted muscles on the point of an explosive unravelling when Will withdrew his hand from her pussy and stroked her stomach.
Addie growled. She caught the smirk on his face and narrowed her eyes.
“Good things come to those who wait,” Will said.
“Bad things happen to those who make people wait and if you make me—”
His lips landed on hers and shut her up and his fingers returned to the place where she needed them. Tongue and finger thrusting together and Addie’s world blurred again. Two fingers inside her. Oh God, three? She felt like there was a red button that Will kept sliding over but wouldn’t press. Addie tried to buck into his hand but he wouldn’t let her. Close, she was so close but he wouldn’t take her over the edge.
Addie dragged her mouth from his. “Will. Please.”
“Don’t you want good things to happen?”
“You’re killing me,” she gasped.
He increased the speed of his thrusts, twisted his fingers and she fell apart, broke to pieces, sobbing and shuddering in his arms.
“God, Addie. I never want to let you go.” He kept pressing that place inside her, the rhythm insistent, the tension surging up her spine to her skull until she came again. Could this kill me? Could I die of too much pleasure?
He let her rest then and her world slowly came back to rights as her breathing steadied.
She gave a deep sigh. “Wow.”
“Only wow?” Will asked. “Is that like yum?”
Addie opened her eyes. “I feel like you’ve introduced me to a parallel universe. I didn’t know I could feel like this. Is it all men who can do this, or just you?”
“Just me. It’s a very special gift.”
She ran her hand down the smooth silky length of his cock, always amazed by how hard he felt. Addie cupped his velvety sac and stroked it with her thumb.
“No touching,” Will said, lifting her hand away. “I want to be inside you for more than a couple of seconds and if you play with my balls, I won’t even get that far.”
He grabbed a condom, slid it on and moved over her. Addie wrapped her legs around him as Will eased inside her, his gaze fixed on her face. She cupped his cheeks, ran her fingers over his taut jaw. Will’s eyes closed as he began to thrust. Addie could feel every inch of him driving into her, the hard, thick length so hot inside her she imagined herself catching fire. She was on fire. She loved him.
Oh God, I love him.
“Christ, Addie.” Will gasped as he stiffened in the grip of his climax. “See what you do to me?”
He pulled her into his arms, smothered her with kisses, but didn’t say the words Addie wanted to hear.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Down in the conference room, Addie pinned her name badge to her sweater. She picked up the folder of information about the training course and looked around at the chattering groups of people. Even the sight of the sad group of individuals from the Leeds office waving at her from the other side of the room, didn’t dampen her spirits. Though the idea of Genghis, the Harlot, Beth and Graham ever forming a team of any kind seemed as likely as her mother telling her she looked nice.
Having spent the whole night with Will, cuddling him as if he were an oversized teddy bear, Addie wanted to sing and dance for joy. He made her feel safe and wanted, and even if he hadn’t been able to bring himself to say he loved her, Addie knew he did. And after all, she hadn’t said the words to him.
“Oh, you’re with Graham,” Genghis said when she saw Addie’s badge.
Addie and Graham were the only ones with blue badges. The others from Leeds had yellow.
“Swap with me,” Genghis ordered.
“You can’t,” said Ed, who’d come up behind them. “Each team needs a good balance of personalities. We need you with yellow, Ge—Delia.”
“You don’t have a badge,” Charlotte said.
“I’m observing.” Ed grinned. “Keeping a close eye on what you get up to.”
“Ooh.” As Charlotte fluttered her eyelashes, Addie sloped off to get coffee. There was no sign of Will. They’d not come down for breakfast. They’d been too busy. Addie’s cheeks flamed.
“What are you thinking?” Ed asked at her ear.
Addie nearly dropped her drink. Ed was good at sneaking up when she didn’t expect him.
“Nothing.”
“You look lovely,” he whispered. “Very sexy outfit.”
Addie wore silver-grey corduroy trousers and a tight green sweater. “Me? You sure you don’t think you’re talking to Charlotte.”
The harlot’s dress was so tight, Addie was surprised she could breathe.
“No, I’m talking to you,” Ed said. “You’re the one who looks sexy.”
Addie swallowed hard. “I was aiming for smart and sophisticated.”
“Well, you missed.”
“Seats, please,” a red-haired woman shouted, banging her clipboard on a table.
“Sit with me.” Ed pulled out a padded wooden chair for Addie on the back row. On each seat was a pen, pencil and notepad, all bearing the Magelan logo.
Addie ran the pencil through her fingers. “I adore new pencils,” she whispered.
Ed raised his eyebrows and Addie took it as a message to carry on. “I like hard ones though, not HBs. This is an HB which is a pity, but it feels lovely. It’s not a nasty, cheap one. 2H is best. It stays hard and it doesn’t get all over your fingers.”
Ed stared at his pencil. “I had no idea.”
“Of course they last much longer too, unlike the HBs, which are soft and messy.”
He leaned toward her. “You have to stop now, Addie. There’s only so much I can take of this.”
She gulped. “I’m talking about pencils, Ed.”
“I heard you like eating them. Will couldn’t tell me for laughing.”
Addie sighed. “It wasn’t funny. I thought I was going to
choke.”
“Good morning, everyone.”
Addie looked up when Will began speaking. She tried to look bright-eyed and attentive, but started to think about how she felt lying next to him, how he smelled sweet and spicy at the same time, and she lost track of what he was saying. She stared at his soft lips and ran her tongue slowly over her own, imagining she was kissing him. His eyes settled on hers and he faltered.
“I—er, you—umm,” Will mumbled.
Addie felt a surge of naughtiness and sucked her finger as she looked at him. She heard Ed laughing quietly.
“I’d er—I’d like to introduce—er— Isaac Taylor,” Will stuttered.
A small man about Will’s age stepped forward. He wore a black sweater and black trousers that somehow didn’t go with his happy face and the huge dimples in his cheeks. He looked like a Santa Claus who’d fallen down a sooty chimney.
“I’m Isaac Taylor. Good morning everyone and welcome. Thanks for your introduction, Will. I thought you’d forgotten my name.” Everyone laughed and Will gave a rueful smile.
“I think most of us have had dealings with the Mansell brothers’ consulting business at one time or another. They blow into your quiet lives like whirlwinds, promising to improve your productivity, energy and commitment. Hell, they’ll even promise you a new life. And what’s the bit of advice we all remember? How we can sit on our chairs more effectively.”
Will pointed an imaginary gun in Isaac’s direction.
“We should have tried that with you,” Ed said in Addie’s ear.
“Seriously, folks, this course is going to equip you to be stronger team players. Over the next few days you’ll gain a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. You’ll learn something about yourself that you didn’t know before. Some of you will be looking for the opportunity to demonstrate your leadership skills, but remember teams need players as well as a captain. All thirty-one of you—thirty-two has fallen off the train on the way here and broken her ankle—will have the opportunity to develop as individuals while working toward being more effective team members. But how much you take away from this course depends on you. I expect some of you already think this is a waste of time and that we’re a load of losers.”
Addie heard Graham’s distinctive donkey laugh.
“If you still think that on Wednesday, you’ll be the loser.”
Graham stopped laughing.
“Now, the weather has affected our plans, so the lion taming, blindfolded orienteering and naked sumo wrestling have been put on hold. Your group leaders will run through the changes. If you look in your folders you’ll see where you’re meeting. My last words—the more you put into this course, the more you’ll get out of it. You’ve time for one more coffee before we split up. Enjoy yourselves.”
There was a smattering of applause.
“What’s your role in all this, Ed?” Addie asked.
“Looking to see if any of you show a flair for motivating and delegating.”
She smiled. “If you get me another coffee, I’ll be incredibly grateful.”
“I’m not falling for that. Get it yourself.” Ed laughed.
“Blue team, this way. Come on. Don’t waste time chattering.”
Addie looked up to see a florid-faced guy beckoning her. Graham and the rest of the blue badges stood in line behind him, poking their heads out either side like some multi-coloured hydra.
“Could you break my ankle?” Addie whispered.
“Later,” said Ed and winked.
Addie loved Ed’s eyes. She couldn’t ever imagine him sad.
Addie’s group met in the library. There were seven of them—four guys, three women plus the group supervisor, Justin. Tony, the man who’d dragged her away from Ed, set about establishing his position as dominant silverback gorilla.
“Sit down everyone and I’ll read out the first challenge,” he said and grabbed the single chair facing the fire.
Addie sat on one of the two couches perpendicular to the fireplace. A guy called Bernie sat one side of her and a dark-haired beauty named Phaedra on the other. Addie turned to introduce herself.
“Hi, I’m—”
“Let’s get on with it,” Tony interrupted. “The quicker we get started, the best chance we have of winning.”
“Hey, hold on.”
There was a sudden silence. Even the fire stopped crackling. Addie waited to see who’d spoken. Oops.
“Don’t you think we ought to get to know a bit about each other?” Addie asked.
Tony snorted. “We can all read. Our names are on our badges. We have thirty minutes to complete the first challenge and you want to swap recipes and makeup tips?”
Addie bristled. It was bad enough she had a domineering mother. No way would she let this guy trample all over her. “A couple of minutes saying hello isn’t going to be wasted. This course is about more than winning. How can you work effectively with people if you know nothing about them?”
Tony looked at his watch. “Fine. I’m Tony Fell, marketing director of Magelan’s.”
Addie crumpled inside. Shit.
“Phaedra Sutton, HR director.”
“Bernie Dunn, I manage a travel agency in Knightsbridge.”
“Louise Shaw, the same in Islington.”
Addie’s heart sank so fast, she could feel it tickling her toes. How could she make what she did sound either interesting or important?
“James Bean, deputy marketing director.”
“Graham Dixon, office manager, Leeds.”
That was stretching it, Addie thought. But so could she.
“Addie Winter, photocopier controller, Leeds,” she said stretching it even further.
She didn’t miss the sneer that Tony cast her way, but everyone else laughed.
“Is there anything more you want to know? Like whether we’re married or single, or can we get on with it now?” Tony snapped.
“Go ahead.” Addie maintained her sunny smile and crumpled a little more inside.
She listened as he went through the first challenge which involved making a weight-bearing transportation system using paper, straws, string and a bag of marbles. There was no discussion. Alpha male Tony took charge, barked orders and everyone jumped. He glared at Addie a few times, but she said nothing, just folded and glued and wished she was back in bed, wrapped in the sheets and stuck to Will.
“Finished,” Tony declared. “Eight minutes and thirteen seconds to spare. Well done, everyone. Good team effort.”
“It’s great, Tony,” James said. “Excellent idea. Works really well.” The towers already sagged. Addie fought a snigger.
“It might have worked better if the paper had been folded three times,” Bernie said in a quiet voice.
“It doesn’t matter so long as it works,” James said.
“How does everyone else feel about that?” Justin asked.
“Getting the job done as a team, to a satisfactory standard, within the time allocated was the challenge, and we met it. End of story.” Tony looked around, daring anyone to beat their chest harder. Addie had learnt her lesson. Her lips were zipped, glued and stapled.
There was silence.
“What do you think, Addie?” Justin asked.
That served her right, she thought. But since she’d already upset Tony and wasn’t going to be working at Magelan’s much longer, she had nothing to lose.
“If that was the challenge—fine. If the challenge was to involve all the team equally in deciding what we did and how we did it—not fine. If the challenge was to produce the best possible design—not fine.” She stopped. The hole she’d dug was deep enough.
Tony locked his arms across his chest. “So, do you have a better idea?”
“No, I’m useless at design and technology, but Bernie has spent his life building model planes so he could have had some good suggestions about weight and balance.”
Bernie stared at her, his mouth open. “I don’t build planes.”
Addie smiled at him. “But you might have. We could have found out before we started if anyone had any particular talents that would have helped us, but we didn’t.”
“Did anyone?” Tony asked.
He had a talent for lip-curling, Addie thought. She prayed for an amateur engineer. Silence.
Tony’s sneer turned to a nasty smile. “Well, if we need anything photocopied, we’ll be sure to ask you.”
“Please do.” Addie grinned. “I’m very good at it.” Everyone but Tony laughed.
Addie started to enjoy herself. She didn’t care what these people thought. She’d never see them again. She didn’t have to impress anyone.
“Addie made a relevant comment,” Justin said. “Before you start the next challenge, spend a little time discussing what makes a team work. Remember the size of the team isn’t important. Successful marriages are excellent examples of good teamwork.”
“Teams need a strong leader.” Tony leapt straight in.
Addie wondered what his wife thought about that. “I thought we were talking about teams, not leaders,” she said.
“Teams need leaders, otherwise they go in circles and never make any decisions.” Tony glared at her, challenging her to defy him.
“Teams need effective communication,” Bernie said.
“We have to trust each other,” Phaedra added.
“And support each other,” Louise said.
“Teams should be able to collaborate and share responsibility,” Bernie suggested.
“To succeed we need a purpose, a vision,” Phaedra said.
Addie wondered if they’d all been reading the same book. They could certainly write it.
“And a leader with excellent motivational skills,” Tony said.
Addie couldn’t resist it. “And a big stick and an enormous carrot.”
A smile flashed across Justin’s face.
“That’s enough of that.” Tony picked up an envelope. “To make it fair, we’ll take turns being in charge. James, you lead the next challenge.” He smirked at Addie. “Unless you want us to put names in a hat and draw for it?”
“Is that how you got your job?” Addie asked.
Doing the Right Thing Page 26
