“The soy sauce will make me sick.”
Now that got their attention. “What are you talking about?” Penny asked.
I opened my mouth and nothing came out. Finally, my tongue moved. “I have celiac disease.”
A black silence fell across the table.
“How long have you known?” Sophie asked, the expression on her face showing disappointment that cut into me.
“I found out back in the U.K.,” I replied, placing the poor squid back on the table with his friends. The others were trying to escape, as well. At least someone was getting away from something they didn’t want to do.
Penny’s face softened, but Sophie’s eyebrows lowered. “So you have an autoimmune disease and you thought we didn’t need to know?”
“What’s celiac disease?” Griffin asked.
“One of my clients has it,” Sophie said. “They can’t absorb gluten—that’s wheat, rye—that kind of thing. If my client eats gluten, she doesn’t feel well because gluten causes an autoimmune reaction in her body. Her diagnosis came after her physician noticed she was becoming too thin.” The others at the table switched their focus from Sophie to me. “So that’s why you look like you’ve lost weight,” she added. “What else are you hiding?”
I could feel the heaviness of their gazes on me and everything I’d tried to push aside came crashing down on me. “Nothing else.”
Because I didn’t know anything else. I had yet to do the additional tests my doctor wanted me to do. “I had an iron deficiency when I left the U.K. and I was tired all the time.” I took a sip of the sake. “I thought I was stressed out about my job and finding my parents, but it was my illness instead.” I tried to ignore the sudden dryness in my mouth, the need to fight tears as I blinked. I’d ruined my evening. “This is supposed to be a party and I didn’t want to say this shit.” I downed the rest of my drink.
Penny took my hand and squeezed it. “Sounds like this isn’t fatal as long as you control your diet.”
“Gluten is in every fucking thing. All of my favorite foods!” I jerked my index finger toward the white mush in a bowl. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that fish sperm shit wasn’t dipped in soy sauce first.”
“And you let me order it,” Penny said, now pissed. “How long have you known us? If any of us were sick, we’d tell the others.”
A tear fell down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away. “A long time—”
“That was a rhetorical question, Car,” Penny said. “We are your family. You’re not supposed to be facing this kind of thing alone. We fight together. We protect each other.”
I nodded as Griffin placed his hand on my shoulder. Across from me, Sophie smiled.
“I don’t know about the fight together part—” Griffin began.
“Shut it,” Penny snapped. “We’re bonding here. I only ran away once.”
She finished off her drink. “Let’s get the bill and get out of here. We need a quieter place where we can talk and drink.” She gave me her usual mischievous Penny grin. “You can still drink, can’t you?”
“Oh thank the holy heavens, yes,” I replied.
Penny motioned for the waitress while Griffin and Sophie tried to wrangle the squid back into the bowl. They had made some progress across the table during our heart-to-heart.
Penny asked for the bill, but the waitress smiled. “It’s already been paid. A gentleman saw your birthday party and wanted to treat everyone.”
“Wow.” Sophie stood first to look around.
I did the same, not recognizing a single soul.
“Cheers to our benefactor ’cause I was about to drop half a paycheck on you.” Penny downed Sophie’s full cup. “The guy who paid better not be waiting outside my apartment…”
I glanced around the restaurant, and for a brief moment, I considered the possibility of Tomas being here, but the idea was so ludicrous I tossed the thought aside.
He didn’t know I was here, nor did he care. I hope. The very thought he might’ve overheard what I’d said filled me with dread.
Chapter 14
Carlie
Around two A.M., I’d stumbled into my minuscule apartment—with a minor stomachache. Damn cross-contamination got me again.
I wouldn’t call myself drunk. More like slightly inebriated, just enough to make poor decisions. Like not setting my alarm clock.
As to be expected, I got to work two hours late. Not only did I wake up with my mouth open, my intestinal tract still messed up, and my legs hanging off the bed as if I had planned to sleepwalk somewhere, I didn’t even have time to iron my clothes.
So I snuck in to work wearing horribly wrinkled clothes befitting a night of drunken disregard, and I hoped Mr. Butts wasn’t lying in wait to question my tardiness. I hurried to cram my purse into my employee locker. My head pounded a bit, and within my fog, perhaps I could believe I was holding a balloon in my hand. Someone had stuffed balloons into my locker, along with a small bouquet of pink roses.
Another gift from my friends?
There was no way the concierge desk would leave these things in here, though. I checked the bouquet and found a small card inside: “Happy birthday from Mr. Goodfellow.”
My heart jumped into my throat.
So he remembered.
I plucked everything out of the locker and took it back to my desk. All the while, I couldn’t shake the questions in my head.
None of them would be answered unless I confronted Tomas, but that couldn’t be done until my break time. I hurried to Dante’s Second Floor and checked the concierge desks.
The hours slowly passed, though. Headache medication lifted the fog in my brain, but I couldn’t shake the need to know what was up. The moment my break came, I marched straight to his office on the third floor, ready to find out why he didn’t come see me yesterday, but he wasn’t there.
His secretary, Wendy, greeted me. “Mr. Goodfellow isn’t available. You’re Carlie, right?” Her smile was sweet for a woman I’d call very beautiful. “I hope you liked the gifts Mr. Goodfellow got for you.”
“He went out and bought them?”
Wendy chuckled a bit. “Not really, but he told me what you liked. Also, that you loved pink roses and how you always wanted to get balloons on your birthday as a kid, but no one ever got them for you.”
“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure what to say about that. All these years and he’d never sent me flowers or balloons on my birthday. An ocean had separated us, but this time he’d reached out to me, even after I’d pushed him away.
“He should be back around two P.M. if you’d like to come back?”
“I won’t be able to get away again to see him.” I took a step back to retreat.
“Why not right now then?” a deep voice said.
I turned around to see Tomas standing behind me.
Tomas
I approached Sophie. “If I hadn’t escaped from my lunch meeting so early, I might’ve never had a chance to corner you.”
The smell of her sweet perfume filled my nostrils and I wanted to draw her close to me.
“I have to get back to work,” she murmured.
I shrugged. “I could write you a note.”
She snorted and her nose lifted in that cute way I liked. “Are you a principal now?”
“Would you like for me to be?”
Her lips parted and she feigned disinterest and failed.
“Come into my office, Ms. Jason.”
She followed me into my suite and closed the double doors after us.
“I just wanted to thank you for the flowers and the balloons. That was very sweet.”
I settled onto my white leather couch and beckoned for her to sit next to me. Instead of adding space between us, she sat with her left knee mere inches from mine.
“I still remember the day when I took you to that birthday party.” She didn’t say anything while I spoke. “When Andrea got those flowers and balloons, your eyes were so wide.”
“How
is that spoiled brat? Is she still living off her trust fund in Europe?”
“Pretty much, but that was her fate.” I turned to look at her. She was so beautiful I could look at her all day. “Can you imagine all the freedoms you have compared to Andrea, though? All the money in the world won’t buy you people who truly care about you. The only time she sees her family is when they feel like it. She has acquaintances. They spend time with her because of her status and not for friendship.”
We sat for a bit. “Have you eaten lunch yet?” I asked.
“I’m not hungry. I sort of ate on the run this morning.”
“What did you have?” Yep, I was digging, but I knew she wouldn’t reveal anything.
“The standard fare for employees who run late: two yogurt parfaits, a Starbucks double shot energy drink, and I topped all that off with a rather large bag of mixed nuts.” She didn’t look at me while she replied.
“No bagel buried in cream cheese?”
She shook her head and glanced at me. “Those tend to weigh me down.” Her eyes reflected the truth this time.
Her thick blond hair followed the curve of her cheek. I didn’t stop myself from drawing my finger along her jaw to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“Unlike two parfaits, a drink, and a bag of mixed nuts.”
Her voice trailed off. “Unlike two parfaits, a drink…”
She licked her lips and faced me. “I’d like to see you again.”
“No text message this time?”
“We didn’t exactly plan our last encounter.”
So us having sex was an encounter now. At least she wanted to spend time with me.
“No, we didn’t, but that made the experience much more pleasurable.”
I watched the way her chest rose and fell faster and the way her hands formed fists. When my fingertips brushed against the swell of her breast, she leaned toward my hand.
“Why meet tonight?” I breathed. “Why not right now?”
Chapter 15
Carlie
I ached for him to hold me. All morning I couldn’t stop thinking about him, from the moment I got up to the moment I walked through the door to the hotel. I wanted to do anything he wanted.
“Right now?” I asked.
“Come here, Carlie.” His request was a plea and not a command. I didn’t hesitate to take off my heels and stand before him.
“Take off that skirt.”
I unzipped my skirt and let it fall to the floor. The look in his eyes, as if he wanted to devour me, climbed up the back of my thighs and caressed along the middle of my back. He didn’t give me long to stand there in only my shirt and panties. He drew me into his lap and forced my legs apart to straddle him. How wonderfully we fit together, his hands on my ass, my chest against his.
He pulled me closer until my forehead rested against his mouth. A warm feeling filled my chest, and the comfort I’d needed for so long almost overwhelmed me.
I sucked in a breath from the sweet pleasure of his lips brushing across my skin. My fingers drifted down his chest until my right hand rested over his pebbled nipple. One hard rub was a dare, but a continuous pressure was a promise. I wouldn’t leave this time. I’d stay until the very end.
His lips lingered close to the bridge of my nose. We shared breaths now. A heavenly sigh snuck out of my mouth as he pushed my core against his cock. I wanted him. I wanted all of him over and over again.
I rocked against him and he gripped my ass harder until the pain was hard to take, but I didn’t give in. I knew what was coming and I was ready to accept him. He was moving lower. Even lower until he brushed against my upper lip. He was so close I caught the mintiness of his warm breath. So teasingly close. I was so tempted to open my mouth and kiss back. Yet even when he ran his tongue along my upper lip, I didn’t respond.
The moan I fought against reached painful levels. I’d give him everything except that.
Gently, he pulled me up to stand. Instead of yanking my underwear down, he slowly slipped my panties off, only to kiss the skin my panties touched. I stepped out of them. With deft practice, he unbuttoned my blouse and slid it off me. The hard look on his face told me I would enjoy what was about to happen.
Touch me, I wanted to beg. He was going too slow. Taste me, I wanted to scream.
The moment my bra came off, he latched onto one breast. Just watching him lick along my gold nipple ring sent a violent shudder down my back to my inner thighs. His thumb penetrated me and I had to hold on to his shoulders to stay standing.
“Damn,” I breathed.
“I might just give you what you want today.”
“Really?”
He added a finger inside me. “If that’s what I want.”
I wanted to give him anything he wanted. Giving him pleasure gave me pleasure.
As quickly as my desire heightened, his tempo increased until he withdrew. Quickly, I fell to my knees and opened his pants. His length sprang forth and my eager mouth sucked in the tip.
I loved watching his reactions while I licked his cock. Every twitch made me want to take all of him deeper into my mouth. I ran my fingers along his length. Every single inch was magnificent. I opened my mouth farther to take him deeper. Taking Tomas into my mouth stretched my mouth to its limit, but tasting his salty, almond musk left me heady with eagerness. Even as I gripped his muscular thighs, I trembled against him.
For a moment I pulled back, but he took a fistful of my hair and made me hold still. That’s it. There was the Tomas I remembered. He pushed in and out of my mouth. Taking his pleasure as the tension in my scalp reached a blissful level.
Yes, I wanted all of it. All the pain and pleasure.
I handed myself over to him. He pumped faster to the point where I could barely breathe. My limbs grew weak, but I continued to suck, I continued to watch him watch me. His beautiful brown eyes taking me in. Watching me pleasure him until he came into my mouth. His body stiffened, but he didn’t climax.
He pulled me back onto his lap on the couch. I slid down onto his length, my body shuddering from being filled up. It was always like this between us. A feverish heat that left my blood heated, my heart pounding, and a sheen of sweat along my back.
I rode him, rising and falling with our quickening breaths. Pressure built in my stomach. Damn, he filled me with each downward stroke until I was panting.
I rested against the crook of his neck, my favorite place to ride out the oncoming climax, but he wouldn’t allow any such a thing.
He pushed me backward.
I was back in the position I didn’t want to be in. Chest to chest. His mouth close to mine. The heat between us rose higher and higher, the sounds of our bodies meeting filling the large space. I grabbed his shoulders, unable to hold back my rising cries.
He nibbled against my chin again. My gaze flicked to his and the look he gave me sent me crashing under the waves.
Tomas
Her glossy lips were a witches’ brew I wanted to resist today, but I couldn’t fight the need to kiss her. Watching her suck my cock had been torture. Even harder was when she’d licked my nipples and suckled along my skin.
Those delicious lips beckoned me to sample them. To devour them.
If I told her to kiss me, she would without a doubt.
But I didn’t want that. I wanted all of her.
Her body gripped my cock to the point of agony. She closed her eyes briefly and I took in her features. The way her breasts bounced with the beautiful nipples shaking with each downward stroke. The glossy tingle to her lips when she licked them. I wanted to take that lower lip into my mouth and suck on it.
I settled for her jaw instead.
Then her neckline.
I sampled her skin in the places she wanted me to touch. All the while, I lingered near the place I really wanted to be. The corner of her mouth. The indentation below her lower lip. I sucked, nipped, and tickled.
The tension building along my thighs toward my cock grew painful. Abov
e me, Carlie’s beautiful face stretched into a grimace and she climaxed, her body arching and her eyes glowing from finding bliss.
“That’s it, Coraçao.”
I wasn’t far behind her. I drew her close to me again. Our bodies worked as one. A sensual dance where the beginnings and endings of our bodies met. This would have to do. This wonderful feeling I had knowing I’d be able to hold her close like this. She’d run away from me again, but for now, as I shuddered and reached my climax, she belonged to me, body and soul.
Chapter 16
Carlie
Leaving my employer’s office after having sex with him wasn’t the experience I’d expected on the day after my birthday, but I had to admit I had a bit of a skip to my step on the way to the elevator.
I was in a haze for the rest of the day. Focusing on work was near impossible, and he kept texting me.
Tomas: You left your jacket in my office.
Me: I’ll get it later, I’m working.
Another one came as I was checking the library. You can come and get it now if you like.
Me: I’m sure I could get right back on your lap, too.
Tomas: Multiple times, I guarantee.
I snorted like a fool in front of Mr. Ericson in the library.
He had a rather nice tan today.
By the time I was ready to finish up for the day, he sent me another text. I can see you won’t be fetching your jacket, so I had it dry-cleaned. You’ll find it in your locker tomorrow morning.
I texted back thanks and was grateful he didn’t ask for more of my time. Parting was always the hardest thing between us.
My lips tingled as I recalled the last time we’d kissed. Damn, I’d dodged a bullet. Good thing I hadn’t kissed him. When we’d parted last time, I remembered the pain from crying so hard. The way his lips tasted and how I didn’t want to remember how good it felt to share something so intimate with someone.
My day brightened a bit more when I saw Carver motion me over to chat with him. He was his relaxed self in a dark purple T-shirt and blue jeans. The shoelaces for his Timberland boots lay pooled around his feet.
Surrender to You Page 9
