He just pushed them all the way down. And then he was there, bold, proud and big.
She blinked. Oh. No wonder it had hurt.
‘You think this is dangerous?’ he asked quietly.
She tried to look away from the beauty of him but she couldn’t. And yes, intimidated accurately described her feelings.
His smile softened and he took her face in his hands, lifting it so she looked back into his velvet eyes. ‘I won’t let it hurt this time.’
This time. Thank goodness there was to be a ‘this time’. He kissed her. The kiss she’d been aching for since they’d been together yesterday morning. Gently he took possession of her mouth, then swept into her. And even though she was completely clothed, and he was completely naked, she was the one utterly bared.
His hands slid up into her hair, freeing it from the clip so it tumbled down. She shifted on the bench, sweltering.
His fingers combed the length of her hair and then dropped. Slowly he undid one button of her shirt, and then he kissed the small vee of skin he’d just exposed, then he moved to the next one until finally he pushed the halves apart, slipped his fingers around her back and unclasped her bra, letting the cups fall down. They both looked at her nipples—hard and straining towards him.
‘You’re beautiful.’ He touched her so slowly, spanning his hand below her ribcage and smoothing his way up to the soft globes and their hard buds.
As she sat with the sleeves of her shirt pushed down to her elbows, her bra hanging loose at her waist, her head felt heavy as she watched him tease and taste her. She’d never known it could be possible to be so close to orgasm just by having him caress her breasts like this. She wondered if they’d ever make it to a bed.
‘In a minute,’ he muttered. She must have asked aloud.
‘I think you’ll enjoy the method of transportation.’ He stood back a fraction and tugged the sleeves of her shirt from her arms, letting it fall to the floor.
He unzipped her skirt and she wriggled so he could pull both it and her knickers off. The bench was cold on her bare bottom. His hands skimmed her sides, gently teasing up and down as he kissed her more, and then they took hold of her waist, pulling her right to the edge of the bench, spread her knees so he could step between them and their chests met. Skin against skin. She shuddered.
As he took her mouth in a deep kiss his fingers delved, gently exploring. He lifted his head and smiled—definitely the wolf. ‘Hot and wet.’
She was consumed with heat and want—and then he did give her just a little of what she wanted. Just one finger first, sliding into her silk, before he withdrew and suddenly plunged two while his thumb gently worked that spot just above.
‘Oh.’ She shuddered as the orgasm crashed over her. ‘Oh, no.’
‘Enjoy it,’ he muttered, nuzzling her breasts. ‘We’ll make more. We’ll make lots more.’
He held her, hands stroking as she recovered and then realised she was still hungry. She looked up at him; the angles of his face seemed to sharpen as he read her expression.
He took her hands in each of his and placed them flat on the bench just behind her so she was leaning slightly back. ‘Watch.’
She looked down her length. Saw the broad, blunt head of his erection jutting up towards her. He tilted her back a bit more and pushed her knees wider apart. She was shaking, so exposed, yet so excited.
He held his shaft and rubbed against the heart of her. She gasped. Was it possible to die of excitement? If so such a demise was a serious threat now. So hot.
There was no hiding demurely beneath a sheet with Jared. It was raw, smouldering sensuality and they were facing it full on, fully focused.
Their eyes met. Hers felt huge, as if she’d been drugged.
‘Watch,’ he commanded again.
Obediently, greedily, her gaze dropped. The head of him was now glossy and slick with her juices. He eased just the tip into her before withdrawing, only to do it again. He was right. It didn’t hurt this time; what hurt was not having more of him. Now the hunger roared, the ache desperate.
The air was hot, it was hard to catch and draw into her lungs. Her head felt leaden. She wanted to lie back and be taken, to have him thrust as deep as he could go.
‘Jared.’ He couldn’t miss her need.
‘OK?’
‘Yes.’ Oh, yes.
But he teased her more, entering just a little and then pulling away, then a little more and she grew hotter and wetter, incredibly turned on by the sight as well as the sensation of them joining.
‘Please.’ A tiny, desperate whisper.
His muscles flexed and inch by slow sweet inch he pulled her from the bench and onto him. Instinctively she curled her arms and legs around him as he took her weight in his hands. She looked right into his eyes as she reached his hilt, unable to speak, drowning in the sensation and in the melting darkness of his eyes.
He lowered his head and kissed her. She could hardly kiss him back for the unstoppable moans of delight sliding from her throat.
And then he walked.
She quivered against him as, supported in his arms, she succumbed completely to sensation. He paused every few paces to emphasise his possession, his hands gently rocking her against him. At one point he stopped, leaning her back against the wall, and thrust harder into her, his actions fuelled by her broken whispers.
Finally they were in his bedroom. Despite him carrying her, him doing all the work, she was breathless, crying as unbearable ecstasy shattered her once more. ‘I can’t take any any more.’
He lay her down and the full weight of him came onto her. ‘But, Amanda, this is just the beginning.’
Chapter Nine
SHE should go. But before Amanda had even moved Jared’s hand encircled her wrist.
‘Stay with me.’
Her heart pounded—stay? ‘I’m—’
‘Stay the night.’
Oh. Of course—just for now, not for ever. She dropped back to reality.
‘Do you have your pill with you?’
She gave him a cold look.
‘Family isn’t on my agenda, Amanda.’ He didn’t apologise. ‘Never will be.’ He rolled half onto her, stopping her sliding along the bed away from him. ‘There is no such thing as happy ever after.’
She knew what he was doing. Warning her not to build fantasies he had no desire—or even ability—to fulfil. Laying down the law according to Jared.
‘Don’t you think?’ she asked, wistful—wishing he were wrong. ‘I think it’s possible. I like to think that my parents would have been happy together had they lived. And Grandfather was devoted to the memory of Grandma.’
‘Easy to be devoted when the other person is dead.’
‘That’s an awful thing to say.’
‘Yeah. It is an awful thing to say. But that doesn’t stop the fact that it’s true. People live together, they get sick of each other. They either decide to put up with each other or they move on.’
‘That’s not true.’ She shook her head. ‘Most marriages work because the couples are happy. It’s not sufferance. It’s friendship. Support. Love.’
‘You’re such a romantic, Amanda.’ The way he said it wasn’t a compliment. ‘Why on earth did you throw away your precious virginity on a non-believer like me?’
‘I didn’t view my virginity like that.’ She hadn’t had much choice. He was the only man to turn her on—unfortunately he was a rogue. ‘That was just sex.’
And that was the way she had to view this—and embrace her decision to enjoy it while it lasted. She would make the most of it, because it wasn’t going to be for ever. He couldn’t be clearer on that.
He looked sardonic. ‘Doesn’t sex come into your equation for a happy marriage?’
‘Of course it’s important. But it’s not everything. There are other ingredients just as important.’
‘Wrong.’ He laughed. ‘It’s the most important bit, honey. If they’re not fulfilled they’ll eventually go
shopping elsewhere.’
‘You are the most cynical man there is.’
‘Not at all. I’m a realist and you’re as naive as the day you turned sixteen. It just goes to prove that I wasn’t the man for you then and I’m not the man for you now. I’ll never be the man for you.’
She tried to keep her muscles relaxed despite the spreading freeze inside. ‘You’re the man you want to be.’
He shook his head. ‘You’re the person your life makes you.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘Not you. If that were the case you should be down and out in the gutter. You broke the mould. You got out of the cycle. Statistically you should have been thrown out of school and been in and out of jail three times before you were twenty.’ She swept her arms round him, stopping him slipping from her. ‘Come on, Jared. How many different primary schools did you go to? Five? One a year or more? You had a mother who walked out, a drunk father. What chance were you supposed to have? If you’d let your life “make you” all those bad experiences and knock-backs would have made you like him.’
His face had turned to stone and she could feel his muscles flexing. She carried on regardless.
‘But you didn’t. You chose, Jared. You chose to work as hard as you did. To fight. To make a better life for yourself. You choose not to drink. You choose to work for prosperity. You choose to be the man you are.’
‘It’s not as simple as that,’ he said flatly, hands harder, pressing heavier onto her. ‘I had help. I had opportunities along the way. Not everybody gets them like I did. It wasn’t all doom and gloom and drama.’
She paused. ‘I’m sure it wasn’t. I’m sure there were good times.’ She hadn’t meant to offend him. It was his family after all.
Their eyes met.
Some family. His mother had walked out with another man when he was twelve and his father had moved them to Ashburton—to a cottage where the rent was cheaper and the pub a walk away. The alcohol had finally killed his dad when he was fifteen. She didn’t know if he’d suffered physically, but neglect was a form of abuse too. And he’d certainly been neglected.
‘I just believe that you can be or do anything you want to, Jared,’ she said softly. ‘You have that kind of strength.’
He laughed, looked away. ‘Yeah, and at night time I put on my superhero cape, fly out the window and save the world.’ His grin was boyish and uplifted. Laughter, that kind of laughter, suited him.
‘Have you ever heard from her?’
‘Who?’
‘Your mother.’
The smile vanished from his eyes and she kicked herself for asking that question right then.
‘Oh, yeah. Mum eventually tracked me down. It was the one time I got publicity. It was an alumni piece—you know, graduates who’ve achieved—advertising basically, for the university. I was back on a break from Hong Kong—I’d already made my first million and bought some property here. Mommy Dearest realised her son had done good. She’d left the guy she left my father and me for. Maybe he’d left her, I don’t know. Anyway, she tracked me down. Said she’d wanted to keep in touch all those years but that Dad wouldn’t let her.’
‘Do you think that’s true?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. But I’d have said Dad was too apathetic to stop anyone doing anything that they really wanted to do. She could have gotten in touch.’
Amanda felt for him then.
‘She said she wanted to get to know me. To make up for all the time she’d missed out on. But you know what she really wanted?’
Frankly Amanda hated to think.
‘What do women always want?’
She shook her head, knowing she wasn’t going to like his opinion on this one.
‘Money or sex,’ he said bitterly. ‘And I’m no Oedipus.’
Money or sex. Was that what he thought?
On the face of it all she wanted from him was one of those two things as well. Honestly, she wanted more from him. But he made it too damn difficult to ask. He only offered what he offered and she would take it—instinctively knowing it was that or nothing.
‘Is that why you shun publicity now?’
‘Yeah. I don’t want her coming back into my life. She decided to leave it, she can stay out of it. And I don’t want other people coming to me for handouts either.’ He closed his eyes. ‘I give, Amanda. But I do it my way. That’s my right, isn’t it?’
‘You employ at-risk youth. You give them opportunities.’
He lifted his head from her chest. ‘How do you know?’
‘I made it my business to get to know the client.’
He lay down again. ‘Yeah. Well, you’ve well and truly done that now, haven’t you? But I just want to live in peace. Work hard. Do my thing. End of story.’
Amanda said nothing, just tightened her arms around him.
His hand swept down her thigh. ‘Are you going to stay?’
‘No. I don’t have my pill with me.’ Actually it was in her handbag but it was a convenient excuse. Staying overnight would bring additional intimacy that, while she knew she would love it, she didn’t think he would. Not yet. Probably not ever. So for her own protection, it was best to leave. Just sex. No expectations. At least that was what she’d aim for.
‘I’ll give you a key and the security code. You can come after work tomorrow.’
So there would be yet another time. Could she handle this day by day? ‘OK, but I’ll go again when I want to.’ She needed to retain some assertiveness.
‘Or maybe it’ll be when I want you to.’ His eyes glinted.
So he didn’t want to cede control either.
‘I wonder who will want it first?’ she murmured.
‘It doesn’t matter. It’ll end soon enough.’
‘So one day I’ll wake up and you’ll not want me any more? Is that what happens?’
‘No. What happens is that one day I’ll wake up and you’ll not want me any more.’
His mother had done exactly that, Amanda realised. Up and left with another man who had no desire to house some other guy’s son.
‘Is that what always happens?’ She tried to stay casual.
‘What do you think?’ He asked lightly enough but his eyes were dark.
‘I think you engineer it so that happens.’
He’d accomplish it so easily. He didn’t need to utter cruel words or behave badly. He’d go into dry wasteland mode and any woman would get frustrated with getting nowhere near the heart of him.
Jared rolled and stretched out in his big empty bed, watched the sky lighten, and felt a kind of relief that she hadn’t stayed. It had been a weak moment when he’d asked—since when did he crave a cuddle? He hadn’t had an affair for a while, that was all. More often than not he was left unsatisfied—despite the physical release. Sometimes the resulting dissatisfaction outweighed that physical release and he found it wasn’t worth it. These days he put his energy into his work, into his sport—with only the occasional spill into sexual conquest.
Amanda might not be experienced but she sure had enthusiasm and a kind of fearlessness that both turned him on and tormented him. She wasn’t afraid of her sensuality, wasn’t afraid to let go—it was as if she wanted everything he had in that moment. She understood this was only momentary too; he guessed that was why she’d chosen not to stay—because she knew. But right now she was also damn near insatiable. Good thing, because right now so was he.
She was there when he got home that night; pages of mock-ups littered the large rug on the floor of the lounge. She had a glass of wine on the coffee table. She was kneeling over the pages, studying them, barefoot and her hair hung loose.
She turned her head as he opened the door.
‘Don’t get up,’ he said. ‘Stay there.’
She looked back at the mock-ups, head angled, hair gleaming in the light as she studied the tiny variants on each. ‘What do you think?’
‘Incredible.’ She had no idea, did she?
Maybe she did because she t
wisted again and gave him a keen look. He’d already stripped off his shirt and his fingers were hovering above his belt.
A pixie smile appeared and she gave her hips a little wiggle. ‘You think?’
His eyes closed for a second at her sweet playfulness. When he opened them again she was crawling a little towards him.
‘Come closer and take a good look,’ she cooed.
There was a rushing feeling in his chest. ‘Amanda—’
‘They look really good from down here.’ She swivelled and crawled back to the big sheets of paper. Peeked over her shoulder and gave her hips another wriggle at the same time.
She giggled then, a light bubble that contrasted with his low laughter as he sank to the rug, utterly at her mercy.
‘Do you know what you’re doing, Amanda?’
‘Figuring it out as I go.’
‘I knew your creative talent was impressive.’
Amanda beat him back to his house again. Cold, she lit the gas fire and flopped into the armchair beside it. Put her feet up on the tile hearth surrounding it to let the flames warm her legs.
The key sounded and she looked up, trying to control the leap in her heart and the fire in her belly. He said nothing, but there was that smile as he walked over and sat on the hearth in front of her. She was falling for that smile—it didn’t seem quite so dangerous, more like thrilling. He looked at her bare legs and his brows lifted.
He bent, kissed one knee, then the other, soothing the twin grazes she’d got from the carpet during their wickedly erotic coupling the night before. Watching him tend to each with lips and tongue, she let her legs fall apart, so her inner thighs were open and inviting him in. He took immediate advantage, kissing his way up her smooth, sensitive skin. She groaned, her head falling back on the chair.
‘How the hell did you stay a virgin so long?’ His words were slurred and she knew he’d discovered the fact she was wearing no panties and that she was already glistening wet for him.
‘No one…’ She could hardly speak.
‘No one what?’
‘No one kisses…like you do.’
‘You like it when I kiss you?’ he muttered, breath hot on her thigh as he hooked her leg over his shoulder. ‘Like when I kiss you here?’
Hot Boss, Boardroom Mistress Page 9
