A Will and a Way

by Maggie Wells

  “But why?”

  He nuzzled her ear. “Why not?”

  “I think we both know it isn’t necessary.”

  “Very few things in life are absolutely necessary. Some are simply pleasurable.”

  He drew the soft skin beneath her ear into his mouth and sucked. Not hard enough to leave a mark, but just enough to earn him a deep, throaty moan. Encouraged, he ran his tongue over that subtle but insistent throb.

  “I want to get to know you, Betty.” He murmured the words into her skin, probably more shocked to realize they were true than she was to hear them. Needing to recover a little of his cool, he tried for a joking tone. “I’m not usually as easy as I was the other night.”

  “Bullshit.” Betty’s laugh melted into a gasp when he covered her pulse with a hot, open-mouthed kiss.

  He kissed and licked a meandering path down the column of her throat. “But I want to take my time. Prove there’s no technology in the world that can do what I can do.”

  “Oh, I believe that.”

  “Plus, there are a couple of things I really need to get done before the weekend.”

  He dipped his tongue into the hollow at the base of her throat. What was it about that spot that tempted him? Humming with the pure pleasure of exploring her satiny skin, he kissed his way back up. There, he placed a tiny, almost chaste peck to the joint beneath her ear. “What do you say? Today, spreadsheets, tonight, my sheets?”

  She cupped back of his head and arched her neck, silently begging for more. “God, that’s awful,” she chided. He raised his head, and she squirmed, her neat little body plastered against his. “Don’t stop.”

  “You said it was awful.”

  She glared, her frustration clear as day. “The joke, not the kissing.”

  This time he didn’t fight the grin. “You like the kissing?”

  She pressed the tip of her tongue to the center of her top lip, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Her lips were swollen and pink, all traces of her lipstick gone. She tipped her face up, just asking for it. Suddenly, he couldn’t remember exactly how that whole breathing thing worked. Who knew that unraveling her would be his undoing? Christ, she was winning. Again.

  Setting her firmly away from him, he gave his head a shake. “Work now, play later.”

  She snapped to attention, blue-green eyes flashing. “But I thought you wanted to hanky my panky here in the office.”

  Her voice was all Southern sass. Tendrils of streaky blond hair escaped the twist at her nape. The neat little hairdo she’d walked through the door with that morning was thoroughly and completely mussed, and he was damn proud of his work.

  “God, I want you.”

  The hoarse confession seemed to smooth her ruffled feathers. She raised her free hand to cradle his cheek. The pad of her thumb stroked the scar in his lip. She rubbed a spot near the corner of his mouth and he wondered if there was sauce on his face. She slid her thumb over his lower lip and he turned into the caress. Damn, she was good. His lips found the center of her palm. He left a lingering kiss there before pulling back once more.

  “What did you do to the spreadsheets?” she whispered.

  Will heaved a cleansing sigh then ran his hand over his face. His fingers brushed the spot she’d rubbed. He must have missed that tiny patch of hair when he’d shaved. The fact that she’d found it with such unerring accuracy meant he’d scraped her delicate skin with his bristles. But instead of feeling remorse for any discomfort he may have caused, he was pleased to think he might have left his mark on her.

  “Let’s just say I fucked them nearly as good as I plan to fuck you.” Capturing her hand again, he pressed his lips to the inside of her wrist then looked her straight in the eye. “I can tell you this, I plan to enjoy fucking you more. Much, much more.”

  Chapter 7

  A sizzle of sexual awareness hummed through Betty, adding extra decisiveness to every mouse click. High on the heat of just being near Will, she kept her eyes locked on the screen as her fingers flew across the keyboard. Despite the distraction of the man hovering behind her, she had the files straightened out in record time.

  And before she could even shut the computer down, Will had her propped up on the desk, her legs wrapped around him, and his hands all over her.

  Damn, if she wasn’t putty in those quick and clever hands. Hazy, sluggish thoughts vied with the racing of her heart. Her breasts felt full and heavy. Her nipples ached for the caress of his lips. Moisture pooled between her legs, dampening her thighs. She couldn’t even remember why she was supposed to be resisting him.

  Betty tipped her head back, giving in to the demands of her body and issuing one of her own. “Now.”

  Will chuckled. “We can wait.”

  She wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. It hardly mattered because his teeth scraped her skin and she nearly leaped straight out of it.

  “Now.”

  “I’ll take you out. We’ll have a nice meal.” His tongue washed over her skin. He left a trail of soft, nipping kisses along her jaw. God, she wanted him to make a meal out of her. “Maybe share a bottle of wine.” Fingertips played over her cheek. “Not Australian.” He pressed his thumb to her chin and her lips parted. “Get to know each other like normal, sober, not sex-crazed adults.”

  Her breath came in soft, shallow pants. “Why bother? That’s what we are. No need to play the game.”

  He shrugged then released her hand. “It’s no game. Plus, getting to know each other will make things so much better.”

  Instead of lowering her hand to her side, she curled her fingers into the crisp fabric of his shirt and drew him closer. “I’d think you’d prefer something easier.”

  “Maybe when I was younger,” he conceded. “Now, I have to at least halfway like the woman I’m sleeping with.”

  She blinked, once again knocked off-kilter by his startling honesty. “Only halfway?”

  He flashed a self-deprecating smile. “I may be a little choosier than I used to be, but I’m still a man.”

  Short, silky hair slipped through her fingers. “I don’t know if I can wait.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  She gave a wistful sigh. “You have no idea. It’s been a while since I’ve had an orgasm that wasn’t self-induced—”

  “Two days,” he corrected.

  She writhed against him, desperate to leave him as itchy as she was.

  “It’s been two days since I made you come. Two days and I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”

  “Will—”

  “I would happily have followed through, but you left.”

  “Shut up and kiss me.”

  “Shit.”

  With that succinct summary of their time together, he captured her mouth and kissed her long and deep. He tilted her head back, holding her fast, controlling everything about the kiss but her reaction to it. Pins pinged off the hardwood floor and dug into her scalp when he plunged his fingers into her hair.

  She hitched her leg up on his, desperate to feel him against her. The hem of her skirt bound her thighs, frustrating them both. Will grasped the back of her knee, holding her tight as he pushed the skirt higher. Her fingers found the first button on his shirt. She made it as far as the third before he picked her up.

  Lacing her fingers at the base of his skull, she broke the kiss long enough to look into his eyes. “Here. Now.”

  He clenched his jaw and inhaled through his nose. Watching him struggle for control knocked the lust level up a notch. His hands slid down to her ass and pulled her hard against him.

  “Now, but not here.”

  She locked her legs around him and clung to him as he scooped her up into his arms. She hung on tight, snuggling into the curve of his neck as he strode through the kitchen and into his dusty, underused office.

  Another desk. Same gorgeous man. Blessedly hot hands. The stapler hit the floor with a clunk. The inbox made
more of a clatter. He kissed her again, his mouth firm and demanding, but the flick of his tongue was deceptively soft and alluring. She knew better than to fall for it, but she did anyway.

  He creased her skirt with his greedy, grasping fingers, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything but the feel of his mouth on hers, his hands on her body, and the promise of that hard bulge in his pants. He fisted a hand in her hair when she reached for his belt. A tremor of restrained need rippled through his long, lean body. She plastered herself to him, giving herself up to each delicious sensation.

  Will pitched forward, one hand slapping the desktop in a quest for balance. The towering stack of file folders began a slow slide into certain chaos, but she couldn’t pry her hands from him long enough to stop it. By the time they finally broke for oxygen, what had to be a year’s worth of work lay in scattered sheets at his feet, but Will didn’t seem to give a damn.

  His voice was deep and hoarse, gravelly with unchecked desire. “This is what you wanted.”

  How could she refute a statement of fact from a man who didn’t bother with dissembling?

  “Why did you run out on me?”

  He pushed her back on the desk, trailing hot, wet kisses down her throat as he opened the buttons on her suit jacket. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember why she’d fled. Every kiss, lick, and caress played through her head on a continuous loop. In high definition. Now, the master of reckless behavior had her in his clutches again. The determined glint in his eyes told her the instant replay was imminent, but she had no intention of backing down.

  Not again. Never again.

  “I’m here now.”

  Truth. Plain and simple. She’d been scared the other night. She wasn’t now.

  For years she’d let other people dictate who she was and what she wanted. This was her time. And she wanted this man. This beautiful, dangerous man.

  He would break her heart, but that didn’t scare her. She’d had her heart broken time and again. It always healed. But she would never again hand over the keys to her soul. He wouldn’t break her spirit. She would never allow him or anyone to tell her who and what she should be.

  “I’m here.” Her voice came out breathy and soft. Heat rose off him in waves. It would only be a matter of minutes before she melted into a puddle at his feet. Will was a man with something to prove. She was about to be conquered, and she liked it a hell of a lot better than she ever dreamed she would. “I’m here, and I want you. Now.”

  He laid claim to her mouth again. This time his busy hands went straight to the placket of her blouse. One by one he worked the row of tiny, useless buttons she never bothered opening. And he was damn good at it. Knuckles grazed her breasts. The backs of his fingers tantalized her tummy. The slide of silk against gabardine was never as sexy as when Will yanked the slippery fabric from her waistband. The last button snagged then popped free of its moorings. She lay panting on the desk as it arced through the air then ricocheted off the dusty desktop.

  Will wrenched his mouth from hers, a baffled frown creasing his forehead. Spotting the button, he shook his head, a sheepish smile twisting his lips. “Sorry ’bout that.”

  Betty barely spared the button a glance as she rolled her shoulders, eager to be free, aching to feel his mouth on her skin. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Collateral damage.”

  Holding her gaze, he peeled back the sides of her blouse, taking the lapels of her jacket as he dragged them over her shoulders. He left the fabric bunched at her upper arms, trapping them against her sides, leaving her virtually immobile. Betty reveled in the feel of cool air moving over her super-heated skin. The semi-restraint provided by her own clothing aroused her more than she ever imagined possible. She caught a glimpse of the abandoned plates on the kitchen table and her hormones kicked into overdrive.

  As if sensing the shift, Will kissed her again, but this time he kept his eyes open wide and his mouth frustratingly closed. The front of his shirt scraped along the lace edge of her bra. He moved his mouth against hers in a slow, deliberate dance.

  “You like this?” He murmured the question between maddening kisses. “Here. On the desk….”

  She picked up the thread and ran with it. “It’s the middle of the day. We’re in your office….”

  His teeth caught her earlobe just as he pinched her nipples through her bra. Hard. Her startled squeal melted into a moan when he soothed then immediately tweaked the straining tips again.

  “It feels…decadent. Dangerous.”

  “And you like that.”

  “Anyone could come in,” she panted.

  A sly smile lifted one corner of his mouth, and his eyes sparkled with devilment. “Anyone.”

  Casting a wary eye toward the door, Betty found herself torn by the very idea. She wanted him. She wanted him hard and hot and inside her right that very minute. But like their encounter in the bar, consensual or not, this particular coupling crossed the line of age-appropriate about a mile back. People her age, widowed women with grown sons for cripes’ sake, should not be rolling around on a desk half-naked with a strange man clamped between their thighs. He started to nibble his way down her neck again. The scrape of his teeth made her shiver. Hot, wet kisses turned her to jelly. Quivering with need, she gave sensible one last shot.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t do…Will, stop.”

  The second she said the word, he took a step back, raising his hands high as if he were a fugitive she was apprehending. But the blank expression on his normally expressive face made her heart clench. So did the gruff apology that came with that stunned blankness. “I’m sorry.”

  “Nuh. No! Don’t be.” She sat up, tugging at the sides of her shirt and wrapping her arms around her stomach to cover herself.

  “I thought you wanted—”

  “I did. Do. Yes.” Betty tripped over her tongue in her haste to reassure him. She darted another glance at the door. “I just…Uh, do you get a lot of people in here?”

  He blinked twice before his neutral façade cracked. A glimmer of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “FedEx in the morning, mail in the afternoon. I sometimes stop in when I’m between sites, but other than that, hardly anyone.”

  “So….” She arched her eyebrows, prompting him to fill in the blanks for her.

  “FedEx has come and gone. The mail goes in the box on the porch unless there’s a package.”

  Her body throbbed with anticipation. A warm flush crept up her neck, but it was nothing compared to the heat flooding her pussy. Eager for relief, she opened her legs just a tiny bit more. “So no one is really going to walk in here?”

  The glimmer grew into a grin, then the grin morphed into a full-blown smile of triumph. Without a word, he crossed the room, closed the door, and turned the lock on the knob. “Better?”

  Emboldened by his quick action, Betty released her hold on her blouse and fell back, catching her weight on hands planted on the blotter behind her. He reached for her before he even made it to the desk. He slipped one hand under her, his fingers spread wide to support the curve of her spine. Piercing black eyes locked on hers as he lowered his head, lips parted and tongue poised just above her straining nipple. She abandoned balance for the chance to sink her fingers into his hair. She chased the streaks of silver with her fingertips. Hot breath teased her pebbled flesh.

  “Don’t pretend you don’t like the possibility of being caught.”

  She gasped, startled by the accusation as much as the heat of his mouth. The satin cup of her bra absorbed the moisture from his tongue, but nothing prepared her for the blazing arrow of need that shot through her when he sucked her hard and deep. Betty arched her back, offering more and demanding he take it, take her, take everything she so desperately wanted to give.

  “Don’t say it doesn’t excite you,” he whispered against the curve of her breast. “I felt how wet you were in the bar, how wet you are now.” He caught the delica
te fabric of her bra between his teeth and gave it a playful tug. “Do you think they knew what we were doing in that back hall?”

  Peering down at him, she watched in rapt fascination as he suckled her through the slick fabric. “Please.” She panted one word, but the blood rushing in her ears roared another.

  “Anyone could have opened that door and watched me make you come.” He pinched her nipple hard then blew on the wet fabric. God help her, she whimpered when the aching tip tightened even further.

  But, oh, the thought of someone watching while his fingers moved deep inside her did things to her. Dark, wicked things she’d forgotten she was capable of feeling. Those tantalizing things she feared she would never feel again.

  His tongue edged the lace trim aside to tease her skin. She groaned unreservedly when he made no move to remove the barrier between them. “Take it off.”

  He nuzzled the underside of one satin-clad breast then moved to spread his campaign of too-much-but-not-nearly enough to the other. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. Please, yes.”

  “You have to be sure,” he whispered into her cleavage. “Otherwise, you might not remember how much you liked it when I bit you like this….”

  The flash of white teeth sinking into her barely-covered flesh had her bucking off the desk. He held her there, rolling the stiff tip between his pearly whites, a smile shining in his eyes as she squirmed beneath him.

  “Will you remember that now?” He kissed his way along the edge of the cup and into the valley of her cleavage. “Will you remember how much you like me kissing down your stomach? Licking you here?” He dipped his tongue into her navel then withdrew, the wicked tilt of his lips challenging her. “Will you still say yes, or will you run away again?”

  “Yes.” The button on her skirt slid free. She sighed when he dragged the zipper down. “God, yes.” Arching her back, she raised her hips just enough for him to shimmy the damn thing over her hips. Then he paused, his fingers curled around the fabric bunched at her thighs. She dropped back to the desk with a huff. “What? What’s wrong?”