by Miranda Lee
She moaned when his fingers found their target. God, she was close to coming. And she didn’t care. She needed to come. Yes, yes, just keep doing that; all her muscles tensed in anticipation of release from the madness which was possessing her.
His taking his hand away brought a groan of despair, her eyes flying open when his head lifted. His expression was wry and knowing.
‘Sorry, but I had to stop,’ he said.
She just stared at him, her heartbeat still haywire. ‘You’re cruel,’ she said shakily.
‘Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. I didn’t have a condom with me and I was close to losing control. For some reason kissing you does that to me,’ he said and reached out to run a single fingertip over her still-burning mouth. ‘I suspect you have some secret aphrodisiac in this red lipstick you always wear.’
She couldn’t speak, all her attention on that tantalising fingertip.
His eyes darkened on her, aware no doubt of the extent of her desire.
‘Come,’ he said, this time taking her arm more gently.
Alex guided her across a wide entrance hall and into a huge living room which was beautifully appointed, filled with glass and white leather furniture which shouted money. The floors were all grey marble tiles, but the rugs were thick, soft and more colourful. The artwork on the walls were probably originals, not the framed prints which graced her own flat.
‘This way,’ he said, leading her past a semi-circular shaped alcove in which sat a circular glass dining table beautifully set for two, with elegant silver placemats and tall candles just waiting to be lit.
‘That’s for dinner later,’ he told her, perhaps noting the direction of her eyes.
‘It looks lovely.’ She hadn’t expected anything so romantic.
‘I’ve ordered a meal to be delivered at ten from a local restaurant. And there’s two bottles of chilled white wine waiting for you in the fridge.’
‘You’ve thought of everything,’ she said, taken aback by his thoughtful attention to detail.
‘I try to please. I would have been showered and properly attired if my passion for you hadn’t got the better of me. But while I was waiting for you to arrive, I realised I could kill two birds with one stone.’
‘Sorry. I’m not following you.’
‘You will. This way...’
He took her down a tiled hallway and into the master bedroom, which was large, spacious and thankfully nothing like a playboy’s bedroom, other than the fact that the bed was king-sized. The floor was covered in a lush cream carpet, the furniture made in a dark wood, the furnishings in various shades of cream and brown. She loved the brass-based bedside lamps with their stylish cream shades and the gorgeous tapestry which hung above the bedhead. It was a park scene—Parisian, since it had the Eiffel Tower in the background. The colours were glorious.
‘I love that tapestry,’ she said as he led her past it.
‘It’s a recent purchase. An investment, really. I don’t put my money in stock and shares. I prefer property. And art.’
Harriet couldn’t afford to invest in art. But at least she did have her flat, which had already doubled in value since she’d bought it.
‘In here,’ he directed and guided her into an en suite bathroom which had to be seen to be believed. It was larger than her bedroom with a modern toilet and bidet, a sunken spa bath, a double vanity and a shower stall built for two. Or possibly three. But it wasn’t any of those things which made her gasp. It was the candles which were dotted around the bath, all lit and giving out the most incredible vanilla fragrance.
‘Did you do this for me?’ she asked, amazed and touched.
His smile was warm, soft and faintly apologetic. ‘I wanted to make it up to you for being a bit of a bastard last Monday. All I can say in my defence is that I knew I wouldn’t be able to get all the work done that I needed to do before I went away if I started meeting up with you. And making love to you. And not getting any sleep. As it was, I didn’t sleep all that well anyway, despite working my butt off in the gym every evening. All I could think about was you, Harry.’
‘Oh...’ she said, in danger of melting into a puddle. ‘I...I didn’t sleep very well, either.’
His smile was slow, sexy and incredibly arousing. ‘That’s nice to know,’ he said as he turned on the bath taps, adjusted the temperature, then tipped in what looked like bubble bath. ‘Can you wait a bit longer?’ he asked her as he turned back to face her.
‘What? Yes. No. Yes, I...I suppose so.’
‘Good. Now I’m going to take off all your clothes.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t think about it. Just let me do it.’
She didn’t think about it, and she let him do it, dazed by the feeling of blissful helplessness which took possession of her as he slowly removed each item of clothing. First came her jacket, which he folded and placed on the vanity counter top. Her blouse followed, then her bra.
How weird it felt to be standing before Alex, naked to her waist. Weird, yet wickedly exciting. Her skirt came next, then her shoes, leaving her with nothing on but a black satin thong and a pair of lace-topped stay-up stockings.
Once she was naked, he took a step back and just looked at her.
‘That’s how I’ve been picturing you all week,’ he said thickly, his eyes raking over her.
She’d done a lot of picturing of her own, her many erotic fantasies underlining just how much in lust with Alex she was. Lord, if he didn’t make love to her soon, she was going to faint with desire. Her head was spinning, whilst the rest of her was on fire.
‘Aren’t you going to get undressed?’ she asked him shakily.
‘Of course. Do you want to watch?’
Oh, Lord, she was seriously out of her depth here.
He didn’t strip slowly, but he didn’t hurry, either. Once naked, he turned off the taps, then extracted a condom from a nearby drawer, ripping it open with his teeth before drawing it on with practised swiftness. She tried not to stare, but he was just so big and hard and ready. She wanted him inside her right now.
‘I...I don’t think I can wait much longer,’ she told him shakily.
He smiled a wry smile. ‘Me neither, beautiful.’
Taking her shoulders, he turned her to face the vanity mirror. Without his saying a word, she knew what he wanted her to do. She reached out to grip the edges of the marble bench top, moved her legs apart, then bent forward, dropping her head so that she couldn’t see the wantonness in her eyes. She gasped when he stroked down the curve of her spine, caressing her bottom before taking a firm hold of her hips and doing what she was desperate for him to do.
Oh, God, she thought as her head spun and her body rocketed to a release that saw her crying out like some wild, wounded animal. He came soon after her, pulling her upright as his flesh shuddered within hers. When their eyes finally met in the mirror, his smile stunned her. For it was soft and sweet, making her heart lurch in a way that might have worried her at any other time. But her mind was on other things at that moment.
‘I like the new you, Harry,’ he said, a wicked twinkle in his eye. ‘Now, let’s go get in that bath.’
Chapter Seventeen
I DON’T WANT her to go, Alex thought as he reluctantly followed Harry to the lift doors.
He’d never enjoyed a weekend so much in years. Never enjoyed a woman so much in years. It wasn’t just the sex part—though that was fabulous—it was her company, her conversation, her intelligence. Alex hadn’t realised till that weekend how much he craved being with a woman as smart as she was. And Harriet was smart. Perhaps not academically. She didn’t have degrees to her name. But she had smarts of a different kind. She was quite well-read, too, he’d found out. Plus she was never at a loss for words. Or opinions. They hadn’t spent the whole weekend having sex, though Friday night had been full on. Understandable, given they’d both been somewhat frustrated at the time.
After a long sleep-in on the Saturday, he’d
driven her back to her place so that she could get a change of clothes. When he then suggested they drive out somewhere for lunch, she hadn’t objected, so he’d headed west toward the Blue Mountains, showing her the parcels of land he’d bought near the proposed new airport at Badgery’s Creek on the way. Her praise over his plan to build affordable housing for the people who would one day work at the airport had pleased him no end. He rarely told anyone about his charitable efforts, most people not being interested. But Harry had seemed genuinely impressed.
After lunch at a trendy café in Katoomba, they’d visited the Three Sisters, where Harry had taken heaps of photos of the iconic mountaintops, insisting he be in most of the shots. It had been a fun day. By the time they’d arrived back at his apartment, however, he’d been more than ready to take her to bed. He’d ordered Chinese that night and they’d eaten it whilst they watched a movie, their naked bodies wrapped in a mohair rug he kept on the sofa. Then it had been back to bed, where they’d stayed on and off for the whole of Sunday, only rising to shower and eat.
When Harry had said around five that she really had to go home, he’d tried to change her mind with some more lovemaking. But it had worked only temporarily. By five-thirty she was adamant that it was time for her to go. Sighing, he said he would drive her home. But he still hated the thought of her going. When the temptation arose to ask her to move in with him, he was totally taken aback. That was not what he wanted in life. Besides, he was pretty sure that Harry would say no. She just wanted to have fun with him, not live with him. Though he didn’t abandon the idea altogether...
‘Come with me,’ he said when they stopped at a set of lights during the drive to her place. ‘To Italy.’
Harriet’s head whipped round, his offer clearly having thrown her. ‘I can’t do that,’ she said at last. ‘People at work will talk.’
‘They don’t have to know. I’ll go into the office on Monday and say you’ve come down with a bad case of flu. I’ll say I’ve given you the week off.’
He could see that she was tempted. Seriously tempted.
‘I don’t know, Alex,’ she said slowly. ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea.’
‘Well, I do. You can come to the wedding with me, then afterwards I’ll take you to Venice for a couple of days.’
‘Venice,’ she repeated, her eyes going all misty. ‘I’ve always wanted to go to Venice.’
The lights went green and he drove on. ‘Then let me take you there,’ he said.
She shook her head at him. ‘You are a wicked man, do you know that?’
‘It has been said of me before. But I don’t think it’s wicked to offer to take you to Italy with me. You’ll love Lake Como.’
‘I dare say I will. I’ve heard it’s very beautiful. But I won’t go to the wedding with you. I wouldn’t be comfortable doing that. They are your friends, Alex, not mine.’
Alex knew when he’d pushed things as far as he could.
‘Very well. I’ll book you into a nearby hotel on the lake whilst I’m doing my best man act. You can do a few touristy things by yourself that day. Then, after the wedding, I’ll join you and we’ll go to Venice together.’
‘Won’t that take longer than a week?’
He shrugged. ‘Not much longer. Look, as things stand I won’t be back by next weekend. I don’t know about you, but I’ve enjoyed this weekend more than even I envisaged. I love your company, Harry, in bed and out. Come with me. Please...’
Harriet didn’t speak again for a full minute. ‘I should say no,’ she said. But there was a smile in her voice.
He grinned. ‘Possibly. But you’re not going to. You’re going to fly first class with me to Italy.’
‘No,’ she replied with a firmness which shocked him. ‘I’m not.’
Before he could give vent to his frustration, she added, ‘You can fly first class, but I’ll be in economy. I wouldn’t feel comfortable having you pay that much money for my flight.’
‘But I can afford it,’ he told her.
‘I don’t care what you can afford. I will not be bought, Alex. I’m not that kind of girl.’
‘Would you compromise by going business class?’
She heaved a resigned sigh. ‘I suppose that would be all right. But I will be paying for my own ticket. I also want to pay half of all our hotel expenses. And before you object, I assure you, I can afford it. I’ll just use the money I saved up for my wedding. I only lost the deposit on the reception venue when I broke up with Dwayne, so I have plenty left.’
Alex frowned. ‘But surely your parents were going to pay for your wedding?’
Her laugh sounded bitter. ‘My parents and I are estranged,’ she told him. ‘They wouldn’t have come to my wedding even if I’d invited them. Which I had no intention of doing.’
Shock at this statement was quickly followed by curiosity.
‘What on earth happened between you?’
‘My father happened, that’s what,’ she stated with a bitterness which stunned him.
Alex recalled her telling him something at her interview about her father losing his job when she’d been a teenager, which was why she’d had to go out to work instead of studying. He’d been a miner up in the Singleton area. But that was all he knew about her family.
‘He was a pig,’ Harriet bit out. ‘A male chauvinist pig.’
Whoa, Alex thought. They were pretty heavy words.
‘What did he do?’ Alex asked.
‘What didn’t he do?’ she threw at him. ‘First, he thought women were only put on this earth to wait on him hand and foot. Mum and I were treated like servants. Never with love or caring. My brothers were spoiled rotten, whilst I got nothing. He bought them everything they wanted, whereas I was given only the barest essentials. I lived in second-hand uniforms and clothes. If it hadn’t been for gifts from relatives, I would never have had anything new.’
Alex could hardly believe what he was hearing. He’d been critical of his father at times, but he was still a loving parent. What little money he’d earned, he’d given to his children.
‘I lied when I told you that Dad had lost his job,’ Harriet went on. ‘He never did. He always earned a good salary. But Mum and I never saw any of it. So, once I was old enough to get a job or three, I did so.’ A small, very bitter smile curved her mouth. ‘Naturally, Dad was furious when I refused to hand over any of my salaries.’
‘He didn’t hit you, did he?’ Alex despised men who hit women.
‘No. He wasn’t a physically violent man, just verbally and emotionally abusive. I hated him.’
‘Understandable. So I’m presuming you didn’t have your parents’ approval when you came to Sydney to pursue a career in real estate?’
‘They had absolutely no idea of my plans. But I always knew what I was going to do. First, I saved up for a car. Not a new car, of course. But not bad, either. I also secretly went to college at night, doing an advanced computer course as well as getting my real-estate licence. Then, as soon as I turned twenty, I left home and drove the two hundred kilometres to Sydney.’
‘That was brave of you,’ he said, admiring her enormously.
‘I didn’t see it that way. I just knew I had to leave home and make a life for myself. I had enough money saved to survive for a few weeks till I got a job. And I booked into a backpackers’ lodge till then as it was relatively cheap.’
‘Did you tell your parents you were going or did you just up and leave?’
‘Mum knew I was going, but Dad was at work when I left. I did ring home to tell Mum I’d arrived safely, but Dad answered and promptly disowned me, saying I was ungrateful and that he didn’t want to set eyes on me ever again.’
‘You’re right. He is a pig. I hope you told him where to go.’
‘I did indeed. In no uncertain terms. Then when I asked to speak to my mother, he hung up. I did ring again the next day when I knew he’d be at work, but Mum also hung up on me.’
Her sad sigh was very telling.
‘Clearly, she’d been ordered not to talk to me, and she was too scared to defy him. I’d hoped I might be able to persuade her to leave him, but I soon saw that was never going to happen. I knew from that moment on that I was on my own. My life would be what I made it. No one was going to help me.’
Alex was beginning to understand exactly where that checklist had come from. It went a long way back.
‘Well, you’ve done a very good job,’ he complimented her. ‘I was seriously impressed when I read your résumé, working your way up from being a receptionist to getting a job in sales. Not for any old company, either. For one of Sydney’s top realtors. Frankly, I was a bit surprised when you applied for the job as my PA. You probably could have made more money staying in sales.’
‘Life isn’t all about money, Alex.’
‘It’s still nice to have it,’ he replied.
‘True. Right, we’re nearly there. I suggest you just let me off outside my place, Alex. There’ll be no parking in my street on a Sunday afternoon.’
She was right. There wasn’t. ‘Are you absolutely sure you have to go home?’ he tried one last time. ‘I could always turn around and take you back to my place for the night.’
‘Alex, just stop it,’ she said firmly. ‘If I’m going to Italy with you on Tuesday, I have lots of things to do.’
‘Give me a kiss before you go.’
She laughed. ‘Good try, Alex.’ And she was out of the car like a shot, leaning in to grab her overnight bag before waving and running inside.
Alex just sat there for a long moment, then drove slowly back to his place, feeling more alone than he ever had in his life before. Once there, he wandered around like a lost sheep for a while till in desperation he rang Sergio and talked for a good twenty minutes, unlike his previous congratulatory call, which had been rather brief. By the time he hung up, Alex saw what Jeremy meant about their friend being genuinely in love with Bella. He was utterly obsessed with the woman, unable to form a sentence without her name being in it. Alex hoped like hell that Sergio’s love was returned. Falling that deeply in love could be dangerous enough. Even worse if it was one-sided.
