by Tina Donahue
Red leaned toward Daniel and whispered, “What’s she doing here?”
Who knew?
“Does she want us to go back to work?” Red asked, then whined, “Now?”
Daniel lifted one shoulder.
She said something he didn’t hear, the scarf muffling her words.
At the sound, Nat turned. Even Junior finally noticed Alexandra’s presence, though he kept his attention divided between her and his porn.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that,” Daniel said to her.
Moving closer, she pulled off one of her bulky gloves and tugged down her scarf. Despite the protective covering, her cheeks and the tip of her nose were rosy from the frigid wind, her lips a deep pink, the lower one plush, just begging to be sucked.
Daniel’s cock stirred, pressing against his fly, wanting out.
Alexandra inched closer, as though uncertain of herself or what she wanted to say.
Daniel’s gut twisted in quick worry while his mind flew in a dozen directions, most of them bad. Something shitty had happened with his designs. One of the crew had gotten hurt. Equipment had sunk into the—
She cleared her throat, interrupting his thoughts. “Hi.”
Her voice sounded huskier than Daniel recalled. Smoky. Alluring.
Nat, Red, and even Junior turned in his direction. No doubt because she’d offered that inviting “hi” to him. No one else. Bursts of heat traveled from Daniel’s belly to his groin, thickening his shaft even more, tightening his balls. If this place had been on fire, he couldn’t have fled. His legs were too watery.
What had gotten into her?
With him, he figured it was a shitload of lust he’d been fighting for weeks. “Hi… Everything all right?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Yep.”
Red mumbled something beneath his breath.
Alexandra noticed him finally, along with Nat and Junior. She appeared surprised they were here. “Guys.”
They nodded in greeting.
She regarded the cards, Parmesan packets, cooler. This was a damp village. Restaurants and grocery stores didn’t sell liquor. You had to BYOB—bring your own booze—after purchasing it from a licensed dealer.
When she kept staring at the cooler, Daniel opened another bottle and handed it to her. Her fingers slid over his. A current of sensation rushed through him so quickly the room lurched.
“Thanks,” she murmured, then finished a third of the brew before coming up for air.
Daniel pictured her long throat bobbing beneath her wool scarf. He imagined the scent of beer on her breath. A drop of the brew sparkled on the side of her mouth. She licked it off.
His balls hurt.
Red cleared his throat nervously, breaking the charged silence. The sound brought her attention to the laptops. Nat closed Junior’s before Alexandra moved closer and noticed what was on the screen. Embarrassment flooded her face. The kind generated when someone knows they’ve crashed a private club where they’ll never belong.
Daniel debated whether to ask if she wanted in on their poker game. Before he could, she moved to a shelf of plastic plates. With her beer bottle next to them, she pulled off her other glove, her scarves, parka, and tossed them on an empty bench. She wore construction boots, jeans, a plaid flannel shirt in black and red, along with thermal underwear that peeked from beneath her collar and the ends of her sleeves. In other words, clothing identical to what he and the others had on.
Unlike them, she looked adorable, her long, chestnut hair braided, the end of it dangling above her ass. Her lush buttocks filled out her jeans nicely, begging a guy’s hands to explore every inch of them. Daniel couldn’t count the times he’d wanted to indulge himself in that, along with snuggling his face between her full, ripe breasts that were beyond womanly. Alexandra’s body was all softness and curves, meant for a man’s use.
Though not his. When she noticed him watching, indecision, and what might have been unease, flickered across her face. She took another prolonged swig of her beer.
Cool it,he ordered himself. Clearly, he was scaring her.
With a ton of willpower, Daniel turned back to his cards, not seeing any of them, no matter how long or hard he tried. Alexandra remained in his thoughts.
She’d moved to the pool table in the corner and kept rolling the cue ball across the torn green felt. Each time the ball hit the side of the table, Daniel’s heart jumped. In his peripheral vision, he noticed she’d focused on him again. Nat kept shooting him looks that asked, “What the fuck’s going on?”
Only Alexandra knew, and she wasn’t telling.
Intrigued, Daniel glanced over.
She didn’t turn away as he’d expected but regarded him with such naked hunger, his mouth went dry. A trickle of sweat ran down his chest. Was she actually coming on to him? In front of his crew?
She stopped bouncing the ball in her hand. Her face flushed, making her eyes seem even bluer. She murmured, “Do you want to play with me?”
For too many damn weeks, and she must have finally caught on. Her throaty voice had dropped even lower, sounding nearly as deep as his. Junior noticed that and her double entendre. Bending over, he muffled his snicker as he pretended to get another beer.
Daniel said the only thing he could, given the other guys. “You want to play pool?”
Alexandra regarded the ball, her expression saying she just noticed it and the table she’d leaned against. Her forehead and cheeks pinked up even more. If Daniel had been a betting man, he would have wagered she was debating whether to stay or run.
She didn’t move a muscle. Her body language changed, showing her sudden decision. Her determination to dig in here as she’d often done on the site, as though her life depended upon it. “If that’s what you want to do first.”
First?
Nat kicked him under the table. Daniel ignored him. “I don’t understand.”
Alexandra put the ball down. “We can make it interesting. Play for our clothes, unless you prefer strip poker.” She gestured to the deck of cards. “I’m game for either, and everything that comes after it.”
Chapter Two
Everything stopped. Even the wind died down for a few seconds before picking up again, slamming against the building.
The guys didn’t seem to notice how the walls groaned. They remained still as statues, none of them blinking or breathing any longer.
She should have planned this better. Too late now. The words had fallen out of Alexandra’s mouth before she could stop them. Part of it driven by loneliness, lust and desperation, her running all over the barracks and village looking for Daniel, finally finding him here. The other fueled by the beer hitting her system and her grandfather’s carping about her being a wuss. That she needed to man up. To go after what she wanted for a change rather than waiting endlessly, hopelessly. Not to take “no” for an answer.
Daniel seemed incapable of speech, staring as if she’d revealed that he was Lucius’ love child.
Not the response she’d hoped for.
Even if Daniel had finally seemed interested in her a few minutes ago, given how he’d studied her body, he wasn’t about to go further than that.
Unwilling to hear his polite brush-off, she plowed ahead, pride not allowing her to leave or stop what she’d begun. She spoke to the other guys. “The same goes for all of you, of course.” Despite her rolling belly, Alexandra forced a smile. “The more, the merrier.”
Just like her indecent fantasies.
Daniel stood so quickly his chair skittered to the side, hitting Red’s. Just in time, Red yanked his hand away before his fingers got squashed.
Junior pushed to his feet, all smiles. “Sure. Sounds—”
“Sit. Down,” Daniel ordered, then turned back to her. “We need to talk.”
Uh-uh. He was going to tear into her just as her grandfather always did. Criticizing, demanding to know why she wasn’t performing to standards, expecting her to back down, to be a good little girl and
do as she was told. Which would only bring more criticism that she didn’t take risks, never went after what she wanted, didn’t behave like the person in charge. Screw that. Up here, she was the boss. If Daniel wanted to run the show, he could do so in her bed. There, she’d willingly surrender. It was all she’d dreamed of for weeks.
Her memories of those lonely, frustrating nights gave Alexandra more courage than she would have believed. Not to mention reckless disregard for propriety. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “No we don’t. My offer was very clear.”
“Clear?” He planted his hands on his lean hips. The blunt tips of his fingers pointed to the impressive bulge behind his fly.
Her knees went weak. God, he was something. Powerful as hell.
“You want to play strip pool or poker?” he asked.
Alexandra’s face warmed at his obvious sarcasm. “You were the one who mentioned pool first.”
Daniel frowned. “Because you were bouncing the cue ball in your hand when you asked if I wanted to play with you.”
She had been? She’d actually said that? Alexandra thought she’d asked if he wanted to mess around or something along that line. Kind of sexual, but still vague enough to be taken many ways. She really should have thought this out. Still too late.
She feigned nonchalance. “Frankly, I don’t see any reason to make this a contest. I’m already willing. How about you guys?” Before any of them could say “no”, she talked fast. “You have nearly two weeks downtime. You can spend it playing cards, sleeping, staring at the walls, surfing porn sites or you can enjoy it with a real woman. No strings. No problems. This has nothing to do with work.”
“The hell it doesn’t,” Daniel argued. “I’m their boss, and I say—”
“I outrank you,” she interrupted. “All of you work for me. If you fire them, I’ll rehire them. You can’t stop this.”
His expression and complexion darkened.
Never had Alexandra seen him so pissed or intense. Her body thrummed with excitement. She murmured, “Why would you want to stop it?”
A muscle in his jaw clenched. He spoke through his teeth. “This isn’t how you conduct business.”
Wrong answer. She’d hoped he’d say he didn’t want to share her. How stupid was that. They weren’t engaged in a relationship, so she wasn’t his to share. Nor would she ever be.
Disappointment mingled with her embarrassment, which just made her bolder. “Clearly, you haven’t worked in a corporate environment. You’d be surprised at what really goes on behind closed doors.” She turned from him to the others. “I know none of you are married. Are any of you involved?”
Red and Junior exchanged a glance, then shook their heads.
She turned to Nat.
“If I were,” he said, “I wouldn’t be here, away from my girl. Neither would Daniel.”
Alexandra already figured as much and envied the woman Daniel would eventually end up with. Most likely someone beautiful, petite, slender. Everything she wasn’t.
“Wonderful.” She cleared the catch in her voice, tightened her arms, and went for broke. “Then it’s a go?”
Junior regarded Daniel warily but still nodded. Red scratched his goatee as he studied her mouth, breasts, thighs. For once, Alexandra didn’t feel inadequate, knowing her body, however flawed, had it all over a card game, masturbation or the few other things to do up here. She should have made the move to this miserable place years earlier when she’d first gotten out of Harvard.
“No problems. For real?” Red said to her.
If he hadn’t been so somber, Alexandra would have smiled. He was a great-looking guy. Other women probably fell for him all the time. Not her, never with Daniel in the mix. This was strictly about pleasure. No ties. No regrets.
She assured him, “I’ll put it in writing if you want.”
He focused on her breasts again. “Let’s do it.”
Not a ringing endorsement, but at least he was on board. “You?” she asked Nat.
He lounged in his chair, rubbing a packet of Parmesan between his fingers, the action both lazy and sexy. His tight curls glistened slightly in the yellowish light. His ebony skin seemed burnished. Erotic. Provocative.
“You’re certainly not like any boss I’ve had in the past,” he said.
Alexandra smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He grinned in return. “Sure. Let’s see what kind of fun we can have.”
“Nat,” Daniel growled.
“Sorry, man. The lady made an offer I don’t want to refuse.” He regarded her appreciatively. The way a guy should look at a woman he wanted, even if his desire lasted for only a few minutes.
Alexandra had experienced so little male attention she couldn’t help but swell with pride. He hadn’t turned her down. None of them had. Yet.
She spoke to Daniel. “How about you?”
If he noticed how her voice trembled with longing and uncertainty, he didn’t let on. His dark eyes flashed with something she couldn’t quite read. Anger probably, at her having one-upped him…and what she hoped was sin.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” he warned. “Or what you’re getting into.”
True. She’d led a damn dull life until now, not that she was about to let him know it. Once this project was over, she’d never see him again. If her grandfather had his way, Daniel would be gone well before then. There wasn’t an endless amount of time to grab what she wanted and just had to have. “As I said earlier, I’m game for anything. Submission. Dominance. Punishment. Whatever rocks your world.”
He arched one eyebrow. “You’re into BDSM.”
“I’m into everything,” she said, hoping he was too. That he’d teach her.
Giving him no chance to respond, Alexandra spoke to the others. “Tomorrow evening at eight, my cabin.” She pulled on her parka, the scarves, and grabbed her gloves. “It’s the last building on the outskirts of the village. I’ll provide food, booze and me, of course.
“See you then,” she said to Daniel and left the restaurant before she lost her nerve or considered what she’d done.
What, and who, was coming her way tomorrow night.
The moment Daniel heard Alexandra driving away from the building, he lashed out at Nat. “Have you lost your mind? I didn’t expect common sense from them.” He swung his arm toward Red and Junior. “But you’re old enough to know better.”
Nat tossed the Parmesan packet high in the air and caught it easily. “The lady gave you your chance.” His broad grin showed most of his teeth. “Don’t blame me if you blew it.”
Daniel bunched his shoulders, bristling at that crazy logic. He hadn’t even been certain Alexandra was coming onto him until she’d dropped her bombshell. He’d been too shocked to respond. Didn’t rattle her in the least. Easily and quickly, she’d filled the silence with the rest of her program. All of them servicing her. Engaging in bondage, submission, leather straps, blindfolds and whatever else she had in mind.
Games he liked to play with a willing and adventurous partner. How had she known? Had she simply guessed? Hoped?
Shit. Before tonight, Daniel wouldn’t have believed she’d been hiding a submissive side or craved a Dom’s firm hand. At work, she’d been nothing but cool professionalism, behaving as if she’d been born to be in charge, which she had given her family’s empire. Prior to this evening, he’d never seen her drink anything more potent than diet soda. That had changed with her guzzling the beer.
As though she’d been nervous and needed liquid courage to keep from bolting. Or needed to take the edge off something else. Could she be on drugs? He’d heard rumors about her father. Maybe her damn grandfather had finally driven her over the edge, and she was acting out. She couldn’t be serious about this.
None of them could. “You expected me to play strip pool with her, if there is such a thing?”
“Not while we were here,” Nat drawled. “You should have told us to leave.”
�
�No way,” Junior said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that show.”
“You wouldn’t have enjoyed it with two black eyes and a set of broken legs,” Nat informed him. “Daniel would have pounded you into the ground before tossing you outside. Right, buddy?”
His jaw ached from clenching it so hard. “Tomorrow isn’t happening.”
Red mumbled, “Ms. Waite said it is. She’s going to put it in writing.”
“Are you insane?” Daniel snapped. “You’re calling her Ms. Waite but you expect to do whatever you want with her, like you two are dating or something?”
“No one mentioned dating,” Junior offered. “She specifically promised no strings or problems. Good enough for me.”
“Let’s see how it plays out,” Nat said. “No harm in that.”
Right. “And after we romp around her cabin, we’re going to go back to work like nothing happened.”
Red frowned. “Not until our rotation’s over. Aw, shit. You don’t think she’ll expect us to go back to the job right away, do you? I mean, she will have gotten what she wanted, so do you think she’ll take the rest of our free time away?”
“Naw.” Nat tossed the cheese packet on the table. “It’s my guess we’ll be booked at her cabin for the next thirteen nights.”
Junior whistled through his teeth and pumped his fist in the air.
Daniel fought an intolerable urge to slug him. If Junior put one finger on Alexandra, he’d tear him apart. Unless she ordered him to stop, which she had every right to do since she was the boss.
He swore beneath his breath, then glared at Nat, who studied him with the same seriousness he would a safety report. “What?”
“No need to be jealous,” Nat said.
Jealous? Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and squeezed them as tight as he could.
“My guess is she really wants you,” Nat added.
