"Oh fuck, Kate!" he groaned above me, more and more of his seed spilling out onto my hot flesh.
He eventually slowed both our movements down; his own stroking of his shaft above my butt cheek and my finger just inside my rear. Easing everything, eking out our orgasms, savouring the moment with me for as long as we could. Finally he helped me withdraw my finger, and then with an arm around my waist he brought me upright again, flush against his hot, naked chest. His release would be soaking through his jeans, as they hadn't fallen completely to the floor. He'd obviously just undone the fly to gain access to his erection, and no more. But he didn't seem to care about the mess he was creating, he just held me close, let me gain my balance and kissed the side of my neck, down onto my shoulder.
"You OK, baby?" he asked.
"Ah-huh," I replied with a sated nod of my head.
He chuckled, the rumble reaching me through my back directly from his chest.
"You liked that?" he added.
"Yes," I managed to say on an exhale.
"Next time you get me."
I stiffened. Him, finger? Or him, him? I still couldn't say the word unless in the throes of passion.
He noticed my reaction, of course.
"Yes, Kate. All of me. Just like I get all of you. Do you want all of me, baby?" he asked, nuzzling behind my ear.
And I knew there was more to that question than the words let on. Did I want all of him? Mind, body, heart and soul. And him taking me in that way; where my finger had just been, his hand guiding me, and where I realised I'd liked it more than I had imagined I ever possibly could.
I was beginning to see, that with Jason, I could like a lot of things, I had never possibly believed before.
"Yes, Jason," I said, feeling him inhale a deep breath at my back, "I want all of you."
"Baby, you got me. You have so fucking got me. I am lost."
Chapter 20
Yes, My Brother Ran A Tight Ship
The finished design went through to Tremayne by eleven that night. Jason had allowed me time to complete it; going for his run and checking on his flat. He even turned up with dinner at eight, having left me alone for the rest of the day. After making sure I was sufficiently clean and pampered following our office encounter.
He'd behaved himself in the shower too, just ran liquid soap on a loafer all over my body, bringing the skin tingling to life under his so very careful touch.
I had missed him afterwards, but I'd been able to throw all my energy and creativeness into the project, completing, for the second time in a row, an out of the world design I could truly be proud of.
I'd also worn a skirt without underwear for the rest of the day, getting used to the sensation ahead of time, so that when Jason returned it was almost natural. So natural, in fact, that I'd forgotten I wasn't wearing anything under the above knee skirt I had on, until Jason's hand ran up my thigh when we sat down to dinner, and began to leisurely bring me to orgasm as we ate.
The dessert he'd bought was a non-event after that. I slipped under the table and sucked and nipped and stroked my thanks in return. Then when he had collapsed to his knees, exactly where I wanted him, I reluctantly had to head back into my office to finish the design. Jason watched TV, checking on me with a late cup of tea as the evening progressed, and then curving an arm around my shoulders, when I'd shouted my joy at completing the first part of the contract on time, and leading me into the bedroom. Where he proceeded to instruct me to strip naked and climb between the sheets.
Miraculously we had slept and not done anything else. A sense of comfort had swiftly replaced the pain and fear of the past two weeks. I was so very thankful, but I was exhausted and tomorrow was going to be another jam packed day. I liked working under pressure, but this project time-frame took the cake for pressure, that was for sure. It was ridiculously short, I had to ask myself again and again why I had agreed to it in the first place.
Unfortunately, the truth lay in the same place as the truth about why Jason walked away from me. I had been a broken woman when Tremayne cornered me, just as Jason had been a broken man when Nick cornered him. We all make mistakes, and mine had been accepting an impossible deadline for a design project I should have known would be beyond reasonable to achieve.
Still, I'd signed the contract for it and there was no going back now.
Monday loomed and my schedule included confronting Nick, signing up ASI for security at Tremayne Arts, scheduling my builders to start work on the premises, and making a start on sourcing the furnishings. It was a big ask.
Jason knew immediately that there was no time to spare, as I was running around like a headless chicken, taking a bite of toast off the plate of breakfast he'd prepared, and carrying out conversations with my builders over the phone glued to my ear, pencilling them in for a four o'clock appointment at the showroom to go over plans.
I still hadn't heard from Tremayne, so I was getting slightly ahead of myself. But if the builders didn't start tomorrow, which meant they needed to know the brief today, then the deadline could be compromised. Just as I finished the call with my foreman, my cellphone chirped and buzzed and whirred. The generic ringtone I have set for my clients' numbers sounding out across the room. The screen said 'Richard', and as I reached for the phone I watched Jason cross his arms and stare at me hard.
I kept my gaze averted. Did he expect me to change the name on my phone from Richard to 'the client'?
"Katie Anscombe," I said into the device.
"Catherine, I love it! You are a genius, my dear."
"Thank you, Richard," I answered automatically, receiving a loud thud of Jason's hand as his fist hit the kitchen table's surface. My eyes flicked up to his and he mouthed, Tremayne. I guess, as in, 'Mr Tremayne' from now on. I rolled my eyes at him and returned my attention to my phone.
Richard had been talking and I'd missed half of it.
"That corner will make the Mark Hill sculpture stand out. You've excelled yourself. It's as if you were made to represent these pieces. I have every intention of using your services in the other locations I have planned."
Other locations? Just how many places did this man want art rooms at?
His voice lowered, turning a little husky on the edges. "In fact, I think you and I could work so well together, Catherine. We're from the same worlds, we understand each other. You've designed something right out of my head. I couldn’t have expressed my wishes as well as you have conveyed my vision."
Oh, heck. I had no answer suitable to all of that. My eyes flicked up to Jason's angry chestnut coloured ones and I let a little breath out trying to release the tension in my shoulders.
"It's been an interesting process, Richard," I said, getting startled by the abrupt scraping of Jason's chair as he pushed himself away from the table. He started loudly clearing the dishes, making as much noise as he could manage in the background. I bit my lip to stop from grinning. He really was such child at times. "But I don't want to give you false hope. This will be my last art room design."
What I meant was, it would be my last design for him. It was too awkward now, I couldn't work for Richard Tremayne after this rushed, complicated, and entirely uncomfortable project. It wasn't fair to anyone, and I am not the sort of person to make life more difficult for myself, if I can manage.
"Really? Have you not enjoyed designing the studio?" Tremayne asked, putting me right on the spot.
Jason had also stopped making noise and was now just leaning his jeans clad butt against the bench. Arms crossed over shirtless chest as he watched me intently.
Oh, damn. What to say?
"I'm afraid the time-frame has been cause for concern," I offered as an excuse.
"Then we'll make sure you have more time in the future."
I frowned, but aside from saying it was him I was trying to avoid, I just didn't have an adequate answer. For the sake of Jason's pleasure, I couldn't be that rude to client, wanted or not.
"Well, it's my decision, Richard. Let's just leav
e it at that."
There was a long pause on the phone, the silence somehow threatening. I shook my head, unable to figure out why I felt intimidated by his lack of conversation right then. I couldn't explain it, but a type of menace hung over the line. Which thankfully snapped when he spoke again in an even and steady voice.
"I'll be out of town for the rest of the week, so I've arranged for keys to be delivered to your home for the shop. Please go ahead as planned, and if you would be so kind as to let the security firm in to do their necessary installations, I would be grateful."
So formal. Not even saying the name of my brother's firm. It was as if he was distancing himself from it all. But I could hardly complain. A week to just get on with the job without interruption and interference from the client; a designer's dream come true.
"You can be sure I'll have it all ready for you when you return," I said cheerily. "Where are you...?"
"I'm sure you will." He cut off my sentence mid-question. "That is why I hired you, after all."
"All right," I said, a little uncertainly. "Thank..."
Again he interrupted. "Contact me if you have any problems, otherwise I'll be in touch on Friday to arrange for the pieces to be delivered. You'll be ready by then, I assume?"
I blinked. He was shortening the deadline. Well, not really, I could still work around the pieces, but I'd have to make sure Nick's side of the job was completed by the time the artwork arrived. And Nick wasn't even aware of his part in this project yet.
I felt panic begin to engulf me, which was instantly assuaged by Jason's reassuring touch on my shoulders as he began to gently rub. I sucked in much needed air.
"You won't be back to see to the pieces' delivery?" I asked, feeling a little better with Jason's continued soft touch.
And then having it blown apart at Tremayne's next words.
"By Friday, yes. But I did make it perfectly clear I was working to a strict deadline before we signed a contract and that you would be handling much of the final presentation on your own, Ms Anscombe. I sincerely hope you are not reneging on your part of our agreement. I wouldn't want to have to bring my lawyers in at such an early time in the process."
My mouth fell open at the abrupt and drastic change in Richard Tremayne's tone. It was like he was a different man, all because I had challenged him on details. Oh, and said I didn't want to do another art room design after he'd admitted he wanted to work with me again doing the same.
I frowned. Jason squeezed my shoulders offering support.
"That won't be necessary, Mr Tremayne," I answered, in my most professional Katie Anscombe voice. Jason lay a kiss in amongst my hair on my use of Richard's surname. Or maybe, just to let me know I wasn't alone. It's a little hard to tell with him sometimes.
"Excellent," Tremayne said. "We'll be in touch, then." The line went dead.
I gingerly placed the cellphone back on the table, utterly stunned. What a creep he had turned out to be.
"What a fuck-knuckle," Jason announced. I was thinking his assessment was more accurate than mine.
I nodded. "An absolute fuck-knuckle," I murmured.
"Baby, those words don't suit you," Jason pointed out. "Not that I'm gonna complain too much. If you want to call him a fuck-knuckle instead of Richard," he said 'Richard' in a falsetto voice, imitating me, "I'll back you all the way."
"Thanks," I muttered, getting up from my chair and swiping up my phone angrily.
I needed to put Richard Multiple-Personality Fuck-Knuckle Tremayne behind me and concentrate on the next task... Nick.
I sighed, as I slipped my cellphone into my satchel. Oh, good Lord, give me strength.
In the end Jason decided it was best if he didn't witness my confrontation with Nick. Maybe he thought he'd not be able to hold back. In fact, I had thought pretty much the same myself. It was not going to be pretty. Nick had a temper on him and even though I was his beloved little sister, he never held back with me when irate. I was picking things were going to get quite tense, and throwing Jason's dominant personality into the mix would only escalate things.
I did, however, leave my knife in my satchel. Even if I was fuming at my brother's interference, I still had absolutely no intention of pulling a blade on him to get my way.
Carmel greeted me with her usual gruff smile when I walked off the lift on ASI's floor. Nick's receptionist/office manager had always scared me slightly, what with the grandma persona she openly portrayed and the dragon alter ego that reared its head when she deemed it necessary. The contrast was frightening. Her eyes flicked over me from head to toe. I was wearing a silk blouse in a muted, soft crimson colour, with a tan fitted skirt that met my knees.
I wasn't wearing underwear as I had just left Jason and not had the chance to correct myself. At Carmel's shrewd gaze I resolved to rectify that mistake as soon as I walked through the door beside her desk.
"You look different, Katie," she announced, her hand pulling free from under her desk, where it had been resting on the shotgun I knew was hidden there. Is it any wonder the woman set me on edge?
"Rushed off my feet, Carmel," I replied, hoping that would suffice as an explanation for whatever she saw was different about me today.
"No, that's not it," she answered, cocking her head as she released the lock on the door into ASI's inner sanctum. "Did you get yourself some?"
The last was said as I pushed the door open and came face to face with Adam Savill on his way out. One of Nick's men. Adam's slow sexy smile at Carmel's words met my eyes, his own gaze running the length of my outfit making me think I had a sign on my head that screamed, Look, no underwear! Aren't I a naughty girl!
"Katie," he drawled. "Have I missed my chance?"
"Darling," I replied, flicking him a sexy smirk, "who said you ever had one to begin with?"
His hand came up to his chest in mock surprise and pain. "Katie, it's like you've all grown up. Are those actual claws I see on your fingers?"
My eyes held his deep blue ones, as a part of me I never knew existed came out to play. "All the better to scratch a back with, darling."
He blinked, I think a little stunned. The Katie everyone knew never would have bantered in such a openly sexual manner before. But then, the Katie everyone knew had never realised her true sexual nature before. I offered a broad grin to Adam, then trotted off directly to Nick's office. No one had said he wasn't in, so I took that to mean he was expecting me. Nick probably knew the minute I left home. Hell, he had the ability to see where I was at any given time, considering my car had GPS tracking installed by ASI and monitored by Eric in the control room.
Which made me wonder if Jason had removed his tracking device yet. I pushed the uneasy feeling aside that Nick was aware of more than I would have liked, and knocked on his closed door, glancing up and staring resolutely at the security camera above my head. Within a few seconds the door clicked and I pushed my way inside.
He was alone, which was an enormous relief. I couldn't really face having witnesses to this conversation. It had been bad enough at Dom's house, with Eric, Koki, Adam and Ben in attendance. If Eva had been here I would have been forced to tame my words.
She wasn't, so I didn't hold back.
"How dare you!" I spat, covering the small space in rapid, angry steps to stand across from him at his desk.
He leaned back in his chair, steepled his fingers in front of him as his elbows rested on the armrests, and then held my gaze, an impassive expression on his face.
"You ignored everything I warned you about," he replied in a steady unaffected voice.
He knew. Jason hadn't removed his GPS tracking device and Nick knew his SUV had been parked at my house on and off for the past day.
"You had no right, Nick," I said through quick breaths. I needed to calm down. My fists were clenched and my respirations had escalated.
"You're my sister. I was trying to protect you," he pointed out in a reasonable tone that only infuriated me further.
"By in
terfering in my life as though I was a child who didn't know any better."
"Not a child," he argued softly. "But definitely an innocent. Someone who the likes of Jason Cain could destroy without a second thought."
"You don't know him," I said, exasperated.
"And you think you do? Katie," he said, a note of irritation working its way into his tone at last, "you have no idea who this man is, what he has done. You have no way of knowing how close to the edge he has become. He's unstable. One spark and he..."
"Stop!" I demanded, shaking my head as I held my hand up in emphasis. "Just stop!"
I was trembling, my nails cutting little crescent moons into my palms. The sting not even registering through the haze of red before my eyes. I panted through a couple of deep breaths, trying to get my temper under control. If I had been holding a knife I would have thrown it already. I stared at my brother, a man I had always held the utmost respect for, and realised we didn't really know each other, at all.
I sucked in one more deep breath.
"It's irrelevant," I announced, trying to move us on from the stalemate we'd clearly come to. Needing to address the far safer topic of business instead. But Nick wasn't finished, which shouldn't have surprised me. Nick had never met an argument he couldn't win. It wasn't in his nature.
"Katie, I'm not the only one worried. Dom's concerned as well."
I ground my teeth. "Oh, don't bring Dominic into this, Nicky. You're the one that pushed Jason until he resigned. You're the one who..."
"It was his decision to leave, I didn't make him," Nick interrupted.
"What a bloody lie! You held his job over his head like a guillotine, in an effort to get him to leave me alone."
He looked shocked, and for the first time since I walked in here, worried. He didn't think Jason would have told me that, he didn't think Jason was capable of opening up to that degree. He thought Jason was beyond repair. He didn't know Jason at all.
I pushed my case a little further.
"I'm twenty-nine years old, Nick. I am not a child anymore. I am more than capable of defending myself. I don't need you or Dominic to fight my battles. I..."
Sweet Seduction Surrender (Sweet Seduction, Book 4) Page 19
