It was, in a word, insane.
And something she never, ever expected to happen, even if she’d nurtured a crush on him for months. Even after that one fateful night at the pub when they kissed.
She still had never expected this.
Slowly his lips curved upward in the most luscious, beautiful smile. Dipping his head, he kissed her, soft and sweet, sending a scattering of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Within her body she felt him swell, and she tilted her hips, urging him into a slow, sensual glide.
It only lasted for minutes. He was too close, as was she. Again, and she couldn’t believe it. Had a man ever made her come three times in one night?
No. She’d certainly remember a feat such as that.
Soon their bodies were slapping together as they raced toward their climax. She came first, a smaller one, not as intense as the previous two but still deliciously wondrous. Hunter held back, the tendons in his neck standing out in stark relief, his splayed hands braced on the mattress, resting on either side of her head. Everything about him was tense, and she smoothed her hands down his front, tangling her fingers in the scant chest hair that grew between his pecs.
“Don’t hold back, Hunter,” she urged just before she lifted up and pressed a kiss to the center of his chest. His heart raced beneath her lips, and a secret smile curled her mouth. She did that to him, made his heart race, made him desperate to hold on to his control when he was so close to falling apart and letting go.
She was glowing. Positively glowing at the realization.
“God,” he moaned as he pumped furiously within her body. He stilled for a brief, telling second before he said her name on a ragged groan and came. He shuddered again and again, and she ran her hands up and down his back, marveling at the strength and vulnerability that he revealed to her in this moment.
Hunter collapsed on top of her, pressing sweet, damp kisses to the side of her throat. “I’m crushing you,” he muttered and giving her one last kiss, rolled from the bed. Went into the bathroom and most likely disposed of the condom before he came back into the bedroom. Strolling nonchalantly, as naked as he pleased, he crawled into the bed and tugged the comforter over the both of them before he hauled her back into his arms.
Lying there, stiff and unyielding, she grew more uncomfortable with each passing second. She didn’t do cuddling during the aftermath. She usually didn’t stay long in a man’s bed either. And she didn’t allow them to stay long either, kicking them out pretty quickly after the deed had been done.
It was some sort of unspoken mutual agreement she’d never had to spell out. Did it have something to do with the men she chose as bed partners? Not that she’d had a lot. Not even a handful.
Funny how she went from blissed out and in the zone to uncomfortable and freaked out in a matter of minutes.
“Relax,” he murmured, dropping a kiss on her forehead. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze, forcing her to rest her head on his bare chest. “Let’s try and sleep a bit before I take you back to your place.”
“Uh…” She trailed off when he gave her another, firmer squeeze about the shoulders.
“Seriously, Gracie. Relax. I’m tired and I bet you are too. And I know the traffic must still be hellish. Let’s doze for an hour or so and then we’ll take you home. I promise nothing else will happen.”
He fell asleep quickly while she lay awake in his arms, snuggled close to his too warm body. Her mind raced with unwanted thoughts, images… This wasn’t supposed to happen. She thought she was so strong, so brave, so willing to do what it took to protect herself.
She fell apart with a few choice words and flirtatious glances. Scorching hot kisses and assured hands, fingers that knew how to bring her to orgasm in minutes…
Frowning, she lifted her head and glanced at the clock. She should leave before they ended up doing this again. And she so couldn’t do this again, no matter how badly she secretly wanted to.
Weakling that she was, she couldn’t help but want to be with him again. Kiss him, touch him, feel him move inside her…
A few stolen moments with Hunter in his bed had her feeling like an addict.
An addict who wasn’t ready to go to rehab anytime soon.
Chapter Five
It was difficult, avoiding the man who gave her three orgasms in one night. A night she couldn’t shake from her memories, no matter how hard she tried. Considering it had been almost three weeks ago, she guessed she could forgive herself. Sort of.
Gracie did her best to push past it, just as she’d promised Hunter she would. She kept her attention on the brand marketing project she was currently in charge of for the upcoming Worthwhile spring line. Losing herself in the brainstorming, in the strategic planning that kept her at her desk late, night after night, that became easy. The project was exciting, the members of her small team within the marketing department beyond enthusiastic, almost as enthusiastic as she.
They were all young and bursting with progressive ideas to take Worthwhile that much further to the edge to appeal to the wealthy, trendy set. She was so involved with the project she had a hard time falling asleep at night, too excited to think of anything else.
And when she finally did manage to slip into unconsciousness, she would usually dream of Hunter. Of the way he’d touched her, kissed her, looked at her every single day like they shared a delicious secret—which they did.
She would wake up aroused, troubled. Irritated with her mind always trying to take her back to a place she had no business lingering in.
So she threw herself into her work. He hadn’t been around much anyway. A meeting in London had taken him out of the office for the majority of last week. That had worked out best, giving her a sort of reprieve from having to deal with him.
Not that it was a hardship, dealing with Hunter. But her emotions were still too raw after what they’d shared. And her body had a mind of its own. It positively sang with glee every time she thought of Hunter, let alone got near him.
Yeah, she had it bad. And it could go absolutely nowhere.
Being a Monday, it was Hunter’s first day back from his trip. He’d spent most of his time in his office, stuck on the phone, stuck behind the computer, just stuck. Not much difference on a usual Monday for him anyway, it was five times worse with his being out of town. He rarely ventured past his office walls.
Thank goodness. She needed to keep the distance between them, more for her sanity than anything else.
“Looking good, Gracie.”
The voice that suddenly came from behind her was familiar, friendly, and she turned away from her desk with a smile. “Hey, Marcus.”
One of the most valued members of the brand marketing department, Marcus Caldwell also happened to be a joy to work with. In his mid-thirties, handsome and recently divorced after a gruesomely bad marriage, he was just as dedicated to Worth as Gracie was.
She’d wondered more than once if he had demons to drown as well and threw himself into his work to avoid them.
“Burning the midnight oil again, I see?” He smiled and leaned against the edge of her desk.
“Not quite.” She glanced at the clock on her desk phone. Just past eight. She should probably head on home soon. “Just trying to wrap some stuff up before I leave.”
“You sure are dedicated.”
“So are you,” she reminded him with a smile. If she wasn’t so caught up in Hunter aftermath she could become interested in Marcus. Maybe.
He shrugged. He wore a slick Armani suit, his blue printed silk tie by Worth. Chestnut-colored hair and warm brown eyes that twinkled when he smiled…he was definitely attractive.
But she was too preoccupied with thoughts of a certain dark-haired man who sent her private, smoldering looks every chance he got. Despite her wishing that he wouldn’t.
“We always seem to be here after hours together, don’t we?”
She nodded slowly, turning her attention to her computer and closing out of the various programs she kept open throughout the day. “Some people are still lingering.”
“Yeah, Hunter’s still around.” Marcus jerked his head toward Hunter’s office, which was behind them. “Have you talked to him about Los Angeles yet?”
“Los Angeles?” She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Ah, whoops. I guess I just inserted my foot in my mouth.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’ll let him explain it to you.”
Curiosity—with a healthy dose of unease—slipped down her spine. What in the world was Marcus talking about? She hoped it was nothing bad. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Again a flash of the easygoing smile and he shifted his position, slipping closer to her. “So I was thinking. Maybe we could get together sometime after work and grab some dinner.”
Oh. Was he asking her out on a date? She couldn’t believe it. They’d worked together for a year and he never once flirted with her, not really. And now he was trying to ask her to dinner? Was she wearing an invisible sign that said, “ Help me forget a certain man—ask me out, I’m desperate”?
“That sounds nice,” she said hesitantly, not wanting to encourage him too much. Not that she would mind going out with Marcus, but she definitely didn’t plan on taking it any further than just that—dinner.
“What are you doing right now? Tonight?” His smile remained easy, but a new light lit his gaze. Worry. Nerves. Just seeing it made her feel bad.
How could she give her planned answer without letting him down? “Ah, I don’t know about tonight, Marcus. I’m tired. It’s been a super-long day.”
“We could go somewhere close,” he suggested hopefully.
“She can’t make it tonight.”
The dark, threatening voice sounded just behind them, and they both whirled around to see Hunter standing mere feet from her desk. He appeared ready to tear someone apart. All threatening, blustery man as he clenched his hands at his sides, his black suit making him look even more ominous.
“Oh, really? Why can’t I?” He wasn’t her keeper. How dare he butt into their conversation?
“I need to talk to you.” He pressed his lips into a thin, firm line. He wasn’t going to budge. Fine, neither was she. “Now, Gracie.”
“It’s all right.” Marcus pushed away from her desk. “We’ll go to dinner another time. Good night, Gracie. Hunter.” He nodded once in Hunter’s direction as he nonchalantly strode out of the room and toward the hall.
She turned on Hunter as soon as Marcus was out of earshot. “Why did you do that?”
His gaze narrowed and he stared her down like a hawk hovering over its prey, zeroing in for the kill. “Why did I do what? Discourage you from fraternizing with another employee?”
If she could stomp her foot and throw a tantrum, she would. He brought out the immature brat in her, and she hated that. The man drove her absolutely insane. “That you would even say those words to me makes me want to slap you.”
He smirked. “I didn’t know you liked it rough, Gracie.”
Her arm reared back automatically, but he caught her by the wrist with his fingers, stopping her palm from making the connection with his cheek. She shook with a flood of emotions, the main one being pure rage. “You bastard,” she whispered.
Hunter immediately looked contrite. “I’m sorry.” He gentled his grip on her wrist, his thumb sweeping along her pulse, sending a scattering of goose bumps across her skin. “I didn’t mean to make you so upset.”
“You interrupted our innocent conversation by acting like a possessive, jealous lover.”
“Maybe I am a jealous lover.” Hunter looked pained that he made the admission and he shook his head, as if he could dismiss it. Make his words disappear. But he couldn’t. They still reverberated through her, stunning her silent. “He was trying to ask you out.”
“And I was trying to refuse him.” God, why had she said that?
“Why?”
She didn’t have an answer for him, was too afraid to confess the truth. And wouldn’t he love hearing that she wasn’t over him yet? Not that she’d given herself enough time. Three weeks wasn’t nearly enough.
A lifetime might not be enough.
His thumb swept over her flesh again, a slow, tantalizing caress that made her tingle. “Tell me why, Gracie.”
She cleared her throat and very carefully extracted her wrist from his hold, purposely ignoring his demand. “You said you wanted to talk to me?”
His gaze hardened and she knew she’d angered him. Luckily enough, he let it go. “Come to my office. We’ll talk there.”
“If you’re looking for privacy, there’s no one around who can overhear us.” She glanced about the empty room, the cubicles long abandoned by her fellow employees. She hadn’t caught a glimpse of the nightly cleaning crew who came around at this time yet either.
“I’d rather discuss it in my office. I have something I need to show you.” He turned and headed toward his office, leaving her no choice but to follow. She locked her gaze on his long-legged stride, how proud and tall he held himself. He was a leader. Magnetic, handsome, commanding—Hunter Worth pushed all her buttons and made her want.
Him.
She barely withheld the growl of frustration that wanted to escape her at the thought.