Authors: Deborah Bladon
Nolan
"Mr. Black, I need a moment," Kristof Hellaman says as I step off the elevator after my meeting with Miller.
I spared the Marketing Manager my wrath today. It wasn't because Ellie had insisted that I'm a good guy. It was because I believe that second chances can yield tremendous results. He has one last opportunity to impress me with his vision of the campaign for our new skin care line. If he fails to knock it out of the park the next go-round, he'll be leaving the building with only his pride and a box of his belongings.
"My office." I walk quickly. He follows me in silence, waiting when I tell Eda to hold my calls.
"What's this about?" I ask as soon as the door is shut. I trust Eda, implicitly. She's one of the few people in my life I confided in when May arrived. She's never questioned anything she's overheard. She wears her loyalty on her sleeve, yet there are still conversations that aren't her concern. Typically, that's any discussion that Kristof and I have.
"Tad Darling, sir."
Anger crawls through me at the mention of his name. He's the man Ellie loved. She promised to marry him and he tossed her trust aside like a piece of dirty trash. I'm grateful in a twisted way that he's an asshole. It set her free so that when she fell in my lap, she wasn't bound to him in any way.
"What about him?" I perch a brow.
He clears his throat. "You wanted an eye kept on him, sir. I've done as you asked."
"And?" I shrug off my jacket, hanging it on the coatrack by the door.
"He's coming to New York."
"When?" I shoot back, irritated by the idea of the man being in the same city as Ellie.
He looks at the view of Manhattan on display through the window behind my desk. "He'll be here at the end of the month. He's arriving at LaGuardia on a private jet. I've sent the details of his itinerary to you."
I tug my phone free of my pocket. I skim the email, noting the hotel Tad's staying at and his departure. "Is there an official purpose for this trip? Does he have business here?"
"My contact in his office assured me they'd forward any details of any meetings he has planned." He crosses his arms across his chest. "Right now, it's classified as a personal trip."
That fucker is coming here because of Ellie. He must have realized she's no longer breaking her back for minimum wage at a casino in Vegas. I haven't overstepped the boundary that would grant me access to the notes from a meeting attended by both Tad and Ellie in a Vegas law office months ago. It's information I can buy with a healthy check and a signature from the person willing to trade their moral code for a price.
The curiosity may be killing me, but it's Ellie's business. I don't want our relationship to veer off course because of my thirst to know the finer details about something that happened before we met. I've already crossed too many lines, but it's for a good reason. Tad Darling mistreated her. He disrespected her in a way that compromised her safety. It's unforgivable.
Ellie is more than capable of taking care of herself, but I can be available for support if need be.
"I want you to track his movements while he's here. If he approaches Matiz or Ellie's apartment, you're to get in touch with me, immediately."
I don't have a plan for what I'll do if that happens. I won't interfere. I'm not going to wait on the sidelines while they discuss their former relationship and its death by Tad's hand. I just want to be aware and informed. Control comes with knowledge and the more information I have on Tad Darling, CEO of Darlux Media, the better.
***
"The pictures that were on the piano are gone."
Ellie stands in place in the middle of the living room. Her eyes are locked on the spot on top of the piano where a handful of scattered photographs were the last time she was here. They were brought here by Crew a few days after May was born. I was already packing my things so I could move. The pictures were taken at the hospital hours after May was left in the lobby. I'd forgotten them here in the mad rush to get to my new apartment and get everything in order for my baby girl.
"I came here earlier and picked them up." I hand her a bottle of chilled water. "I took them to my place."
She draws a quick breath. "The place where you live with your daughter?"
"Yes," I answer simply.
She nods. "What time do you need to be back there tonight? Is dad curfew a thing?"
I chuckle just as I bring the water bottle I'm still holding to my lips. "Dad curfew is indeed a thing. I'd like to be back before midnight. She's been waking up every night since Barney died."
She opens the bottle of water in her hand and takes a large sip. Her throat moves with the motion, her head tilting back slightly.
I want her like that on the bed. Naked and on her back, her head hung over the side with my cock in that mouth and her throat working to swallow every last drop I give to her.
"You're staring at my neck, Nolan. I don't have to ask what that's about."
She hands me the bottle of water. Her hands make quick work of the sash that holds her green wrap dress in place. It drops to the floor at her feet, revealing the creamy pale skin of her body, almost all of her body. She's wearing nothing but a black lace bra, matching panties and a pair of heeled sandals.
"Your body is beautiful," I say hoarsely, my voice caught somewhere between my cock and my throat.
"From what I've seen of your body, it's beautiful too but I want to see all of it." Her hands leap to the front of my dress shirt. She opens one button and then another before I reach up and still her. I hold her fingers to my chest.
"I didn't ask you here just so I could fuck you."
She looks up and into my eyes. There's a trace of innocence in her expression, but there's more. The promise of pleasure that's all-consuming is there. "You did ask me here so you could fuck me. I came because I want to fuck you. We're adults, Nolan."
"We are adults," I confer. "I like fucking you, but I also like talking to you. You're going to let me take you to dinner at my favorite restaurant. I want that soon, Ellie."
"I'd like that." She tugs her fingers from my hands, watching my face. "Tonight I'd like something else."
"What would you like?" I ask because I want to hear the words. I want to know that this breathtakingly beautiful woman wants the same thing I do.
"I want you. I just want you, Nolan."
The answer undoes me. It's not just my dick that reacts this time. There's more. It's inside of me. An ache to give her everything she wants and needs.
"Come here." I take her hand in mine, tugging her close before I crush my lips against hers.
Nolan
I kneel on the bed just as she requested after she slowly, so fucking slowly, undressed me. She insisted and who the hell was I to argue with her? She took her time, revealing every inch of my body as if it was a gift for her. Her smile widened when her fingers trailed over my abs. Her breath stalling as her hand gripped my cock and pumped it.
I almost pushed her to her knees just inside the door of the room, but that wasn't what she wanted.
She got on the bed after sliding off her panties and bra. I followed when she asked, and now as we face each other, I know what she wants. The slick of her tongue over her bottom lip gives it away. She wants my cock in her mouth. I want that too.
"This is the first time I've seen this," she whispers.
"A cock this big?" I palm my dick. It's big. I've had enough women tell me as much. I have nothing to judge by. I keep my eyes trained ahead whenever I take a piss in a public bathroom.
She smiles. "Your ego is as big as your cock."
"My ego isn't this big." I stroke the length of my shaft enjoying the way her eyes follow the path of my hand.
"I meant that I've never seen you completely nude until now." Her gaze jumps to my face. "We've been together twice before and you've kept your clothes on both times."
"I don't know how I managed that." I laugh. "I'd be naked all the time around you if it wouldn’t get me arrested."
"You should be naked all the time." She reaches forward to graze her fingers over my chest. Her touch is tentative, soft. "Your body is incredible for someone who eats cookies and donuts."
I like the teasing, both in her words and in touch. Her fingers crawl lower, slowly burning a path over my stomach. "Your body is perfect, Ellie."
I see the hesitation before she nods. "I like that you think so."
Every man she's ever been with should have told her how perfect she is, but they haven't. I've known that since the first time we were together and she tugged at the top of her dress after we'd fucked. She tried to cover herself, shield her body from my eyes after I'd come.
That's why I stripped her of her T-shirt and shorts in her apartment the other night and feathered kisses all over her bare skin. I want her to know that I covet her and that her body is worthy of worship, by me. I don't want another fucker near it.
"I've thought about how I'll suck your cock."
I groan. I fucking groan aloud when those words come out of her mouth. "Show me, Ellie."
She does. She leans forward on her hand and knees, her bare pussy and ass in the air as she takes the crown of my dick between her lips. She kisses it gently at first. Her lips surrounding it with a flick of her tongue over the tip. Then it deepens and the kiss becomes a suctioned slide. She hollows her cheeks, her mouth working on me as she purrs. Tiny echoes of pleasure that vibrate off my dick.
My hand knots in her hair as she glides me between those lips and across that wet tongue.
She moans around my dick, loudly. Not a sound that says she's enjoying the fisted hand in her hair, but a sound that screams that she loves having my cock in her mouth and the movement of my hips as I pump into her. I fuck that sweet, sinful mouth leisurely, easily.
She adjusts her knees and I wish to hell there was a mirror behind her. I want to see her. I want a view of that wet pussy that I'll lick as soon as I blow my load down her throat. Then I'll fuck her, hard and recklessly against the wall. I want it all. I want more.
"I could do this all night." Her breath races across my thigh as she licks the length of me, her tongue lashing against my sac. "You taste so good."
"Down your throat," I rasp. "I need to fuck your mouth."
"Yes," she hisses before she shifts again, her ass moving, taunting me.
I take control because the need is too strong. I use my hand to set the pace on the back of her head and I thrust and I thrust. Long, easy strokes give way to fast, frantic pumps until I come hard and intensely as she takes every last drop.
***
"You don't have to leave, Ellie." I kiss her forehead. Her hair is damp, her skin covered with a sheen of sweat. We've been at each other for hours, licking, sucking, touching and fucking. It's a miracle that I have the energy to stand straight.
I got dressed because I had to. I put my shoes on because I need to leave. I did it all while she drifted to sleep with her hands tucked next to her face, her nude body sprawled out on the bed. That image is a picture of her confidence in my words. She knows I hunger for her body, every angled curve and inch of her.
She squints at me with one eye. "Did you miss curfew?"
"I did," I admit. It's closing in on one in the morning. "I called the nanny. May's asleep, but I have to go so I can be there. She might wake up and need me."
She rolls onto her back, her breasts coming into view. Her arm moves to cover them. "I'll get dressed. I need to go home."
I trail my lips along her forearm before I push it down with my chin. I suck her right nipple into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it, bringing it back to a stiff point. "I want you to stay. I wish I could too, but you should. Sleep here. Spend the night."
"I can't." She rests her hand on the back of my head; her eyes open now looking into mine under heavy lids. "I can't stay here."
"You can," I insist as I rest my chin on her arm. "I brought some bottled water and fruit. That's in the refrigerator. I stocked the main bathroom with some Matiz shower products. There are towels there for you as well. I want you to stay and rest. You're exhausted. You can go home tomorrow."
Her hand slides to my cheek. "You're a good guy. I knew it when I first met you in Vegas."
I study her face. I see less of Kip each time I look at Ellie. I might have thought Ellie bore a resemblance to the little redhead I used to know because they share the same spirit. They're generous and kind, but Ellie has a light within her that Kip didn't possess.
"Sometimes you look at me and I can't figure out what's going on in your mind." She traces my brow with the pad of her thumb. "Tell me what it is. What are you thinking about when you look at me that way?"
I can't tell her. The questions that follow will have the expectation of a truthful answer attached to them. I won't lie to her. I never want to skim over the truth with Ellie. If I tell her about Kip I'll need to explain what happened the last night I saw her. I'll have to confess what I've done.
The way she touches me will change. Her eyes won't widen the way they do now whenever she looks at me. She won't crave me anymore.
I risk losing her if I answer that question, so I don't.
"I need to go, Ellie." I kiss her cheek. "I want you to give some thought to meeting May."
Her eyebrows draw together. "You want me to meet her? It seems soon, Nolan. Isn't it too soon?"
It is soon. A few weeks ago I couldn't imagine wanting my daughter to meet any of the women I've slept with, now the idea of the two of them not meeting feels wrong. "It's soon, but I know you'll like her and May is going to be crazy about you."
She likes that. It brings a smile to her mouth. "Are you worried about what will happen when we aren't seeing each other anymore? Isn't it hard to explain to a child when someone just drops out of their life?"
Her words slice into me. She's convinced herself that this is short term. She doesn't see the potential because the asshole she used to be involved with stole all sense of certainty away from her. He also took his son away from her. I have no grasp on the extent of her relationship with Jayce Darling but I sense that's where her hesitation about meeting May stems from. "I want my daughter to know you. Regardless of what happens between us in the future, I know it will benefit May to know such a strong woman."
She sighs, her body visibly relaxing. "Can I think about it? It doesn't have to be tomorrow or the next day, does it?"
"It can be whenever you like." I smooth my fingertips over her cheek. "I'll call you in a few hours. Be as late as you want to be for work tomorrow."
"I work for Crew, not you. I'll be on time. I've never been late for work a day in my life."