Everything. Despite the joyful uproar that came with such a lively person as Tamara, she was somehow the peace he’d been looking for all his life.
“What did you think?” Tamara leaned forward, grabbed the remote off the coffee table, and shut the television off.
“I thought it was…”
Think
. Russell didn’t catch enough of the show to form much of an opinion. “All right. His surliness reminded me of someone.”
“Charlotte, right?” she said, completely missing his point. “I tell that girl she needs to watch that.”
“I wasn’t talking about Charlotte.”
“Oh really. Then who?”
“Some girl I know. Funny, her name escapes me at the moment.”
“Let me see what I can do to change that.”
Tamara sat up and slung her leg over his lap, until she was straddling him, and placed her hands on his shoulders. Tilting her head, she pressed her lips to his in a soft, exploratory kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding on for a few minutes and letting her take the lead. Two seconds later, when that grew old and his caveman grunted, he took over the kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth.
He held tightly to her waist, anchoring her to him, in the only way he knew how. Tamara was a sexy handful, in spirit as well as in shape, and he loved it. Every succulent inch of her. The longer he kissed her, the harder it was to remember what his grand plan was, especially when she cuddled into him like a cat in heat.
Hungry for more, he pulled at the bottom of her shirt, tugging it from her jeans so he could press his hands against her back. The need to feel her warm flesh under his was a desire that could not be denied or suppressed for long. His fingers, apparently under a will of their own, began to slowly make their way up her back to her bra. Reason slammed quickly back upon him, though, the second he made contact with the strap, and Russell forced his cock to calm down and his fingers to withdraw.
Tamara on the other hand took his retreat as a pause. Breaking their kiss, she pulled away and peered down at him through lowered lids. “Want to go play doctor?”
Did he ever? Russell leaned forward and brushed his lips gently across hers, then uttered the hardest words in the world. “No. I’m going to head home.”
“Home.” Tamara snapped her eyes open and pulled back. “What do you mean home?”
“I mean that cold, little, lonely place I pay an obscene amount of money for.”
“Then stay. I promise you, you’ll be neither lonely”—she undulated her hips, rubbing her sex against his rapidly increasing erection—“nor cold.”
“Yes, but if I stay…” As he wanted to. “You won’t get the chance to miss me.” Russell lifted her and sat her back on the couch. He stood before he could change his mind and carried her to the bedroom as they both desired.
Of course, his little fireball wasn’t going to be put off that easily. Pouting, in the prettiest of ways, she crossed her arms over her chest and sat back on the couch in a funk. “What makes you think I’m going to miss you?”
“Because I’ll miss you.”
His answer seemed to set her back a bit, but as usual, Tamara didn’t stay down long. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”
Russell didn’t, either, but he was going to stay strong and prove to her he was more than just her fuck buddy.
Chapter Ten
If it was possible to die of sexual frustration, then Tamara was hours away from being a goner. Going without sex wasn’t a novelty to her. She’d had her share of dateless moments when she’d become more familiar with her own pussy than a blind person with Braille, but never had she ever had a man and
not
gotten laid.
Never, ever
. And that was just mind-numbing.
She knew for a fact it wasn’t because of a lack of opportunity. Over the last couple of weeks they’d seen one another almost every night, and if they weren’t able to get together, they were talking on the phone.
Despite her best attempts or words otherwise, whatever they had was turning into a relationship right before her eyes. Unfortunately, it just happened to be a relationship that didn’t include sex. Which was ten times worse than being in a relationship in general.
Tamara’s fight or flight sensors were buzzing off the hook. Part of her wanted to push Russell away so she didn’t have to worry about falling for him too hard. The other part wanted to beat a bitch down for even looking his way when the two of them were out together. The warring emotions weren’t helped at all by the buildup of sexual desires, because even though Russell wasn’t giving her any, he still went out of his way to make sure her knees were weak and her panties were damp on a constant basis.
It just wasn’t fair. In fact, it was so far from fair, it was borderline cruel. Enough was enough already. Despite the slow start she had, Tamara was getting the hint. Russell wanted to be more than a bed warmer.
Fine.
Good.
Now it was time to make with the loving already.
With her resolve in place, Tamara glanced once more at the secretary guarding Russell’s door like a well-trained watchdog. In the last hour she’d been sitting there, Tamara had yet to see the woman let anyone past her desk. In a polite, even tone she’d informed Tamara that since she hadn’t had an appointment, she wasn’t going to be able to get to see Russell, but she was welcome to wait. Well, she was waiting all right; she just wasn’t so sure how welcome she might be.
Tamara turned as she heard a large group entering the office. Russell was surrounded by a bunch of people, all seeming to hang on his every word. He was handing out tasks and giving orders like a general. She wondered for a moment how he could give up such a powerful position for a run-down ranch. But then she noticed the lines around his eyes and mouth and knew in an instant that this wasn’t exciting to him, it was tedious.
She took in all this in a matter of moments. But her stare must have caught his attention.
Russell paused in midstep when he saw her, and smiled. “Hey, you.”
“Hey.” Nervous, Tamara stood and smoothed the lines out of her simple black skirt. She’d come over straight from work and was now beginning to second-guess that decision. To add fuel to the fire, she wasn’t exactly sure what his reaction would be to her just showing up with no warning. “Sorry for dropping in out of the blue.”
“Don’t be silly. You’re always welcome.” To her surprise, and from the low chattering echoing through the room, everyone else’s as well, Russell walked over and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “Give me one second.”
That answered that. Welcome it was. Licking her lips, she nodded mutely as he walked over to the secretary and handed her a file. They spoke in lowered voices for a minute or two while Tamara stood still and tried her best to bite back the words on her lips.
The weight of the stares from the people in the room was heavy as hell. Even though it went against every belief she held strongly, she was going to bite her tongue and not bark “boo” at the people staring at her. They were acting like they never saw a fine white man with a thick black sister before.
Damn
.
Before she could get too worked up, Russell sent the rest of the group on their way, and with a hand on her lower back, he ushered her into his office, shutting the door behind them. Tamara quickly glanced around the room. She barely registered the large space, only noting it looked professional and comfortable all at the same time. Her attention, however, was solely on him.
“You look tired.”
“I feel tired.” Russell began to unknot his tie, unwittingly drawing her gaze to his long fingers as he pulled the silk through the loop.
Damn
. Tamara knew her frustration levels had hit new highs when she was staring hungrily at his hands. “It’s been a very long day.”
Tamara clenched her hands together in an attempt to stop herself from reaching out and taking the tie from his fingers and stripping the shirt from him. She wanted to run her hands over his bare chest and down to his stomach, delving even lower. Shaking her head to dispel the images she’d evoked, she leaned against one of the chairs in what she hoped was a provocative pose.
“You want to talk about it?”
Her offer brought a smile to his lips. “Actually I’d prefer to forget about it. Friday can’t come soon enough for me.”
“Living for the weekend?” Tamara asked, as she eased down into the brown leather seat to the right of him. With his work schedule and her getting ready for her show, they hadn’t been able to make any trips out to Charlotte’s lately. It was a blessing as far as Tamara was concerned. She couldn’t even began to imagine what torture it would have been to sleep beside him night after night and still have him holding out on her. Lord knew it was bad enough as it was.
“And any other time when I get to see you.”
“Which is almost every night.”
“Complaining?”
“Merely commenting.” She only had one complaint when it came to Russell, and it had nothing to do with how often they were seeing each other. More to do with how they were spending their time together. “I think you’re working too hard.”
Russell bent forward and picked up her hand from her lap and gently kissed her fingertips. “Says the woman whose fingers are now permanently pruned. I could barely get you out of your darkroom last night.”
That wasn’t exactly how Tamara remembered it. If memory served, he was quite skilled at turning her attention from her work to him, as he carried her from the former closet turned darkroom into her bedroom and proceeded to kiss her senseless. First her lips, then her breasts, then between her thighs in the sexiest of fashions. She came twice, but neither time was he buried inside her. Nor did he allow her the same luxury of returning the favor. Russell had simply held her for a few minutes, then whispered he had to go.
Just thinking about last night was getting her hot and bothered again. Stifling a moan, Tamara pulled her hand back and jumped right to the heart of the matter. “I think I know what will make you feel better.”
“What?”
“Sex.” Tamara crossed her legs, edging her skirt up a bit to show off a little thigh.
Russell’s chuckle made her womb clench. “You think so?”
“I know so.”
“I’m not so sure,” he hedged. Leaning back against the desk, he crossed his arms over his chest. “But I’ll think on it.”
“Think!” Tamara couldn’t believe her ears. Here she was damn near propositioning him, and he was acting if she asked him if he wanted wine or beer. Fuck him! She wasn’t this horny. Well, she was, but she had a vibrator she was about to bend in two. “Never mind. I have to go.”
Rising to her feet, she turned on her heels, hell-bent on marching out, but was stopped cold by Russell, who pulled her back flush against him. “Damn, you’re cute when you’re feisty.”
“I’m not feisty. I’m horny,” she blurted out, sick to death of this game he was playing.
“I’m sure there’s something I can do about that.” Russell turned them around until she was facing his desk and bent her down until her breasts were resting against the hard wooden surface. Stepping forward, he nudged his thick erection against her upturned bottom. “I’m getting the feeling you miss my cock.”
“Do not.” Tamara couldn’t stop her hips from pressing back, forcing his cock harder against her, nor could she stop the tremor in her voice as she lied.
“Little liar. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you prancing around me the last few days in little to nothing. Showing me that sexy body of yours.”
Tamara pressed her hands against the desktop to brace herself. “Can’t be too sexy. You’re not doing anything with it.”
“I wouldn’t call last night nothing,” he reminded her as he began to slowly push her skirt up.
The prolonged anticipation of what she hoped was to come made her body tremble with passion. This strong, all-consuming need she had for him was unbearable at best, and she’d be damned if he didn’t know it. “It wasn’t sex.”
“Everything isn’t always about sex,” he whispered close to her ear.
“I know, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want it.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind you want sex. The only question is, is that all you want?”
Tamara was tired of this. What did he want from her? “If I say yes…” She left the words hanging in the air between them, waiting to see what he would say.
“Then we’ll fuck, and you can go on your way, and I’ll go on mine. And whenever one of us gets an itch, we’ll scratch it with one another or maybe someone else.”
Despite her protest of not wanting a relationship, she couldn’t help but feel revulsion for what he was suggesting. Just the idea of him with another woman was enough to make her see red. “I don’t think so.” Her words were clipped and her frown fierce as she glared over her shoulder at him.
In the face of her anger, Russell merely grinned.”The idea of me fucking someone else doesn’t sit well with you.”
“What do you think?”
Russell grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up a bit, then drew her arms straight back before lowering her gently to the desk once more.”I think you need a reminder of just what it is you want.”
“What’s that?” If she didn’t know, how in the world could he?
“Me.” Before Tamara could utter another word, Russell brought her wrists together and looped his tie around them, pulling it tight as he bound her hands behind her back.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Giving you exactly what you’ve been begging for.”
Good. It was about damned time
.
Amusement warred with arousal inside Russell. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind, holding back from Tamara had been a good thing. Unfortunately, it had also been very painful as well, especially after last night. His cock was in a permanent semihard state. Ready to perform after the abstinence at the drop of a…well, drop of a zipper. It had taken everything out of him to keep his end goal in mind.
Yes, he could have fucked her numerous times. And yes, it would have been great, but it wouldn’t have gotten him any closer to her than he had been when they’d met a month ago. Now he could honestly say he knew what she was like in and out of the bedroom, and he liked them both just fine.
“I might have been a bit remiss in my thinking.” The sight of her full, rounded ass, framed by the sexy, cream-colored boy shorts, had his cock aching to delve deep into the warmth of her body. “I can’t believe I was out of this”—Russell rubbed his hand against her bared flesh—“for so long. Part your legs a bit, baby.”
He watched patiently as she did as he bade, before reaching out gently and taking hold of the edges of her underwear. He drew them over the curve of her buttocks and down the length of her long legs, before allowing them to pool on the floor at her foot. “Step out.”
His two-word sentence garnished him quick results, leaving Tamara looking sexy as all get-out, in thigh-high stockings, with her skirt resting around her waist. Stepping back a bit, he feasted his eyes on the treasure he’d uncovered. Lord, was she beautiful like this, tied up and tempting. The heady aroma of her arousal teased his senses as no other had before. Russell wanted to drop to his knees and devour her whole, but something told him that today was a “strickly dickly” day.
It was more than obvious Tamara was way past foreplay. A sentiment he could definitely relate to. She wasn’t the only person on edge from their lack of intercourse. She was just the first to break. Speaking of breaks, Russell’s gaze drifted to his closed, yet unlocked door. He needed to take one before they got too wrapped up in their afternoon delight. “Perfect. Now stay still. I’ll be back.”
“Back?” Tamara raised her head up and made to move, but Russell put a stop to that real quick. Flattening his hand on her back, he held her in place. “What did I just say?”
“Stay still.”
He fired off a single, sharp smack to her bare flesh. The noise echoed and resonated throughout the room, along with the sound of her surprised gasp. The palm of his hand stung. “Then that’s what I mean.”
“But…where are you going?”
“To handle something. Now don’t move again, or I’ll make that last smack seem like a love tap.”
“Bastard.”
Despite cursing, she didn’t move an inch, a fact that wasn’t lost on Russell. So his brat could mind. Damn. He’d been really looking forward to teaching her a lesson. With a quickness in his step, he made his way back over to his office door and locked it. Russell didn’t want anything to interrupt them. This would be the first time he’d had an office rendezvous, so he wanted to make sure he did it right. If he was lucky, the memory of the two of them together in here would last him until his dying day.
As he walked back to the desk, he unbuckled and unbuttoned his pants, leaving the zipper in place for now. He stopped directly behind her once more and licked his lips as he looked her over. “Decisions. Decisions.”
“What’s there to decide? Stick it in and fuck me.”
“Stick it in, huh?” Pulling her up, Russell spun her around, then picked her up to sit her on the edge of his desk. “You’re such a romantic, baby.”
“You want romance, fuck a Hallmark card.”
Russell winced. “No, that might hurt.”
“You are such a tease.” Tamara’s frustration was more than evident in her blazing gaze. “When I get free, I’m going to make you pay.”
Instead of feeling threatened, as he imagined she was intending, he felt turned on. Tamara mad, naked, and aroused. It could be fun as was most things with her. “I like you like this.”