The Seduction (6 page)

This is it. Time to face the music.

“Wait up!” Justine comes skidding into the
elevator at the last second. She catches her breath as the doors
close. “You look nice.”

“I do?” I look down. I couldn’t sleep a wink
last night, tossing and turning with panic, so I had extra time
this morning to blow-dry my hair and pick out an outfit. I even did
my makeup too -- lingering in front of the mirror to delay the
inevitable. “Thanks.”

If I’m going to be fired and thrown out of
the offices, at least I’ll look good, marching out of the elevator
with my box full of office supplies.

The doors open. Justine steps out. I can’t
move.

“Coming?” She frowns.

I gulp, and slowly edge after her, my heart
pounding in my chest. The girl at reception gives us a bland nod. A
couple of lawyers pass us in the hall with a friendly smile.

I check around to be sure, but everything
seems normal. No glares. No whispers. No mob with flaming
pitch-forks. Maybe Vaughn didn’t report me. Maybe I’m safe---

“Fawes!”

Carter’s yell echoes through the office. My
blood runs cold. This is it. The end of my career. He comes
charging out of his office, and my heart stops. He’s going to do it
right here, in front of everyone.

Oh God.

I brace myself, shaking.

“Where’s the Montgomery file?” Carter
demands.

“I’m sorr--” I start to grovel my apology,
before realizing what he’s just said. “Wait, what?”

“The fucking file!” Carter yells. “I just
had them on the phone, and I couldn’t tell them one damn
thing.”

“It was on your desk,” I stammer, my mind
racing.

“Of course it was on my
desk!” Carter bellows. “You think I don’t know that? Where the fuck
is it
now
is the
question.”

Then I remember I had it with me when Vaughn
showed up. I must have taken it by mistake when I was
distracted.

“I’ll find it now.”

“You better,” Carter threatens. “Or I’ll
have you out on your ass faster than you can say--”

“Mr. Abrams.” His assistant, Erin, tugs on
his sleeve, looking terrified.

“What the fuck?” he demands.

“You have a client,” she whispers,
wide-eyed. “Here.”

Carter spins around. “Oh. I...” He falls
silent, and clears his throat. “I didn’t know you were there.”

“Clearly.”

Carter is blocking my view, but I’d know
that sexy voice anywhere.

Vaughn.

I freeze, blood rushing to my cheeks -- and
another, more private place.

Carter stands aside, still apologizing, but
Vaughn ignores him, meeting my gaze with an amused grin. “Miss
Fawes,” he says with a smirk. “So good to see you again.”

“You’ve met?” Carter looks back and forth
between us.

I panic, waiting for Vaughn to reveal the
truth, but instead, he answers smoothly.

“You were indisposed on Friday, so Miss
Fawes was kind enough to take the meeting,”

He winks.

I blink in shock. Does this mean he’s not
going to tell? Relief washes over me, but part of me stays alert.
Uneasy.

What else does he want with me?

“I’m sorry,” Carter is sneering. “She’s just
an assistant.”

“A paralegal,” Vaughn corrects him. “And she
was more than helpful. She guided me through the process to a very
satisfying conclusion. I was in very able hands.”

What is he playing at? My cheeks flush hot,
and I’m sure people can tell what he is alluding to. I can’t take
this anymore. Thank god Carter is so self-obsessed, he probably
didn’t notice.

“I have to get that Montgomery file,” I
mutter quickly, turning on my heel and fleeing down the hallway.
I’ve turned the corner, heading for the safety of my cubicle, when
I feel a hand grab my arm and I’m suddenly pulled into the privacy
of a small alcove.

I gasp, finding myself pressed up against
Vaughn’s muscular body for the third time in a week. “What are you
doing?” I yelp, as his hand slides up my thigh. “Stop that!”

“I didn’t hear any complaints last time.”
Vaughn leans closer, his breath hot against my throat.

I feel a twist of lust, but I fight it back
and shove him away. “That was a mistake,” I tell him, “It can’t
happen again.”

“I bet you a hundred bucks it will.” Vaughn
reaches out and pops my top button open, his finger grazing my
skin. I shiver. I should step away, redo my blouse—but something
stops me. “Have dinner with me, tonight,” he says. “I promise,
you’ll be too busy coming all over my tongue to care about losing
the bet.”

My stomach clenches. Dear God, but he’s sexy
when he talks like that. I have a sudden flashback to the bathroom:
his fingers inside me, his body grinding against mine.

“No.” I break free, pushing him away again.
“I won’t have dinner with you.”

“So we skip dinner.” Vaughn gives me a
wicked grin. “I’d prefer to eat you out any day.” He slowly licks
his lips.

Oh Lord. My legs go weak. If he can drive me
to heaven and back with just two fingers, imagine what he can do
with that tongue...

Get a grip, Keely!

“No,” I tell him again, putting every last
ounce of self-control in that one syllable. I look him straight in
the eye, so he can tell just how serious I am. “I’m not having
dinner with you, or anything else. What happened between us was a
lapse in judgment. I acted totally unprofessionally, and it won’t
happen again. Ever.”

Vaughn looks stunned. “You’re turning me
down?” he says slowly, like he can’t believe it.
“A-fucking-gain?”

“Goodbye.” I side-step out of his embrace
before I can change my mind. “They validate parking at the front
desk.”

And then, with the last thread of my dignity
still intact, I walk away.

TEN

VAUGHN

The client calls while I’m jacking off to
porn in my office.

“What the fuck am I paying you for?” he
yells on my voicemail. “It’s been a week already, and you still
haven’t sealed the deal! I’m running out of time!”

Tell me about it.

My hard-on wilts at the sound of his voice.
Fuck it. The porn wasn’t working any way. Even the top-shelf stuff
doesn’t get me off these days -- not with the memory of Keely’s
wet, hot pussy still fresh in my mind.

Her hand tight around my cock. Her body
shuddering under my touch.

“Dammit!” I yell, shoving everything off my
desk in a rage. I’ve never struck out like this before.

Maggie pokes her head around the door. “I’d
find this amusing, if you weren’t such a little bitch right now,”
she tells me, taking in the mess.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?” I
demand, zipping up my flies. “She said no. Twice! Even after I made
her come her brains out in the museum bathroom. Even after she got
a handful of my cock.”

That’s the part that gets me really fucking
pissed. Keely saw exactly what I had in store for her -- and she
still walked away.

What the hell am I doing wrong?

“I like this girl already,” Maggie says.
“She sounds like she’s got you all figured out.”

“Don’t I pay you to be helpful?” I grumble.
“So help.”

Maggie laughs, coming to help me clean up.
“Have you tried a little romance?”

I glare. “Romance is for pussies who can’t
get laid.”

“Well, right now I’m looking at one.” Maggie
smirks at me. “Jesus, don’t look so tragic. Buy the girl some
flowers. Woo her a little.”

“Woo?” I sneer.

“Yes, woo,” Maggie sighs. “Make her feel
like you don’t just want to bang her brains out and disappear. Like
she’s special. Unique. You can fake that, right?”

The phone out front starts ringing and she
disappears, leaving me to think about what she’s just said.

Special... The truth is, I
wouldn’t even be faking it. Keely
is
unique -- she’s the only woman to
turn me down flat in, well, I can’t even remember how long. Not
since my balls dropped and my sixth-grade baby-sitter gave me a
hands-on demonstration in ‘hunt the clit.’

And that way she looked at me when her hands
wrapped around my cock. I’ve never had someone challenge me like
that. As bold as her words were, when push came to shove, I never
expected her to be so game. Who knew Little Miss Library could be
so saucy?

So, fine, I decide, grabbing my phone again.
I can do romance. I can make like fucking Romeo if it means I get
to taste her delicious pussy again -- and this time, I won’t be
licking her juices off her fingers. No, I’m going to be buried
tongue-deep in her cunt working her clit until she’s begging for
mercy.

I find the number of the nearest florist and
place the call.

“Yeah, I’d like to make an order...”

ELEVEN

KEELY

“Who is this guy, Rockefeller?” Justine
surveys my desk with a smirk. “That’s like the fourth delivery this
week.”

“Fifth,” I answer with a sigh. My cubicle is
filled to the brim with roses, chocolates, and even a five-foot
stuffed teddy-bear. “He sent candy too. Godiva. You want some?”

“Uh, hell yes!”

Justine attacks the gold-wrapped box, biting
into a truffle with a moan. “What are you looking so blue about?”
She pauses, noticing my expression. “If I had a man showering me
with extravagant gifts, I’d be over the moon. Is he ugly?” she
adds, looking sympathetic. “Small? Like, Tiny Texan?” She wiggles
her pinky finger.

“No, definitely not.” I flashback to
Vaughn’s massive member and blush. “But he’s a client, I can’t date
him. It’s the rules.”

“Screw the rules.” Justine helps herself to
another chocolate. “Remember that super-fine lawyer on the Bulway
case last year? I screwed him in the stationary closet between
depositions.”

I gape. “But he was opposition counsel.”

“And I was
opposed
to letting his
fine ass walk out of here without sampling the goods.” Justine
snickers. “If this guy’s working so hard to get your attention,
what are you scared of?”

What
am
I scared of?

That’s the question I ask myself for the
hundredth time as I go hide in the stacks of the law library
upstairs. Saying he’s a client is only an excuse. Justine isn’t the
only one who breaks the rules -- everyone fraternizes with clients
around here. And it’s not like I’m dating anyone else.

No, I have no excuses to cling to anymore.
Vaughn is smart, edgy, and sexy as hell. Every time we meet, it’s
like a tug of war—a battle to see who will come out on top. I never
thought I’d like this kind of thing, but it’s so hot I can’t
imagine wanting anything else. And he’s already given me the most
thrilling, dirty sexual experience of my life.

I go to sleep at night wet and aching,
remembering the feel of his thick hardness in my hands, imagining
that my wandering fingers are his own -- searching for a release
that is nowhere near as earth-shattering as the one he’s given
me.

That’s the problem, the secret I can’t tell
Justine: it scares me, how quickly my body responds to him. How my
good sense goes flying out the window the moment he comes around.
I’ve never felt anything like it, and God, that terrifies me
somehow, knowing how much I want him. There’s a darkness to him
that I’ve never known before, a mystery I can’t help but want to
solve. This man has secrets, and I’m just longing to discover them
all. I’ve never felt this way before. And to be totally honest, I’m
scared. Scared to take that step over the ledge and let it all
go.

What would it be like to surrender
completely? Let him make good on all those filthy promises, show me
the pleasure I know he has in his grasp.

* * *

“You’re hiding from me.”

I close my eyes at the sound of his voice,
so sexy and rasping. I should have known he’d come find me. That he
wouldn’t give up the chase, not even for a minute.

“Other guys would take the hint.” I open my
eyes to find him leaning against a stack of law books, watching me
with amusement. There’s an annoyed edge in my voice, thank God; the
second he spoke, I felt a clench in my thighs but at least I still
sound like I’m keeping my cool.

“I’m not like other guys.” Vaughn strolls
closer. “But you already know that. Did you get my flowers?”

I nod. “And candy. And jewelry. What did you
do, clean out the Hallmark store?”

Vaughn grins. “I looked, but I couldn’t find
a card that says, ‘Congratulations on your hand job.’”

My pulse kicks. We’re alone in the library
stacks, and God, that look in his eyes makes my stomach curl in a
tight knot of anticipation.

“What do you want?” I whisper, knowing the
answer already.

“It’s not what I want,” he says
conversationally, starting to roll up the cuffs of his shirt. He
does one arm and then the other, his skin golden and dusted with
hair beneath the crisp cotton. “It’s what I’m going to do. I’m
going to eat you out, right here, right now.”

My legs go weak. I want to counter, to say
something quick, but all I can do is sink back against the
bookcase.

“I’m going to gorge on you, sweetheart.”
Vaughn leans in, his breath hot on my cheek, his eyes glittering,
dark and full of wicked promise. “I’m going to lick that pretty
little clit of yours until you want to scream. You’re going to be
begging for my cock by the time I’m through with you. But you won’t
make a sound, will you? Because somebody will hear. And we don’t
want anyone to know.”

Oh my God.

I’ve never heard a guy talk like this before
-- never felt so turned on. Before I can pull my brain back
together to respond, Vaughn sinks to his knees in front of me. I’m
wearing heels today, so his face is level with my crotch. He
reaches out, and deliberately pushes my skirt up my thighs. Higher,
higher, until it’s bunched around my waists and I’m totally exposed
to him, the silk of my panties already damp between my thighs.