Authors: Faye Avalon
No finesse, he thought dazedly, just lust. Pure lust. Pure desire. He’d
been reduced to one pulsing mass of need.
Wanting to make her pay for that, he drove his tongue so deep inside her
that she cried out. He used his thumb to find her clit, and began working her
until she writhed on the bed, her hands flaying out as she searched for
purchase.
Her muscles contracted. She came. Hard and fast.
While his heart continued to pound along with his cock, Reed withdrew
his mouth. She looked at him through half closed lids, her breasts rising and
falling as she grabbed for air.
When her tongue slipped out to wet her bottom lip, Reed felt his cock
jerk. He needed to be inside her. Now.
He stood, watching her as he stripped off his clothes. All the while,
her sultry gaze tracked his movements. She stretched sinuously and gave a
little purring sound as he stood naked above her.
Grabbing a condom from the drawer of his bedside cabinet, he sheathed
himself, then moved onto the bed. He pushed up her knees again and knelt
between her silky thighs.
He shoved his hands beneath her ass, hoisted up her hips, and drove
himself inside her. His cock, surrounded by all that pussy heat, pulsed and
hammered into her. Fast, he thought dazedly. Too bloody fast. But he couldn’t
stop the momentum as he pounded into her.
She cried out, her hands grabbing
his arms, her feet sliding against his hips as she was forced upwards with the power
of his thrusts.
Her feminine muscles gripped him, and when she moaned his name, he came
so violently his whole body shuddered with a need he couldn’t control. He was a
madman, he thought as he emptied himself. A fucking madman.
He fought to gather his senses as he collapsed against her. Beneath him,
Lissa lay trembling. Her eyes were closed, her breath coming in short uneven
gasps. Shit. Hadn’t he planned to take things slow? Show her he was a
reasonable man? Instead he’d pounded into her like there was no tomorrow.
He only hoped he hadn’t ruined everything. That she’d still be open to
his suggestion. His plan. He guessed there was only one way to find out.
Chapter Five
For long moments, Lissa couldn’t move. Her lungs squeezed as she tried
to grab much needed air, her heart pounded against her ribs. Reed lay on top of
her, his own breathing as erratic and choppy as hers. She tried to focus, to
bring her thoughts back into some semblance of order, but her body had other
ideas and since Reed was still inside her, she couldn’t seem to concentrate on
anything other than how amazing it had been, how amazing
he
had been.
She’d never felt so thoroughly used, so deliciously wanton... In fact,
the last time she’d come close to feeling this satiated, it had taken two men
to do it.
Hell.
She drew in a much needed breath, but instead of calming her it pulled
in the scent of Reed…and sex.
It was hard to berate herself when what they’d shared made her feel so
good. She didn’t want to question her sanity, or remind herself of the promise
that she wouldn’t get involved with him.
Her mental deliberations must have transferred to her muscles because
Reed groaned into her neck. “Give me a minute. Right now I can’t move.”
His words broke the spell, allowing reality to creep back in and along
with it all her old fears and concerns. She dropped her arms away from where
they’d been tight around his back.
Not only had she thrown caution to the wind again in favor of fabulous
sex, but she’d told him about her personal life, about her lack of business
acumen. He probably thought her an incompetent idiot whose only credentials
became apparent when she was on her back with her legs wide open.
Since Reed still hadn’t moved and his breathing wasn’t yet under
control, Lissa wondered if there wasn’t some truth in that. She knew she could
satisfy men. Hadn’t Ethan and Marco told her she’d been the best fuck they’d
had in a long time? Seeing as she was getting dressed at the time, as were
they, it might simply have been that they were playing nice with her. Even so,
she knew she wasn’t too shabby between the sheets. What did it say about her
that sex was the only area in her life where she could feel confident in her
abilities?
Before she could ponder that depressing thought, Reed shifted. On
another groan, he drew out of her and she felt his absence as cool air washed
over her body. The heat of their passion now mingled with the chilly air and
caused goose bumps to tremble along her flesh.
No sooner had he rolled onto his back, than Lissa began to pull the
duvet out from beneath her.
“Cold?” he asked as he turned his head to face her.
“A little.”
Shifting, he tugged at the duvet so he could drape it over her. She
wasn’t that surprised when he dropped onto his back again instead of pulling
her close. She already knew she’d screwed up with the whole
business and pleasure
mix, so his cool
attitude didn’t really disappoint her. What more could she expect? They’d
barely met and here she was enjoying sex with the man, despite her resolve not
to give in. Less than an hour before, she’d told him quite categorically that
sex was off the table.
How would he see her now? As someone who wasn’t as good as their word?
How would that figure in his decision to offer her company the contract for his
work? If he changed his mind, she could probably kiss goodbye any extension of
her temporary employment. She’d been hoping that Reed’s contract would give her
those much needed brownie points with her boss. What if she’d now ruined
everything?
She spared him a glance and noted he had his eyes closed, his head
resting back on his folded arm. His lack of communication fed into her fears.
“You’re not exactly excessive in the after-sex conversation stakes, are you?”
“Hard to form a coherent sentence right now,” he said without opening
his eyes. “You fucked me good and proper.”
“I suppose that’s pretty coherent.” She lowered her voice to a mumble.
“And I think I’m probably the one who’s been fucked good and proper.”
“You do that thing,” he said, opening his eyes and aiming his slumberous
and sexy blue gaze at her. “Use your muscles to pump me so fucking hard I
thought you’d blow my head off.”
“Pilates. It teaches good control of the pelvic muscles.”
He grinned. “If you can screw me like that because of a few exercises,
I’ll throw in a subscription.”
“Subscription to what?”
He hiked himself up onto one elbow and looked down at her. “There’s
something I need to run past you. A proposition if you like.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I keep doing Pilates and you’ll give me
the contract for the development?”
“Not exactly.” He reached out and ran a finger over her breast. “And
you’ve already got the contract.”
A heady relief filtered through her, which had nothing to do with the
very pleasurable way his thumb stroked her nipple. “You haven’t had Tom’s quote
yet.”
“I’ll pay what he asks, on one condition.”
“Which is?” She already feared what it was. Her. Sex.
“That I get you as the main photographer.”
This time she didn’t feel relief, just shock. “He won’t agree to that.
Yours will be too prestigious a contract for him to send me.”
“Then there’s no deal.”
She frowned. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Being so nice to me. You don’t have to. We’ve had sex.”
“Always so suspicious.” He squeezed her nipple between his forefinger
and thumb. “Why can’t I just be nice to you, without you thinking there’s an
ulterior motive?”
“Because there always is. You said you had a proposition for me. That’s
an ulterior motive.”
He gave a slow nod. “Fair enough.”
“Why don’t you stop doing that for a minute,” she said as his fingers
continued their busy work. “And spill.”
“You don’t like it?”
“I didn’t say that. But it’s…distracting.”
“Maybe I like you distracted.”
“If you’re going to talk propositions, I’m going to need my wits about
me.”
He looked at her for long moments, as if considering something, then
moved away and got off the bed. “I need a drink.”
So did she. She scrambled off the bed and grabbed her panties.
At the door, he turned. “I didn’t tell you to get dressed. In fact, I didn’t
tell you to get out of bed.”
She glared at him. “What makes you think you’re in a position to
tell
me anything?”
“My house. My bed. My rules. But seeing I’m a reasonable man, I’m
willing to compromise.” He grinned as he tossed her his discarded shirt. “Just
this once.”
She held the shirt to her body as he shrugged into a pair of jeans. He
didn’t zip them and it elevated her lust levels again. He was all lean, solid
muscle. His chest, with just a smattering of dark hair arrowing down below that
zipper, made her mouth water. Not to mention wide shoulders that morphed into
hard biceps. Big hands capable of destroying a woman, as she’d found to her
intense pleasure.
With another drop dead gorgeous grin, he walked out of the bedroom,
while Lissa continued to clutch his shirt. With a deep breath, she shrugged
into it.
It smelled of him, as she imagined she did right then. Why did that make
her smile?
She buttoned the shirt, deliberately leaving the top three undone to
give him a healthy glimpse of cleavage. No reason she should be the only one
unsettled.
In the living room, Reed stood pouring brandy into two fat crystal
glasses. “I’m driving,” Lissa told him as he offered her one. “So are you,
assuming you’re giving me a lift back to the parking lot.”
“I’m hoping you’ll stay. I’ve got plans.”
With her hands at her side, Lissa dropped her gaze to the glass then
lifted it back to him. Her mind took a quick flight of fancy imagining what
those plans might include, but she made herself focus. “I haven’t heard your
proposition yet.” She held his gaze. “I might run a mile.”
“I doubt you’d run from anything.” He reached down for her hand and
pushed the glass into it. From the gleam in his eyes, it was obvious they were
thinking along the same lines. “But while we’re on the subject, are you into
bondage?”
Lissa’s fingers tightened around the glass. “Is that your proposition?”
His lips twitched. “It’s in there somewhere.” He kept his eyes on hers
as he raised his glass to his mouth. “Are you going to run?”
She pursed her lips, as her hormones pumped wildly. “No.”
Eyes gleaming, he sipped his brandy. Lissa took a fortifying swig of
hers.
There was an uneasy silence, but then Reed took in a breath. “I have
this problem, and I’m thinking since you also have a problem we could join
forces and solve them both.”
So far so good
, Lissa thought, even as panic
fluttered in her stomach. She watched him walk to the window and look out
toward the sea beyond. Tension had moved into his shoulders and he’d slipped
his free hand into the pocket of his jeans. Okay. She was starting to get a
funny feeling about this, starting to wonder what the proposition involved that
would make him so edgy.
She didn’t have to wait long to find out.
“What would you say if I agreed to pay off your debts and help you start
up again on your own?”
I’d say I’d died and gone to heaven
.
The thought of having her debts cleared made her heart leap, but Lissa
remained circumspect. “Now why on earth would you do that?”
He took another swig from his glass before turning to face her. “My part
of the bargain.”
Since she knew she’d need it, she imbibed a healthy nip of her own
brandy. “You’re starting to scare me.”
“Nothing to be scared about, princess.” He put down his glass and
slipped both hands into his pockets. “I just want you to marry me.”
Chapter Six
Lissa gaped at Reed. If he hadn’t said it so clearly, she might have
questioned if she’d heard him right.
“Are you completely out of your mind?”
“Quite possibly. But I don’t exactly have a whole lot of options to
choose from right now.”
Since he looked deadly serious, and much like a man about to feel the
rope of a hangman’s noose, Lissa stepped to the side and placed her glass down
before she dropped the undoubtedly expensive crystal. “Are you actually expecting
me to believe this is anything but some kind of ludicrous joke?”
He scoffed. “Don’t think I haven’t thought the same, but like I said, my
options are limited.”