Chapter Ten
The darkness cloaking the building enhanced the deadly silences as Ryan strode down the hallway, senses pinging out for any sign of life. The solitude sunk into his awareness, honed by years of being the sole person working late in his office.
But this wasn’t his office.
And he wasn’t alone.
He stopped outside the boardroom, one he’d been in multiple times before, both for business and private reasons. He could still turn around, but then he’d prove nothing.
Brighton Wakeford wasn’t an issue.
He stepped into the room, stopped. Every sense zeroed in on the woman sitting in the chair at the end of the table.
Brie.
A red piece of cloth covered her eyes and trapped her hair beneath its ties. The skimpy cover provided by her lacy black lingerie was more enticing than concealing. The outline of her nipples begged him to seek them out. And that thin piece of cloth between her legs did little to hide the secrets beneath.
The dark ends of her hair curled around her shoulders in sharp contrast to the pale tone of her skin. Skin he knew to be soft as silk beneath his fingertips.
His breath caught, need bursting free to wipe out every thought of leaving. He was here to fuck her. To drive her from his thoughts and burn her from his mind.
She was just a Boardroom fuck.
Her breasts rose and fell with each slow breath she took, their fullness enhanced by the subtle uplift of the bra. Did she wear that under her office clothes? Had she been wearing it last week when she’d sat on the other side of his desk?
This morning when they’d passed in the hallway?
His stomach clenched with an image he didn’t need. Not when he was trying to banish every sinful one of them.
He dragged his gaze over the room, flicked his brow up at Jacob, who stood with his arms crossed in the far corner. The man lifted his chin toward Brie, a slow smile spreading.
There was just the three of them so far.
He shot Jacob a half-grin, anticipation switching to excitement. The moon was out, the fog nonexistent further down the peninsula. The glow lit the room just enough to shove back the dark. The office building rose above the surrounding area to provide a view of the bay and the long line of the San Mateo Bridge. Car lights glimmered white, yellow and red against the black of the water and night.
A lamp sat unlit on the credenza behind her. A part of him wanted to turn it on and tempt others to see. But it wasn’t his scene or call.
Jacob had organized it again. Another scene for his birthday-girl guest. Only it wasn’t her birthday this time.
Brie had asked to come back. The stunning, surprising Brie.
One night of excess could be excused by anyone. A second, deliberate return was completely different.
He could’ve—should’ve—ignored the post. But how could he miss this?
He dragged his gaze down to her spread legs, finally noting the loose pull of her arms behind the chair. Bound?
Fuck.
The knot in his stomach sunk lower to untangle in his groin. Was this a gift or a punishment?
Neither.
It was just a scene.
He stripped off his suit jacket and slung it over the back of a chair along with his tie. Her slow breaths quickened. Did she sense him? Had she guessed who he was?
Had Jacob told her who was coming?
He rolled his cuffs up as he approached her. Her head tilted back, lips parting when he stopped before her. The fabric over her eyes didn’t hide her beauty, yet his fingers itched to lift it off.
Blue. Her eyes were blue.
A basic blue.
And he could still picture them. Studying him. Confused. Shaken, maybe? Her own intuition taking hold? Their meeting had been totally professional, despite the overriding desire he’d had to bend her over his desk and hear her passionate cries as he drilled her from behind.
He ran a finger down her jaw in a single stroke of introduction. Her breath hitched, lips parting further.
“Brie,” he said, dragging her name out, voice deepened to mask his identity. He probably shouldn’t speak, yet he couldn’t hold that back. Not in this room.
The Boardroom was the one place he could truly speak freely.
“You,” she whispered, so much hope and relief layered into that single word.
His heart stopped, stomach dropping.
“You came back,” she finished.
For one moment he thought he’d been identified. But he hadn’t. At least not back to their office. To being her boss.
“I did.” She tilted her head back as he drew his hand around the side of her neck and traced his thumb down the line of her throat. “Why the bonds?”
Her lip curled in to be trapped by her teeth before she let it slip out. “Jacob did it,” she finally answered.
He slid his fingers down, skimmed them over that teasing little mole on the edge of her collarbone. The one that played a game of hide-and-seek depending on the blouse she wore. The one that reminded him of the passion she hid and the secrets they shared.
He continued down, tracing a line beneath her bra strap, teasing, yet savoring the soft heat of her skin. “Do you like it?”
“Maybe.” The word was mouthed more than spoken.
Her chest lifted beneath his touch, those dark areolas tempting him beneath the lace. “Any new rules?”
Jacob had listed her limits, which remained the same as last time, but he had to check. Things could change once a scene began.
She pushed her breasts up, back arching in invitation. “No.”
“Any desires?”
He ran his finger beneath her bra to rub it over her nipple. She sucked in a breath, held it. He started a slow back-and-forth over the soft nub as it started to harden. Her breath released on a soft sigh.
“You.” She winced. “Please.”
He bit back the curse that wanted to burst free. His heart pinched but he ignored the strange pain as heat whipped through him.
“I want you to fuck me,” she went on. “Please.”
His dick went from interested to hell yes in a breath. How could this be the calm, organized woman from his office?
He ran his finger up to trail a circle around the edge of her lips. The red stain was a few shades darker than the material covering her eyes and highlighted each lush curve. They parted again, her tongue playing on the inner edge.
The slight change in her request wasn’t a mistake. She didn’t make those.
“Should I fuck you from behind?” he asked, teasing her bottom lip. The image of her bent over his desk hadn’t faded in the days since their meeting. “Over the table?” Where he could control the pace, the depth, the entire experience.
Her breaths deepened, a low rumble filtering out. “Yes. That.”
Sheer will held back the predatory growl in his chest, his dick flooding with desire. Did she know what she was doing to him? How crazy just the thought made him?
He cupped her chin, lifted it higher. She gulped, swallowed. A shiver shook her upper body, but she didn’t object.
Power surged up to nip at the drive that’d dug him out of an abusive childhood. He owned this scene and by extension her—for tonight.
“What if you don’t like something?” he challenged, his hand drifting down to encircle her throat. He was testing her in a rather dickish way. Yet he loved the rapid thump of her pulse beneath his thumb, the excitement racing over his skin.
Her throat bobbed beneath his palm, her jaw flexing. “I say stop.”
The firm beat of her words sent a jolt of pride humming through his chest. She wouldn’t be pushed around—unless she wanted to be.
He dipped, inhaled. Right there, near her ear. That elusive fresh-yet-naughty scent wove into him, triggering the hard flutter of want eager to break free.
He straightened, glanced over his shoulder. Jacob remained in the same position, a satisfied smile on his face. He caught a movement from the corner of his eye and shifted enough to see another man in the opposite corner. Trevor James. The Boardroom founder and overseer.
When had he snuck in? Why was he here? He hadn’t been on the scene list earlier today.
Trevor lifted his chin and motioned for Ryan to continue.
The quick bite of tension eased. Apparently, the two of them were going to be center stage tonight. It was a prospect he usually avoided, but tonight, with her, the rightness hummed through him.
And he didn’t have the willpower to question it.