Chapter Four
JORDAN
My day passed in a blur of sitting in on meetings, organizing Brad’s insane calendar for the next week, fielding calls, and having insanely dirty thoughts about my boss. Talking to him about sex had opened up a minefield of fantasies and desires that I’d been keeping at bay for longer than I cared to admit.
I was powerless to stop them now, however. Sure, he’d quite efficiently ventured back into professional territory, but I saw the way his eyes darkened while we were talking. I heard the faint rasp in his voice when he asked me if I was a virgin.
I knew what a man looked like when he wanted me, and Brad wanted me. The question was whether he was going to do anything about it, or whether I was going to have to keep pushing his buttons to get him there.
Awareness prickled my senses just as his familiar, masculine scent enveloped me. I spun around in my chair to find Brad towering over me. His jet-black suit hugged his muscular body like it had been made for him, which it probably had.
There was a smile on his face, allowing the dimples to come out to play. Damn, it was completely unfair when he did that. Even if I wanted to try, I wouldn’t be able to control my thoughts about him when he was looking at me like that.
“How was your first week?” he asked smoothly, like we hadn’t been talking about sex just hours ago.
I smiled up at him, pressing my legs together slightly to quell my growing arousal at his presence and the sound of his deep voice. “It was fine. Really fun, actually. Happy to be here.”
“Glad to hear it. Would you like to go out to dinner to celebrate?”
Wow, they really did celebrate everything around here, it seemed. But I liked the people that I worked with, and it was kind of Brad to want to take us out for another celebration. “Sure, I’d love to.”
“Great, let me just wrap up my last few things for the week, and I’ll meet you in the lobby in ten minutes,” he said. “You can drive over to the restaurant with me.”
“I’ll see you there,” I said.
I was already waiting in the lobby when Brad arrived exactly ten minutes later. He was alone, so I assumed we’d be meeting the others wherever it was that we were going.
Brad’s long strides covered the cavernous lobby quickly, and he was by my side within seconds, cocking his head slightly, his hands in his pockets with the thumbs resting outside of them. “You ready to go?”
I nodded, taking a moment to appreciate him. His dark hair was slightly messy after the day, falling over a smooth forehead and over of his piercing eyes. He looked so sure of himself, as he should, so confident and cool.
“Let’s go then.”
He offered me the crook of his arm, and I slipped a hand into it, following as he led me to his fancy car parked at the curb. A graying man stood at the rear passenger door, opening it wordlessly when we emerged from the building into the crisp, cool night. Brad stepped back when we reached the car. “After you.”
I slid inside, the soft leather smooth under my thighs as my skirt rode up a bit before I tugged it back down again as I settled into my seat. Brad stood in the door, his eyes rooted to the spot where I’d just flashed my bare thigh.
He gave a small shake of his head and followed me inside, buckling himself into the furthest seat from me. I craved the feeling of his hard body against mine, as it had been when he led me from the building, but I stayed on my side, resisting the urge to crawl over to him.
Brad angled his body ever so slightly away from mine, staring contemplatively out of the tinted window at his side as the driver eased us into the light traffic. He took a deep breath, then smiled as he turned to face me. “Have you ever been to Luini’s?”
My eyes popped wide open at his casual mention of the city’s hottest new restaurant. “No, it hasn’t even been open for as many months as it takes to get a reservation there.”
“Good, then I get to be your first.” He smirked.
Wait, was he… was that? I gaped at him. I needed clarification before I made a complete fool of myself. “To take me to Luini’s?”
“Of course,” he said with barely a hint of playfulness in his voice. “You’re going to love it. It’s quite the experience.
Food, Jordan. He’s talking about food. A business dinner.
“I’m sure I’ll love it,” I said. “Of course, only a man like you could get in there without having to wait.” I was proud of myself for having thought of a comeback that rivaled his double entendre.
Luini’s was too close by, and Brad’s driver was easing us into a parking spot outside before the conversation could continue. It was unfortunate, since I really enjoyed this flirty, playful side of Brad that I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting before.
He tucked me into his side once we exited the town car, keeping me closer than we should probably be seen together by our colleagues. But to my surprise, none of them were waiting for us when we stepped through the wide double doors that led into the restaurant.
Brad guided me to the hostess station, his palm resting at the base of my spine. “Woods, party of two.”
“Of course, sir. Right this way.” The hostess tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, motioning a waiter over to us. “Will you please show Mr. Woods and his guest to their table, Gustav?”
“Of course, follow me please,” Gustav said, leading us to a romantic table right at the very back of the darkened restaurant. The furnishings were all dark wood, with a red carpet beneath our feet and abstract paintings on the walls.
The new places usually went for the minimalist, modern feel, but this place oozed with old world charm. I wondered briefly whether Brad’s choice of restaurant was part of some kind of message.
When we reached our table, covered in a starched white table cloth, Brad pulled my chair out for me and waited for me to sit down to push it back in before he took his own seat.
He ordered without needing to look at the menu. “We’ll take a bottle of Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon and two of Antone’s Baked Zitis, please.”
“Excellent pairing, sir. Excuse me.” The waiter bowed and left us alone.
“You come here often?” I asked Brad, eyeing the ornate silver candlesticks that were artfully placed around a short bouquet of flowers in the center of the table. None of the decorations obscured eye contact, and they were clearly orchestrated to bathe diners in the glow of the candlelight while encouraging people to look right at each other.
I didn’t know why the idea of Brad bringing other women here for such a romantic date irritated me, but it did.
Brad shrugged. “I’ve been here, but not since it opened. Antone’s an old friend.”
Relief surged through my veins that he hadn’t brought other women here. I perked up instantly. “So, I’m your first then, too?”
He laughed, running a hand through his hair before meeting my eyes, a twinkle that I’d never seen before in his. “Far from it. I’ve been here countless times.”
“In preparation for the main event.”
He raised a dark eyebrow. “The main event?”
“Finally eating here,” I told him, just as the waiter approached our table with a bottle of wine. He held it up to Brad wordlessly, waiting for the nod before he uncorked it. He filled our glasses once he got the okay and disappeared again.
“I suppose so,” he answered, swirling the wine in his glass before he brought it to his lips and sipped it. I was transfixed by his lips, by the way he swept his tongue across them quickly when he raised the glass from them.
Knowing that I had to stop staring at him, I asked the first question that popped into my mind. “So, is it just us tonight?”
He didn’t look surprised by my question. “Yes, I thought your first week called for a private celebration. Is that okay with you?”
I nodded, swallowing back my next question. Is this a date?
“It’s perfect, actually,” I said instead. “It’s been a hectic week. I’m glad it’s just us.”
Brad nodded, satisfied by my answer, and took another sip of his wine. “Good. Tell me something that I don’t know about you, Jordan.”
Just like that, the best and most comfortable probably-not-a-date that I’d ever had was off. Brad was easy to talk to. He showed genuine interested in what I had to say and shared bits and pieces of himself in return.
By the time our delicious dinner was done and he led me back to the car, keeping me close to his side again, the crush I’d been harboring had morphed into something a hell of a lot more potent. I really, really liked him.
The driver from before was nowhere in sight. Brad opened the passenger door of the car for me. I turned to him, lifting an eyebrow in question.
Brad grinned. “I wanted to drive you home myself.”
“Oh.”
“Good oh, or bad oh?” he asked, watching me slide into the seat. I waited to answer until he’d shut the door behind me, rounded the car, and slid in behind the wheel.
“Good oh.” Excellent oh, actually.
Brad eased us out onto the road. He didn’t need directions to my house, and we were both quiet on the drive over, lost in our own thoughts. My desire for him seemed to fill the cab around me. The air in the car grew heavier and heavier, until it felt like there was electricity crackling between us.
Brad broke the silence when we pulled up to my house. “I’ll walk you inside.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
He kept his distance from me, but I could feel him following me up the steps to my tiny house. I turned to face him, wondering if I should offer him my hand to shake or a hug or what.
In one smooth move that surprised the hell out of me, Brad tugged me roughly toward his strong chest as soon as I turned and kissed me like I’d never been kissed before. That same electricity from the car crackled through my entire body as soon as his lips hit mine.
Desire flowed like a living thing between us, taking hold of every rational thought that I could no longer muster. But then Brad pulled away abruptly. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Good night, Jordan. I’ll see you on Monday.”
I grabbed his wrist when he started to turn away from me, and his eyes snapped to mine. No more than a second passed before he was on me again, kissing me like he couldn’t stay away. Without really breaking the kiss or taking our hands off of each other, I managed to unlock the door and lead him down my hallway to my bedroom, crashing into side tables and furniture as we kissed frantically.
It was only once my back hit my soft mattress that Brad’s frantic kisses turned gentle. Roaming and exploring as he dipped his tongue possessively into my mouth. He kept his body half off me, his hands skating across my sides and my stomach, but avoiding everywhere I desperately wanted him.
I moaned and arched my back, trying to press my breasts against his wandering hand on its next pass.
“If we’re going to do this, we should take it slow,” he whispered. “We don’t need to do anything tonight.”
I could feel him, hard as concrete against my thigh. He wanted me, too. As much as I wanted him. I was done waiting. “I want to.”
He brought his hand to face, stroking my cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I know you think that you do right now, but I don’t want to do anything you’re going to regret tomorrow.”
“I’m not going to regret anything except not doing this. I’ve wanted you since forever. In the back of my mind, I think it was always you I was waiting for.”
Brad groaned, screwing his eyes shut and grinding his jaw, his pulse beating in his neck. He was forcing himself to hold back, I realized. I needed to persuade him that I was sure about this, that I wanted him.
I gently extricated myself from our tangled limbs and stood up beside the bed. His eyes followed me hungrily.
Slowly, I began to unbutton my shirt. “Listen to me. There’s no one in this room with us. It’s just me and you. Brad and Jordan.”
His eyes grew wide when I shrugged out of my shirt, letting it to fall to the floor, revealing the lacy black bra that I was wearing underneath. “While we’re in here, I’m no one’s friend. You’re no one’s boss.”
I reached for the zipper on my skirt and tugged it down to pool at my feet. Standing before him in my matching underwear, his gaze dipped to my breasts, lingered, then dropped to where my thighs were encased by garters, roaming up to linger on my pussy before coming back up to my face.
By the time his eyes met mine, they weren’t Nicole’s dad’s or my boss’s anymore. They were burning hot and filled with raw lust. A man’s eyes.
Wetness pooled in my core under those eyes, and my clit began to throb dully. Never before had a man’s eyes alone gotten me this needy.
One last push. That was all he needed. I could sense it. My heart pounded, but I needed to do this, to see it through. I reached behind my back, unhooking my bra and letting it slide down my arms.
Brad sucked in a sharp breath, and I took that as my cue to move back to the bed. I raised a leg over his lap so that I was straddling him. “Age is just a number, Brad. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter, and I sure as hell don’t mind.”
To prove my point, I started moving my hips, moaning when I felt the swell of his cock beneath his slacks. “I’m a grown woman. I don’t need to be romanced or treated like I’m going to break. I’m a woman who knows what I want, and it’s you.”
Our eyes met, locked, then he grabbed my hips and rolled us over so that I was on my back. “You’re a bad girl, you know that?”
“Hopefully, I’m about to become badder.” Every last thread of self-consciousness was gone. All that I knew was that I needed him.
Brad peppered my jaw with kisses, moving down my neck and chest to suck a hard nipple into his mouth, groaning at the same time that I moaned. His hand moved to my lacy panties. “Much badder, baby. It’s a good thing my self-control is the stuff legends are made of. You’re hot enough to make a man come from just looking at you.”
“Oh god,” I whimpered. I’d never been spoken to like that, and it was like his words had a direct line to my sex. The dull throb became an ache, and I rocked against the hand that was cupping my mound.
“Relax, baby. I’ve got you. Trust me, okay?”
I nodded, nearly out my mind with need. I tried rolling my hips again, but his hand moved with me, denying me the friction I was seeking.
“You said your piece, now let me say mine. I’m going to give you what you want, but not until I’m sure that you’re ready. I don’t want to hurt you.” With that, he pressed down on my clit through the material of my panties.
“Brad, please.”
He licked a path between my breasts, all the way up to my mouth, and kissed me senseless. His hand finally dipped into my panties, his thumb circling my clit as one of his thick fingers slid into my pussy.
“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “You’re so tight. I can’t wait to feel you on my cock. But we’re going to have to work on relaxing you first.”
And what exquisite work it was. His hands reduced me to a shivering, moaning maniac. I bucked my hips against him, unable to contain myself any longer, but his strong hands kept me right where he wanted me. He kept going until I saw stars and fireworks behind my eyelids, feeling like I was about to fly if it wasn’t for his body anchoring me to the bed.
He stopped just before the pleasure overtook me, groaning against my mouth. “I think you’re ready, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I whimpered. “Please, I need you inside me. Right now.”
I’d never felt quite so empty before, like I needed him to complete me. Brad practically ripped the suit he was still wearing from his body, pulled a condom from his wallet, and rolled it on so fast that it was like he was competing for a medal. He stood in front of the bed, letting me admire him like I’d done for him earlier.
His body was in pristine condition, just as I’d suspected it would be. Brad was perfection. He still had hard ridges on his abdomen and narrow hips that tapered down to a thick, long erection that saluted me like it would never go down again.
I was practically panting for him by the time he crawled back onto the bed and positioned his cock at my entrance.
The broad head nudged me open, and Brad looked deeply into my eyes, muscles tight with restraint. “You’re sure about this?”
I nodded. “So sure.”
He let out a low growl and pressed his lips to my neck. His hard cock gently pushed harder at my seam, and he slid in slowly, watching my facial expressions closely.
“Fuck, so tight,” he breathed as he edged in, still moving slowly. Too slowly.
There was a tug, and then his head slipped in, followed by a burst of pain as he pushed against and broke my hymen. It wasn’t as painful as I had expected, though.
It stung a little, but the delicious fullness of having him inside me outweighed any pain or discomfort by far. I clung to him and ran my hands through his hair and down the ropes of muscle in his back.
When he was all the way in, he stopped to let me adjust to the feeling of having him inside me. His eyes were blazing with need, but he didn’t act on it, keeping still. “Are you okay, baby?”
“Fine,” I rasped, moving my hips against his.
He groaned, and as if his resolve broke, he finally started moving with sure, steady strokes slowly. But it was the most incredible feeling I’d ever felt. Pleasure filled my body, and all that existed in the universe was the feeling of him inside of me, his body on mine, breathing deeply and moaning into my ear.
Brad rocked into me with a perfect rhythm, and soon, I could feel the pressure building in my core. I trusted his promise that he would give me what I wanted, to release the knot he was stroking to a frenzy inside of me. His breathing was as ragged as mine, but he was still gentle, taking care not to hurt me.
He kept up his perfect pace, driving me higher and higher until, with one final thrust, my world was shattering into a million pieces as the knot released, and my first actual mind-blowing orgasm ripped through my body.
Brad kept going, stroking me through it with reassuring murmurs that I couldn’t quite make out. When I finally came to, he was staring at me with half-lidded eyes. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous when you come. I want to see it again. You okay?”
“Yes,” I breathed, because there was nothing in the world that I wanted more. He flipped us over so that I was on top, allowing me take control.
“Take what you want from me, baby.”
I could see how much it cost him to say that. His muscles were locked, and his forehead was dotted with sweat. I was suddenly desperate to make him feel as good as he’d make me feel, so I did what he told me to, ignoring the slight burn from the constant friction.
Anchoring my knees on either side of his hips, I started riding him in earnest, soon getting lost in the pleasure of all the new ways he was hitting me. The muscles in his thighs started to quiver, and his hands went to my hips, gripping hard as he started driving into me more forcefully. He was nearly there, and I was the one who’d done that to him. That knowledge drove me straight back to the edge with him.
Brad brought one his hands to my head and brought my lips to his, nipping at my bottom lip as his eyes roll backed and he started shaking, loudly moaning my name.
I felt his orgasm pour into me. His cock twitched deep inside of me, and it was the most exquisite thing that I’d ever felt, sending another powerful orgasm exploding through my body like a firework. Pleasure popped and sparked at every nerve ending, lighting me up from the inside out.
When we were both starting to breathe normally again, he pulled me into a long, deep kiss, then he fixed me with concerned eyes. “You okay, Jordan? I lost control a little there toward the end.”
I silenced him with a soft kiss. “I’m perfect.”
Brad grinned and gently rolled us over, separating us. He kissed me again. “I’m going to go take care of the condom, then I’ll come clean you up.”
He did both of those things before reaching for his briefs. Disappointment and fear crashed into me. “Where are you going?”
Concern shone clear in the deep pools of his forest greens. “I should probably go, just in case Nic shows up.”
She did that, actually. Often and unexpectedly. I nodded, though it didn’t do much to quell the disappointment that was still rising like a tide in my tummy. “That’s probably a good idea.”
He quickly dressed, then came to plant a tender kiss on my forehead. “I wish I could stay with you, baby.”
I smiled up at him, relieved to hear genuine regret that he couldn’t stay. “That’s okay, and I’m fine. Really.”
He grimaced, his eyes darting to the door like he was seriously considering just locking it, but then he sighed, kissed me again, and started walking toward it.
“Brad?”
He looked back at me over his shoulder, nearly at my bedroom door. His gaze met mine, locking with it. “Yeah?”
“I’m glad it was you,” I told him earnestly.
His lips curled into the most beautiful smile. “Me too, baby. Me too.”
Then he was gone, and I collapsed onto the bed, trying to make sense of what the hell had just happened. Knowing that I didn’t, and never would, regret it.