CHAPTER SIX
I swallowed as Carlie Sims looked over my ideas. She hadn't spoken in nearly twenty minutes, and my throat felt like it was on fire. I focused on keeping my hands still in my lap. I was so nervous, and Carlie's intensity did nothing to soothe me. She wasn't what I'd expected. Her sweet almond eyes and soft features were wildly misleading, giving an almost innocent mask to an aggressively odd and weirdly sexual woman beneath. Upon being introduced to her, she'd spent the first ten minutes eyeing Arieon and me, licking her lips as she escorted us into her office. I'd almost expected her to ask us to spin so she could get a good look. By the time she'd asked for my spreadsheets, my palms were sweating and my nerves had gotten the better of me.
Now, she looked over them with a pensive eye, her lips in a straight line and her thick eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She stroked a polka dotted kitten who purred appreciatively on the corner of her desk.
She was definitely eccentric. I'd dealt with a lot of strange, creative types during my time with Elion but Carlie Sims was certainly the strangest. Her office was a myriad of colors and photos of naked breasts and erect penises. The tall, wide windows let in enough light that I had to squint to look up at her as she sat at her very throne-like desk.
She looked up from my proposal and I nearly gasped as she met my eyes. I pushed down nervous jitters and reached for the glass of cucumber water some nervous assistant had brought me. I brought the glass to my lips, hoping the cool water would ease the burning in my throat.
"Are you two fucking?" Carlie asked waving an inquisitive finger from myself to Arieon.
I coughed as I spit water back into my cup, my nose burning as it traveled through my nasal passage, burning my eyes.
"No, we're not."
They were the first words Arieon had spoken and I made a note to thank him for fielding that particular question. There was no way I could have answered without sounding guilty.
Carlie frowned. "That's too bad. My gut says you should be. And my gut is never wrong."
Yep, she was definitely the strangest client I'd ever encountered. I cleared my throat. "I was wondering what your thoughts were on the proposal to reformat your hiring process. There were some tricky loopholes in your previous wording that I thought—"
"You know what I find most interesting about the two of you?" Carlie cut me off. It was as if I'd said nothing. She was a dog with a bone and she wasn't letting go.
I shook my head and gave one last attempt to actually talking business. "That we're a strong company able to fulfill your needs?" I asked optimistically.
Carlie smiled but kept pushing. "That you're the boss," she pointed to Arieon. "And yet, you seem to be doing all of the talking." She pointed at me and her smile widened, showcasing teeth as bright as her hair.
She moved around her desk and leaned against the edge as she met Arieon's eyes. "I've created tech that's going to change the very foundation of how our world runs. Firms would give their testicles to rep me and yet, you don't seem very interested in me at all. In fact, you've put more effort in to not making eye contact with your subordinate than you have trying to woo me."
My breaths went ragged and it felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. Oh, shit. That was it. We'd lost Carlie all because we had terrible poker faces.
Arieon straightened in his seat and tugged at the collar of his suit. It made him look strong. Powerful and certain as he leaned in, fixing his eyes on Carlie's equally as intimidating gaze. "Ellen Carp is one of the most capable people at my firm, if not the most capable. When we got here, you told us that you didn't want any bullshit. Well, I don't want to give you any. You are changing the face of technology, Ms. Sims and you deserve the best strategist in your corner that money can buy. That's Ellen. I don't need to woo you. You read the papers, you saw the plans. They came from her. I'm just the face of the company."
Arieon turned to meet my eyes and my chest tightened as he held my gaze. My heart beat so rapidly, I was afraid I might've been having a heart attack. And not just because he'd given the straightest pitch I'd ever heard. Sims has said no bullshit but every good business person knew that you had to give at least a little bullshit to get things going. But not Arieon. He'd gone straight for the throat and now, he was staring at me with perfect icy eyes and it made my whole body light up.
Arieon looked away from me, giving his attention back to Carlie. I felt like he'd ripped away a part of me with that stare and I fumbled to collect myself. I couldn't fall apart right there. I needed to stay focused.
I flicked my eyes back to Carlie and blinked to clear mind of the high that I felt like I was on. Her lips pressed tightly together as she hummed in thought. She lifted off of her desk and paced her office twice before she stopped directly in front of Arieon.
Arieon climbed to his feet and met her head on. Goddamn, he was sexy in that moment. Fierce and assertive and even though he may have ruined the deal for us, my panties were slick for him. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him and beads of sweat formed on my forehead as my body overheated. I opted for a professional black, knee-length dress that suddenly felt like entirely too much fabric.
"I like you." Carlie's voice snapped me back into focus as she turned to me. "Both of you. My gut says yes." She grinned. "And I always listen to my gut. I'm in."
I let out a slow breath and climbed slowly to my feet.
"Great," I said, my voice trembling with the word.
"Great," Arieon echoed me, shooting me a sideways glance. I should have sounded more confident, should have been more thrilled but my body felt like I'd just been shocked with ten thousand volts of electricity. My body was tight, my nipples were hard and my clit ached for a very specific touch that I knew only Arieon could provide.
I shifted my gaze and sucked in a deep breath, avoiding looking at him. "You won't regret it, Ms. Sims." I smiled, at least I didn't sound like a scared child anymore. My voice was steady, even though the rest of my body still betrayed me.
Carlie smirked at me, a smirk that made me terrified she could read my mind. "Yeah," Carlie nodded. "I really like you two."
*~*~*
By the time we had the papers signed, and we were out of Carlie's office, I had calmed down. I was back to being controllably attracted to Arieon and more focused on the thrill of landing Sims.
I squealed as we stepped outside of her massive headquarters. "Oh my God, we did it! We actually did it!" I jumped into Arieon's arms and he wrapped them around me, twirling me around before placing me back on my feet.
He met my eyes and I felt my fire starting to reignite again. I pulled out of his grasp as an uncomfortable silence passed between us.
"Well, you did it," Arieon offered, easing some of the tension.
"Yeah, I did." I grinned. "But you closed the deal."
Arieon smiled back at me and I dropped my gaze to my feet. I had finally de-escalated, the last thing I needed was to be sucked back in by that dumb fucking smile.
Our car pulled up to the curb and Arieon pulled open the door for me. Making me move slowly as I put extra care into sliding by him without making contact. I was still on edge. I needed to take every precaution.
"Thank you," I said softly as I slid over to make room for him.
"Should we celebrate?" Arieon asked as he settled in next to me. "There's a pretty nice restaurant at the hotel."
I toyed with the fabric of my dress, needing something to do with my hand that wasn't ripping his clothes off. "Arieon, I don't think..."
"Platonically," Arieon interrupted. "Just a friendly dinner to celebrate. You worked hard for this, Ellen. Don't you think you deserve a nice dinner on the boss?"
I smiled, taking the risk and looking up to meet his happy gaze. It melted away all of my resolve and I nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, okay. Yeah, we should celebrate."
*~*~*
The short ride to the hotel felt long as we sat in silence. Each second, I grew more and more nervous. I tried to convince myself I was being silly but every time I looked at Arieon, my breath caught. God, what was wrong with me?
By the time we reached the hotel, I was almost as knotted up as I'd been in Carlie's office. Get it together, girl!
I climbed out of the car on unsteady legs and followed behind Arieon to the hotel restaurant. It was just as nice as he'd said. Gorgeous high ceilings decorated with delicate chandeliers. The aroma of fresh baked bread filled my nose and I breathed it in.
A hostess greeted us as soon as we stepped beneath the arch overhanging the restaurant.
"Just two?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes." Arieon smiled back at her and I immediately regretted the stab of jealousy that worked through my body. He didn't belong to me. He could smile at whatever pretty hostesses he pleased.
I bit down on my lip, resisting the snarl that wanted to sneak its way up as we followed behind the hostess whose ass was just too perfect to be real. She escorted us to a table near the window and pulled out my chair. Normally, I'd have thanked her but I still couldn't seem to suppress the undeserved pettiness I felt toward her.
She'd barely finished placing my napkin in my lap when a chipper waiter floated over to the table.
"Can I interest you in a wine this evening?" he asked as he filled our water glasses.
"We're celebrating," Arieon answered. "What champagne would you suggest?"
The waiter opened his mouth to respond but the hostess moved in front of him, making herself comfortable next to Arieon.
"Congratulations." She laughed as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "What are you celebrating?"
"Our engagement," I said flatly, narrowing my eyes on her.
She blinked and moved her hand away from Arieon. "Oh, my, well," She took a step away from the table. "Congratulations, again."
I watched angrily after her as she made her way back to the front of the restaurant.
"Engaged, huh?"
I turned my attention to Arieon who stared at me with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow. "I guess we'll have whatever champagne the engaged couples usually order," he told the waiter who stared at us adoringly.
"So cute." He put a hand to his chest. "I know the perfect thing." He turned on his heels and disappeared.
I could feel Arieon's eyes on me but refused to look at him.
"So, the best I can figure is that you either temporarily went insane or..."
I met his eyes. "Or what?" I challenged, hoping he'd back down.
"Or you got jealous."
I rolled my eyes. "Maybe both." I let out a breath. God, I was being ridiculous. "I'm sorry." I put my face in my hands. "I'm so embarrassed. That was so stupid. I shouldn't have done that."
Arieon reached out for me and gripped my wrist, pulling it away from my face and holding it in his grasp. "It's alright," he said gently. "I get it. Things are weird between us." He let go of my wrist. "But Ellen, you said you didn't want me."
I frowned as he stared at me, his eyes boring into me and daring me to recant. I had meant it when I said it. Arieon and I couldn't be together. But with each second, I became more and more unsure, my reasoning seeming cloudy.
The waiter brought over a bottle of champagne and filled both our glasses before setting it in an ice bucket onto the table.
I downed my glass, the bubbles burning in my throat as I poured myself another. The waiter gave me a skeptical look and I remembered that I was supposed to be sipping like a bride-to be, not a sailor just arriving on land.
I picked up my second glass and sipped it.
"Are you guys ready to order?" he asked.
"Whatever the chef recommends," Arieon answered without tearing his hyper-focused gaze from me.
I drank my glass faster as I shifted uncomfortably beneath his stare.
"It's good," I said, lifting my glass and hoping to ease some of the intensity in him.
Finally, he blinked as he let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping. I just couldn't seem to stop disappointing him.
"I guess we should get a second bottle at the rate you're going."
I nodded as I downed the rest of my glass. We were definitely going to need a second bottle, and a third, and a fourth if I was going to make it through dinner.
I poured myself another glass and Arieon chuckled as he signaled the waiter for another bottle. "I guess we should have celebrated at the bar."
"I'm just excited," I lied, gulping down half of my glass. "I drink when I'm excited."
Arieon smiled and I poured what was left of the bottle. That smile was going to be the death of me.
"You should be excited, Ellen. You were amazing." He laughed again. "And you landed probably the weirdest, most important woman in the world."
I echoed his laughter. "She did put out a really strange energy. Sort of..."
"Sexual?" Arieon finished for me.
I nodded. "Right! Like, we were horses she wanted mate or something."
"I honestly thought she might ask us to bang right there in her office."
I laughed again. "I would have if it meant signing her." Silence settled and I clenched my teeth. Shit, why did I say that? I picked up my glass and put it back down. Maybe getting drunk with Arieon wasn't the best idea. I'd blurred the lines enough in sobriety. There was no denying my attraction to Arieon and adding alcohol to that kind of flame was dangerous.
"It's fine. You can have another glass, I'm not judging." Arieon picked up his glass and downed it to prove his point. My heart fluttered in my chest as I watched him, solidifying my decision. More drinking was definitely not the way to go.
I shook my head as I watched him refill his glass and signal for a third bottle. "No, I'm good. I'm a lightweight." The lie almost made me sick to my stomach. Truth be told, I could drink most everyone I knew under the table and still tap dance Fiddler on the Roof. But I wasn't going to confess my true reason for switching to water to Arieon. I'd much rather play the 'delicate female' card than tell him I didn't trust myself with him.
"Oh." He eyed me for a minute and I thought he might challenge me but instead, he drank down another glass. "More for me, I guess."
By the time the food came, Arieon had nearly killed two bottles and I was jealousy of the clumsy grin he wore. Against my better judgement, I poured what was left of the newest bottle the waiter had brought into my glass.
"I thought you were done," Arieon noted, watching me.
"One more won't kill me." I shrugged and Arieon laughed, the sound giving me butterflies.
I picked up my fork and pushed around a meal that I couldn't make out on my plate.
"What the hell is this?" Arieon asked, echoing my thoughts.
"I have no idea." He met my eyes before he roared with laughter again, this time triggering my own fit of giggled.
He met my eyes with a grin, his blue irises twinkling as he stared at me for entirely too long.
"What?" Feeling my face head under his gaze.
"Nothing." He shrugged. "I just...I like you like this, you know?"
"What, not biting your head off?" I took a sip from my glass, giving up on eating the mystery meal.
"Yeah." He kept staring at me and the intensity of it made my chest tighten.
"Arieon," I started.
"I know. We can't. Career path, obstacles, all that." He sighed but it was light and easy and didn't break his stare. "I just want to look at you for a minute. Can I just look at you?"
I swallowed but nodded. I should have been insecure under such a scrutinizing gaze. I was confident but I wasn't perfect. But as his eyes rolled over me, they seemed to find nothing displeasing. Every second he watched me, I felt more beautiful and it terrified me. He could affect me so much with just a glance. It made my heart drop into my stomach.
I placed my glass on the table. "I should go," I said pushing my chair out and climbing to my feet. I was moving too quickly and my brain felt like mush. I nearly tripped over myself as I tried to turn away.
"Wait, Ellen." Arieon put his fork down. "I'll walk you." He waved his hand at the waiter. "Just the check, please."
The waiter nodded and ran back to get our ticket.
"Arieon, I'm fine. It's a hotel, not the desert. I can find my way to my room."
"You've had a lot of champagne and you're already tripping over yourself," Arieon protested.
Damn, I knew that lightweight thing would come back to bite me. "Arieon, really. I'm fine."
"I'm walking you," he said firmly, climbing to his feet.
I nodded and waited patiently as the waiter came back with the ticket. He still had that look of admiration in his eye as he looked at us.
"Congrats, again," he said as Arieon handed the check back to him.
He moved to my side and placed a gentle hand to the small of my back. The contact sent a shiver through my entire body so ferocious that my teeth chattered.
"Are you cold?" he asked, stepping back to remove his suit jacket.
"No, I'm fine." I'd barely gotten the words out before his jacket settled around my shoulders. "Thank you," I said, tucking under the enormity of it. I could smell him all over me and it was driving me a little senseless. I let him guide me to the elevator while I continued to inhale him, my body physically responding the smell. My nipples tightened beneath my dress and I tried to get my head back on straight.
"You alright?"
Arieon turned to me as he pressed the button on the elevator. I must have looked ridiculous swallowed up in his jacket and inhaling until I'd made myself dizzy.
I nodded. "Just the champagne," I lied again.
The elevator opened and I breathed a sigh of relief when another couple stepped onto it first. I'd vowed never to be alone in an elevator with Arieon again and with the way I was feeling, now was not the time to break that vow.
We stepped inside and lingered near the corner.
"Six, please," I called out to the couple by the buttons. The woman smiled as she pushed in the six.
The elevator stopped on the second floor and a swarm of people entered from the casino, packing us in. I was pressed tightly against Arieon as more people tried to squeeze in. I sucked in a breath, very aware of how close we were. I could feel his entire body against me, even through the thickness of his coat. More importantly, I thought I could feel the faint hint of a hardening cock and it made my already hard nipples feel painfully tight. I pushed backward, pushed tighter into him and I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck. I could feel the desire radiating off of him and it matched my own.
His hands slipped around my waist, sliding to my hips and pulled me in even tighter. There was no mistaking his thickness as it pressed against my bottom. God, I'd never wanted to be fucked so badly in my life.
The elevator stopped on the fourth floor and enough space opened up for us to spread out but I stayed in his grasp, shifting ever so slightly to pull his coat up higher so that I could feel him more intensely. I wished I'd word a thinner dress. I wished we were alone. I wanted him. It was like elevators ignited us, sending electricity through me that only Arieon could stop.
I rocked back into him, creating a friction that nearly made me moan. I was only mildly aware of the elderly couple still on the elevator shooting us curious looks over their shoulder. I was ready to dry hump him with an audience. That was how desperate I was, how reckless he made me.
The elevator stopped on the sixth floor and I felt his mouth on my ear.
"This is us," he whispered but I didn't move. I couldn't. I'd forgotten how.
He shifted from behind me, helping to move me forward and out of the elevator. He snaked an arm around me as we traveled down the hallway to my room and just the simply arm made me wetter than I could have imagined.
I whirled on him as soon as we reached my door, wrapping my arms around him and pulling his lips down to meet mine. He didn't hesitate, spreading me with his tongue as he pushed his body into mine. I felt my feet leave the floor as his arms clutched tightly around my legs, lifting me as his tongue slicked over mine. Damn, he tasted good. The soft hint of bubbles and strawberry champagne still on his lips.
I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd have rather been than pressed between Arieon's hard body and my hotel room door. Couldn't think of anything else I wanted more than his hands running all over my body while his mouth worked over mine.
The harsh sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted our fiery embrace and I managed to tear my mouth from his to see a disapproving woman staring at us from the next door over.
"Sorry," I said softly, still trying to catch my breath as Arieon put me down.
She disappeared back into her room and I leaned into him with a laugh before turning to slide my key into the door. I stepped inside and turned when he didn't follow me. He had a serious look on his face that made my hairs stand on end.
"Are you coming in?" I smiled, reaching for his hand. We'd been momentarily pulled apart but I hadn't planned for that to be the case for much longer.
He let me grip his hand for a moment before he pulled away. He met my eyes and the chill in them made me shiver. He shook his head. "Ellen, I'm sorry."
He took a step back and I took one forward. What was happening?
"I'm an asshole. You told me you didn't want this," he continued. "And now, you're drunk and I'm..."
I waved my hands to stop him. "No, Arieon, I'm not drunk."
"I'm sorry, Ellen." He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Sleep well, alright." He turned to leave and I called after him but he didn't turn around.
I watched him disappear around the corner, my mouth gaping open and my body still pining after him. Lesson learned. Never pretend to be drunk.