Ben led Sutton down the stairs. He was a beaten man at last. Somewhere inside, I still hoped he might change, but then he was no longer my concern. I’d cleared my own troubled conscience. Sutton had his own peace to make…

“So it really made no difference to you,” Emily asked, “whether you left Envisager… or he did?” We were finally alone. My sister and our brave Tammy had followed shortly after the others. Emily shut off the glaring overhead lights and slipped her hand into mine.

“It mattered,” I admitted. “Just not enough to let it control my choices.

I’ve lived my whole life… working, struggling, succeeding… all to earn my father’s approval. To earn a moment of his affection.” I shook my head, gathering her softness to me, savoring the feel of her against my chest. “I never thought I’d feel this way, but none of that even matters anymore. He can love me… or he cannot. But I refuse to let his choices influence who I am anymore. Competition… success… they aren’t the same thing as love. I can see that now…

In some ways, it might have been a relief to have thrown it all away, to just start all over. But I suppose it’s really better this way.”

“Sutton would have destroyed Envisager, sooner or later,” she agreed. “But you’ll make it a force for good in the world. You have the resources and the compassion to make a real difference in women’s lives.”

“And what about you, Emi?” I asked, cradling her heart-shaped face in my hands. “No second thoughts about being with a man like me….? I started out not so very different from Sutton, you know.” I sighed, thinking back. “I was spoiled, selfish… looking for excitement, not for love.”

“And now?” she asked, looking up at me with a confident smile. She put a tiny fingertip to my chin and I felt that single gesture of trust and love echo throughout my entire body. “Who are you now, Chase?” she asked.

“A man who’s found his purpose, his love… his soulmate,” I answered, honestly. “A decade ago, those words meant nothing to me. Now I can see that intimacy is the greatest, most exciting, most irresistible challenge of all…

I knew when we first met, that I could never be satisfied with anything less than everything.

I bent down, kissing her slowly, savoring the warmth of her lips and the taste of her mouth. “There’s no more looking back, Emi, and wishing I’d made the right decision…” I ran my hands softly over her shoulders, and the curve of her back. When I reached the sweet curves of her ass, the spark between us became flame. “I’m making it now,” I said, my voice full of emotion. “I’m not a gentleman, sweetheart,” I said, pressing the hard length of my body demandingly to hers.“ And maybe I never will be. But I will love you the rest of my life…

I’ll prove it with every word, every action… every touch, Emi. I promise you that.

And now… tonight… is only the beginning…

* * *

Those simple words released something inside us both…

The music still played below us and the muffled voices of the guests rose upwards. But in seconds, she had my shirt open to the waist and her mouth was moving downwards in a warm wet trail.

“There must still be a hundred people down there,” I protested. Then she ran her hands up over the enormous outline of my cock and reached for my zipper.

“That just means they’re not up here,” she answered huskily. Her fingers were working their way steadily through the layers of clothing that separated us. I groaned out loud as she freed me. Nearly a foot of hard, hot cock stood throbbing, waiting… seeking the warmth of her body. “We should take this home,” I said thinly, as need struggled to override my best intentions. “I want you naked and in bed… and all to myself…”

“Are you afraid I might seduce you in public,” she breathed against my belly, driving me well beyond mad. “Do you think you could stand the wait to get home?” she asked deliberately, running her lips over my slick, wet head, letting me feel her words as well as hear them. “Because I can’t, Chase. I can’t…

I want you, right here… right now…,” she whispered wickedly, licking the underside of my cock with feathery flicks. “And this time I’m not letting go until I have you…

Just promise me you won’t come… not until all of this…,” she wrapped her hands around my rod, holding it tight, right next to her mouth, “is buried between my legs.” She licked me and my whole body turned rigid. “I demand complete satisfaction,” she said, “and you’re going to give it to me…”

“What can I say…?” I breathed, letting my head fall back, surrendering to her sweet dominance. She engulfed me in a swirl of liquid heat, punishing and demanding… and rewarding…

“you’ve caught me.”