~ Cece

 

I didn’t hear Rhett come in the night before, but when I woke up early to make myself breakfast before my run, there he was. After three days of absence, the sight of him surprised me so much that I paused in the doorway to the living room and merely stared. It looked like he’d fallen asleep right after coming in. He hadn’t bothered to do much more than take off his tie and jacket before slumping onto the couch and passing out.

I wondered how long he’d been sleeping.

It was obvious he’d nearly worked himself into a coma. There were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was mussed and a few days’ worth of stubble dotted his chin...but none of that stole from his allure. Soundlessly, I crept, barefoot, across the expanse of the living room to stand over him, looking my fill for the first time in three days.

I wanted to kiss him. To slide into the small expanse of space between him and the back of the couch and feel his warmth against me. I wanted him to wake up, take me in his arms, and ravish me until I didn’t remember my own name - just like he’d done in the mountains.

But I’d have to settle for this. I wasn’t selfish enough to wake him when he needed rest - and atop that, I still wasn’t sure how I was going to operate for the next few weeks. We still had a good five or six interview sessions left, and if I wanted the material that guaranteed my promotion, that meant giving into my desires - the one thing that petrified me more than anything else.

Carefully, I knelt next to the couch so I was eye-level with the object of my fascination. If I hadn’t known Rhett was completely unconscious I might never have been so bold. How many times over the years had I wondered what it might be like to get this close to him again? I couldn’t say I had obsessed over the man but I could certainly admit there were times when I lie alone at night contemplating where we might be if he’d never left.

If I hadn’t let him leave.

In that moment, I had to remind myself that this wasn’t some storybook romance. I wasn’t here to try for a second chance or to get the man to fall desperately in love with me. I needed information for my promotion - I just needed to decide how much I was willing to do to get it.

Reaching out, I drew my fingertips through Rhett’s dark blonde hair.

I could understand why women were so drawn to him. Beyond the riches - beyond the money, influence and shark-like business sense, there was a strange vulnerability to him. Something that endeared him to you and made you long for his wellbeing. That was something that hadn’t changed...not even in twelve years.

Once he managed to stop messing around, I had no doubt Rhett would find a woman that made him deliriously happy.

So why did the notion make my stomach twist in regret?

 

“So, this deal you’ve just made -it’s one of the largest in your company’s history, is that right?” Sometime around three in the afternoon, when Rhett finally came around, we had a late lunch in the penthouse. We ordered from his favorite restaurant - some ridiculously expensive seafood place that I didn’t want to admit was delicious.

“The largest.” That wide, infectious grin of his sent butterflies winging through my stomach. Rhett, I’d noticed, had a myriad of different smiles - smiles for his business partners, smiles for his employees, smiles for his staff, and smiles for me. The wide, unfettered, unabashedly enthusiastic ones…. the darkly promising ones that meant that he would bring me untold pleasure...I couldn’t decide which I liked more. “It’s going to mark a twenty-five percent increase in income in the eastern market over the next four years. Worth the three days crunch time.”

“And now you have some down time?” I inquired, hating how hopeful my voice sounded. I’d never tell him, but spending three days in his penthouse by myself had been surprisingly lonely. At least in the Savannah manor I had Mason and Mona to keep me company.

“Never downtime,” He returned, taking a bite of perfectly seasoned flounder with relish. “But things will be a bit quieter for a while. Which means we’ll have more time for your interviews.” That garnered a small smile from me, before Rhett continued in a lower tone. “As well as anything else you might like to do to pass the time.”

A week ago - hell, three days ago, a line like that would have had me running for the hills. Now, I felt the slow burn of want spreading through my lower belly. If I indulged now, I told myself, it was for the article. Just to get my facts straight and to make things...juicier. That’s what Jim wanted, wasn’t it? It was what I wanted, and we’d already crossed that particular boundary, hadn’t we?

“Right.” Somehow, I managed to deflect his comment and reign in my lust. The middle of the day was no time for an erotic jaunt. I had notes I needed to send off, and I was sure that he had work to attend to. “Well, maybe when you have some time you can walk me through your home office set-up.” The man had a gorgeous office and library with a glorious view of Piedmont Park - and I definitely wasn’t imagining him bending me over his desk and having his way with me for all of downtown to see.

“Anything you like.” He folded his hands under his chin, his gaze never straying from my face. I could feel my cheeks burning as he searched my features. Freshly showered, clad in just a pair of loose silk pajama bottoms and a robe open over his gorgeous chest, he was like a vision right out of a particularly memorable wet dream.

Shit. Now that I’d given myself an excuse to give into my desires, what was keeping me from jumping his bones right over his kitchen table? From demanding that the man take me to bed for the next twelve hours? Only my very righteous sense of dignity...but that hadn’t held up so well in the face of Hurricane Rhett a week ago.

Now, I supposed it was just a matter of time.

 

Surprisingly, over the next few weeks, Rhett didn’t pursue me as flagrantly as he had when we were in Savannah. At first, I was hit with a sinking worry that he had lost his interest in me. That I was like every other woman he’d been with, and slaking his lust meant that he was done on his end. I supposed that would make for a fairly commonplace article about celebrity trysts, and would still get me my promotion...but the idea left a sour taste in my mouth.

Eventually, however, I realized that I had things all wrong.

Our next two interview sessions were fairly mild - despite the fact that I vividly remembered the slightly racy text message he’d sent me in the wake of our hiking trip. We lounged around his living room when he wasn’t working from his home office and I went through my laundry lists of questions - questions that mattered much less now that the article had taken on a new angle. Rhett, of course, could never know that, and I had to keep up appearances. During the interviews, I didn’t backpedal from his flirting as I had before. I had certainly never been flirted with as flagrantly as Rhett did, so it took a little adjusting, but the man didn’t drag me off to his bedroom - much to my great disappointment.

Instead, he sent me flowers.

It was ridiculous, really. I was staying at his penthouse. He could have just brought them home. But after our third interview, the doorbell rang and the man feigned ignorance. When I answered the door, I found a teenager fairly staggering under the weight of the four dozen red roses he’d carted up to the penthouse. When he dumped them into my arms, I assumed they were from one of Rhett’s many admirers and did my best not to turn my nose up. After the man himself raced into the foyer to help me, a casual question directed my attention to the card that had come with the insane display.

“Who’re they from?”

I scowled at him before rooting through the mass of red blossoms to retrieve an unmarked envelope. There was an elegant white card inside, and when I flipped it open to read it, the words caught in my throat.

Cece,

I would have ordered more, but I’m pretty sure this is all you can carry.

Hope you like roses.

Rhett

For a moment, I forgot how to speak entirely. It wasn’t as if a man had never gotten me flowers before. A few of my exes had bought me bargain store bouquets or a single rose, perhaps, if I’d hinted I might like one on Valentine’s day. Those instances, however, were nothing like this. Each of the blossoms that had arrived were perfect - unbruised and gloriously scarlet. They must have cost a fortune - and Rhett had them delivered for absolutely no reason at all. Embarrassingly, I felt moisture pricking the corners of my eyes and turned to face him with what I hoped was an imposing scowl.

“Did you really waste money to have these brought here?”

Rhett, however, seemed far from intimidated. He was grinning from ear to ear. “I really did.”

“Rhett, these are...well, they’re…” I wanted to say outlandish. Opulent. Completely unnecessary. But my mouth acted without my brain’s consent. “They’re beautiful.” I reached out to finger one of the buds, marveling out how perfect it was. “I’ve never seen roses like this.”

“They’re from a specialty shop down town.” He’d moved behind me, his larger form pressing up against mine as he reached around me to feel the texture of the petals as well. “Best in the Southeast, ten years running.” He dropped his head to rest his chin on my shoulder, and when he spoke again, his words were murmured dangerously close to my ear. “You like them?”

Swallowing thickly, I nodded. There would be no tears here. By this point, the deal was half-done. Rhett was just being Rhett. No need to get all weepy. He was doing what he thought would win my affections. “Good.” He placed a kiss on my neck that was more gentility than sensuality, but it warmed me just the same. I felt myself leaning back into his embrace - wanting more.

But he surprised me by moving away to round the table and read the card for himself. I could have stomped my foot in frustration. First, the man couldn’t get enough of me and now he was playing hard to get? “Probably should have hand written the card, right?”

“The card is fine.” I couldn’t keep an edge of ire from my tone. Why couldn’t he just come back over here and kiss me, damnit?

Rhett chuckled, gazing up at me teasingly. “Cece, I want you to come to Nepal with me.”

The man had such a propensity for shocking me that the question shouldn’t have caught me off guard - but I couldn’t curb my natural impulses. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped in surprise. “Pardon?”

The man before me smirked. “Nepal? As in the country between India and China. Lots of mountains. Winter Wonderland.”

He was purposefully riling me, I realized, and I should have shaken it off, but I was still a bit taken aback. “Why are you going to Nepal?”

“Business trip - mostly.” He replied, leaning against the table. When he crossed thick arms over his chest, I pressed my thighs together at the way his muscles contracted. Dear God, I needed a better constitution when it came to this man. “I also want to fuel the adrenaline junkie. It’s been a while.”

“It’s been a few weeks!” I insisted, flummoxed. “We just climbed a mountain!”

Rhett’s smirk stretched even further. “You climbed a hundred feet up a very small cliff. Not to minimize your achievements, but I’d like to take things to the next level, if you’re up for it.” I couldn’t even imagine what the next level could possibly be. Of course, this was Rhett Wilder we were talking about. The man had climbed Everest, gone spelunking in Mexico and gone down three miles into the Mariana Trench.

I had never been an adventurous person. My one trip to Paris had been spectacularly eye-opening, and while I didn’t mind the idea of travelling, the notion of putting my life on the line had never particularly appealed to me.

But that was before I met Rhett. When I’d nearly gone tumbling down the side of the mountain, something strange had roused inside me. Something that enjoyed that rush of fear and anticipation - maybe even craved it. At first, I’d lain awake wondering what was wrong at me. It couldn’t be natural to want to repeat a near death experience. But since the Blue Ridge Mountains, the memory had been there, in the back of my mind, lingering like an unscratched itch.

“What’s the next level?” I found myself asking with a tentative mixture of anticipation and trepidation.

Rhett leaned across the table until his face was scant inches from mine. When he spoke, I could feel the warmth of his breath feather across my mouth. “Why don’t you come with me and see?”

A shiver ran down my spine as the spicy scent of him enveloped me. I met his gaze steadily.

“Rhett, I’ve hardly left the country.” The excuse was a last bid to save myself from the inevitable. I knew that if I accompanied Rhett halfway across, things might get messy. Maybe I wanted them to get messy. Something about him managed to toss my formerly strong sense of self-preservation right out the window. “I doubt I’m the best person to take schlepping through the snow in Southeast Asia.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” He rebutted, reaching up to cup my face in a large, warm hand. As he spoke, his thumb swept over my lip tantalizingly, and my breath caught in my throat. “I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather schlep with.”

And then he kissed me, and the decision was all but made.

 

I’m sure any woman with a pulse can imagine that I would very much have liked Rhett to spirit me off to his bedroom at that exact moment. Unfortunately, a spontaneous trip to Nepal necessitated quite a bit of preparation that I had never even considered. I tried to go back to my apartment for warmer weather clothes but Rhett insisted that I didn’t own the type of clothing I’d need for a place like Nepal.

And then he took me shopping.

I’d like to say I fought it. That I cursed him five ways to Sunday and refused to set foot inside any of the shops he directed me to. The sad truth of the matter was that it took woefully little convincing for him to get me right where he wanted me. I needed warm clothes - and Rhett argued that he knew the best and most reliable brands. Who was I to question him? The last thing I wanted was to freeze to death somewhere in the Nepalese mountains.

That said, he didn’t need to buy me two down parkas that cost over fourteen hundred dollars apiece, name brand long underwear and cashmere sweaters. I put my foot down at a pair of snow boots that came in at a cool five grand. Rhett merely went behind my back and bought an only slightly cheaper pair, making me swear I’d reimburse him if it took putting aside portions of my salary for the next five years.

The plane ride was set to be about twelve hours, which made me slightly nervous. I’d never been in the air for more than six. The idea of being crammed into a commercial airplane like a sardine for that long literally made me hyperventilate in fear - but tackling the journey in Rhett’s private plane was something else entirely.

“I don’t want to imagine how much money you’re spending on just the transportation?” I swirled my flute of champagne in little circles, reluctant to endure so much extravagance in twenty-four hours.

Rhett sat next to me, working on his laptop. The man was so burly that his arm brushed against mine every time he moved, and I resisted the urge to lean into the gesture. “Then don’t.” He glanced at me with a chuckle. “Sleep. That will make the trip go faster.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever slept twelve hours in my entire life.”

He smirked. “Are you asking for my help?”

My heart stuttered in my chest as heat flared through me. “N-no. That’s not what I meant-”

“Just let me finish this.” He leaned over to press his mouth to the line of my throat in a flagrant, lingering kiss that had me all but squirming in my seat. “Ten minutes.”

I didn’t even bother to fight it. Why should I? I’d been fighting it for weeks...for years, if I was honest with myself. Ever since our little jaunt in the cabin, Rhett had been incredibly sweet. If he’d wanted to, he could have taken me to bed countless times by now. God knows I would have let him. Instead, he’d catered to my needs - behaved himself (mostly) during our interview sessions, catered to every whim I had while in the penthouse and bought me the most gorgeous flowers I’d ever laid eyes on. Maybe I was falling into the trope of most women he spent his time with, but I wanted him. Certainly, it had to do, in part, with how his way of life impressed me, but I was drawn more to the tenderness beneath all that raw allure. All he had to do was smile at me and I knew I was in trouble.

“...Alright.” I finally acquiesced quietly. This one, I swore, wouldn’t go in the article. This one was for me. I had to indulge while I could.

The longest ten minutes in my existence followed. I did my best not to glance suspiciously at the attendant - a female, this time, and a markedly pretty one. Funnily enough, I hadn’t even noticed her when I boarded. I had been entirely otherwise occupied. When she came to refill my champagne, she might have even snuck me a look that all but screamed envy.

But none of that mattered. Even if it was only temporarily, Rhett was mine now - and I relished the fact.

When he finally did set his laptop aside, I tried to act casual.

“Elena, we’ll be in the back.” I might have imagined that Rhett would toss that attempt out the window. “Give us a few hours.”

Hours?

I was probably the color of a ripe strawberry as Rhett took my hand, tugging me towards the rear of the plane. He had not just announced his intentions with me to the stewardess...I could only imagine what she must think.

“Stop that.” Once the door to the small bedroom that took up most of the plane was closed, Rhett pressed me up against it, his gaze hungry in the low light. Immediately, my heart leapt into my throat and heat sizzled through my nerve endings. 

“Stop what?” Somehow, I managed to eke the words out against his mouth before it brushed over my jaw to linger at the point of my pulse.

“Getting caught up in things that don’t matter.” He growled, before biting my neck sharply so I yelped. When the gesture lengthened into a drawn out, lingering suck of the sensitive skin, I nearly lost my footing. “I’m right here. Concentrate on me.”

It wasn’t particularly hard - especially when his tongue was doing something that should have been illegal to my earlobe. I don’t think I’d ever gotten so hot so fast - not even back in the cabin. Then, I hadn’t known what he was going to do to me. I wanted him, but I was nervous, embarrassed and hopeful all at the same time. This time, I knew what I was getting into - and it was an effort for me to keep from throwing myself at him. My arms rose to slip around his neck as he reached down to scoop me up from underneath my thighs and lift me into the air. When he pressed me firmly back against the door, his mouth covered mine - and I did what he bid.

I stopped thinking.

The first time Rhett and I were together, I was so overwhelmed I could do little more than simply let him have his way with me. This time, I vowed to be more proactive. Every time I’d seen the man lounging around the penthouse I longed to climb on top of him. To have his luscious body laid out beneath me for the sampling.

Now was my chance.

I dropped my hands to the hem of his shirt, untucking it eagerly as I arched against him in a bid for dominance. With a low groan, Rhett merely hefted me from the door and around to the bed before toppling me onto the surprisingly soft mattress.

“This thing feels like it’s stuffed with actual clouds. How ever did you make that happen?”

Rhett laughed as I tugged his shirt free, nearly popping the buttons in an effort to get it off him. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to talk about my money.”

“You’re not. I was just testing you.” He shut me up efficiently by planting another kiss on my hungry mouth. After some quick maneuvering, I finally managed to expose that glorious chest of his and indulged in running my fingers over its breadth. I tore my mouth from his to lay kisses across the smooth, firm flesh and his hands tangled in my hair as I fumbled with his belt.

“Fuck, Cece...slow down…” That was the last thing I wanted. I needed him to feel the same kind of abandon that he made me feel. Wanted him to lose his mind, just like I had. When I reached into his pants to find the straining, heated column of his erection, a low curse spilled from his mouth. He was, without a doubt, the biggest man I’d ever been with - so big that my first sight of him had given me pause. But now I knew better. I remembered just how deliciously Rhett filled me - until I was sure I couldn’t take anymore.

And I craved it.

“Come here.” Rhett stopped my ministrations as he tightened his hold on my hair. It wasn’t enough to hurt - but it was definitely enough to make me pause and take notice. He bore me back onto the mattress, tugging me up for a kiss as he spread my legs with his powerful thighs.

“I want to touch you,” I insisted against his mouth, struggling against the haze of lust that threatened to envelop me. It would be so easy to just let him have me. So fucking easy.

“You touch me anymore and I’ll lose my mind, Cece.” The front of the dress I wore was held shut with a series of snaps that he popped open in a single gesture. “Besides, I have a better idea.”

“And what’s that - mmmm…. Rhett…” He tugged down the cup of my bra to take a pebbled nipple into his mouth and pleasure slid over me on a warm, silken wave. For a moment, he didn’t answer me. He was far too preoccupied with paying homage to my chest, sucking and nipping at the peak of one until I was gasping beneath him before switching to the other to treat it to the same ministrations. I was so wrapped up in sensation that by the time he did actually speak, I almost missed it.

“I wanna see you come for me.” I moaned at the prospect, a shiver traversing the length of my body.

“But...you already…” It was hard for me to form a proper sentence when the man was tugging at my nipple with his teeth, sending delicious little bolts right to the ache between my legs.

“What did I say, Cece?” Rhett murmured against my skin, his fingers sliding down over my stomach to trail along the waistband of my panties. “Stop.”

When he touched me, I almost flew off the bed. I had probably been slick since the moment he told me what he had planned for me - by now, I was probably leaving a puddle on the mattress. Within minutes, however, any concern I might have had about cleanup was gone. Two of Rhett’s thick, nimble fingers slid into me as he rubbed a spot high up inside me that had me biting back a cry. The muscles in my stomach went tight as my eyes slid closed and the sharp, overwhelming sensation threatened to steal my sanity.

“Rhett…” I moaned deliriously, grasping at his hand as I begged for mercy. I wasn’t sure whether to urge him on or to stop him. The tide of my pleasure threatened to sweep me away completely, and it was both scary and exhilarating all at once. “Rhett, please - I can’t…”

“You can, honey.” He murmured lowly against my neck in encouragement, his fingers stroking deftly over my quivering inner muscles. “Let go for me. Just let go.”

As if I could refuse him. His whispering against my damp skin, the way he touched me and the feel of his body against mine - it was enough to send me careening over the precipice of an orgasm so powerful my vision went white.

I was clutching Rhett tightly enough to hurt him - feeling his mouth against my neck as my body trembled. It felt so damned good I could hardly breathe, and I wondered how I’d lived my entire without this.

I realized, in short order, that Rhett was kissing gently along the line of my neck and shoulder as I eased down, rubbing small, comforting circles against the line of my hip bone. When his thumb brushed over my over-sensitized clit, I gasped, jerking away from him. “Christ, Rhett.”

He chuckled, nipping at my ear. “One day, I think it will be fun to see how long you can keep going.”

My eyes widened. “Keep going?”

He smirked, devilishly handsome, above me. “All I’d have to do,” he lifted his fingers to wiggle them obscenely in the gesture I presumed had just rocked my plane of existence. “Until you beg me to stop.”

The very notion was enough to make me shudder. I wondered if it was possible to expire from too many orgasms - ironic, considering I hadn’t even known I could have one until a few short weeks ago. “Don’t do that.” I flushed, pushing his hand away as I tried to slow my breathing. Rhett, however, only sucked his fingers into his mouth, relishing my flavor.

My womb clenched in almost painful want.  “Soon,” he promised, his voice husky with devilish intent, “You’ll be telling me exactly what you want - how to touch you. How badly you need to come.” That mouth of his was going to be the death of me, and I stayed the licentious words spilling from it with my own, even as I yanked his pants down his thighs.

Rhett skimmed the silky fabric of my dress up and over my hips so he could pull my panties down and off my legs. “Turn over, darlin’.” Before I could comply, Rhett was flipping me onto my stomach, exposing my bare behind and the backs of my thighs to him. He didn’t give me an instant to be self-conscious, peppering hungry kisses and bites over my lower back, the curve of my ass and the downy skin just where my thighs met the muscle there.

When his tongue dipped between, I shrieked, sensation bolting through me, and immediately tugged myself away. Rhett’s immediate reaction was to yank me back into place. “Just a taste.” He growled, licking a hot stripe over my aching pussy. The man dropped onto his stomach, burying his head between my thighs shamelessly as he ate me from behind. His ardor alone would probably have been enough to bring me to the edge again, but Rhett was also wickedly talented with his tongue. It flickered along the seam of my lower lips before dipping inside, working all kinds of carnal magic until I was all but sobbing against the coverlet.

My second orgasm was no less powerful than the first - helped along by the fact that Rhett lifted his mouth from my lower lips halfway through it to slide into me in a swift, precise stroke. His name spilled from my lips on a tortured moan as I gripped the silk coverlet tightly. Dear God, he felt good - hot, hard and huge, filling me in a way I used to think was impossible.

As I clenched around him, still, impossibly coming on his cock, he groaned, loud and low against my shoulder. “That’s my girl…” He bit at the back of my neck, waiting the precious few seconds I needed to recover from my orgasm before beginning to move.

I had never liked this position. At least, that’s what I told myself every time a guy asked me to get on my hands and knees like it was the sexiest thing in the goddamned cosmos. But this, this was perfection. Rhett straddled my thighs, each slide of his hips pressing me against the mattress and thrusting so deep I could feel the tip of his erection touching the spot he’d so mindlessly exploited earlier. I grasped at the pillows, the sheets, anything I could to ground myself. But it was all for naught. Soon, I was moaning uncontrollably, begging Rhett for more, faster, deeper...A wanton side of me I had never known took over, triggered by Rhett’s soft, encouraging growl against my ear.

He told me how good I felt, how perfectly I gripped his cock and how gorgeous I was wrapped around him. I felt his speed increase to mindlessness until he was slamming his hips against mine with abandon, the musky, heavy scent of sex filling the air. When he reached beneath me to start stroking my clit in time with his thrusts, urging me to come for him again, I barely held out for a minute.

Then I was arching against him, calling his name as I clung to him and every muscle in my body went taut with glorious, mind-numbing completion that seemed to last a lifetime.

Eventually, however, the real world intervened once more. The first thing I was conscious of was the hum of the plane's engine below us. Then the warm weight of Rhett’s sculpted body pressing me into the mattress. He was still inside me, and I found, much like the first time we were together, that I was reluctant to part from him.

A good two or three minutes passed before he shifted his weight onto his arms, lowering his head to kiss my neck leisurely. “You’re now an honorary member of the Mile High Club, honey.”

It was a comment that would have pissed the old Cece off - off the cuff, confident and comfortable. But now, I found myself laughing softly, shifting so I could look over my shoulder at him. “Any other clubs you want to introduce me to, Mr. Adrenaline Junkie?”

As it turned out, there were - even if their activities were best attended to outside of the bedroom.

As much as I ragged on Rhett for his money and what he did with it, there were definitely perks to having the financial freedom that he did. There was an organization of thrill-seekers in Nepal that was limited to the uber-rich, and thanks to his connections, I got the shit scared out of me in a way I would never have been able to imagine.

But that was, of course, after I acclimated to Nepal itself.

“What do you think?”

The ride from Tribhuvan International airport to the downtown area took about half an hour - and in those thirty minutes, I found myself marveling at my surroundings. Unfortunately, I’d never been one for travel. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to go, but rather because I was so obsessed with getting a better job - as well as despising the one I was currently slave to. I wasn’t paid the kind of money that allowed one to fly off to far-flung locations at your every whim, and the one time that I had gone abroad had required an entire year of savings.

But Asia was nothing like Europe.

Rhett was happy to fill in the blanks for me. Nepal was a third world country. Places like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo weren’t nearly as rural. All the lush rolling green hills I saw - the veritable thousands of sheep and horses grazing in pens and roaming free - it was a fixture of rural places.

But that didn’t mean I was any less enchanted. Slowly, those rolling hills gave way to the colorful, intricate urban sprawl that was Katmandu. I’d never seen another city like it. High rises juxtaposed with temples and prayer wheels. There were a few modern shopping malls filled with brands I had never heard off, and bordered by alleys filled with decadent smells and bustling citizens.

Of course, I didn’t get to see all this the first day. We drove through the city and straight to a hotel that seemed completely at odds with its surroundings. It wasn’t that I hadn’t expected to see a luxury hotel in Katmandu, I just hadn’t expected it to be quite as luxurious as it was.

“What are you doing?”

I was like a kid in a candy shop, and Rhett’s critical eye made me unbelievably self-conscious. I leaned over the edge of the immense tub in our suite to run my fingers along the marble bottom just as he waltzed into the bathroom to arch a brow at my actions.

I straightened almost immediately, my face hot. “It’s just...I was just seeing if it was real marble.”

He smirked, bending slightly to run his fingertips across the edge of the tub. “Not quite. Does this mean I have to get a new suite that fits your expensive tastes?”

 

I resisted the urge to clock him over the head and instead settled for rolling my eyes as I made my way back to the bedroom to begin unpacking. “How long are we going to be here again?”

“A little over a week. I have some things to see to downtown, and in the meantime, I’m going to show you some of my favorite sites.”

Something told me that anything Rhett liked was going to make my heart pound and possibly include a life-threatening experience. The prospect both excited and intimidated the hell out of me. “Hey.” When his arms slipped around me from behind, drawing me against his tall, strong form, my breath caught in my throat. “You know I’d never let anything happen to you, right? I’ll be with you the whole time.” He brushed a surprisingly tender kiss over my neck and my heart hammered against my ribs.

For a moment, I could almost forget why I was here. I was supposed to be doing a series of interviews - or, at any rate, writing some kind of story, and that story was about Rhett. We weren’t here as newlyweds, or even, really, as lovers. It was, for all intents and purposes, a working trip.

Wasn’t it?

I mean, we had spent a good portion of the flight in the private jet’s bedroom, and I had stopped being so preoccupied with what the other occupants of the plane must think of us. Eventually, all that mattered was Rhett’s hands, his mouth and the awful, wonderful things he whispered when he was inside me.

But that didn’t mean anything. We were two consenting adults, and we’d already agreed that our sleeping together didn’t have to mean anything beyond physical pleasure.

So why the hell was he all over me? Touching me, kissing me...melting me.

“Cece?” I was snapped from my reverie when he said my name.

“Hm?” I found myself reluctant to leave his embrace. Whenever I dated men, I found clinginess absolutely abhorrent. Not that there had been many of them, but there were a few boyfriends who wanted to be all over me far more than I could tolerate. It occurred to me that, had Rhett and I actually been dating, he would have fallen into that category.

At least, theoretically.

“Did you hear me? I said you should relax for a while. I have to head downtown.” Immediately, I whirled to face him.

“You’re leaving me alone?” Immediately, I was embarrassed at the slight edge of panic in my tone. Of course, I hadn’t imagined that Rhett would be by my side twenty-four seven, especially if he had business to tend to. But the idea of being in a country where I didn’t speak the language and I didn’t have a cell phone signal was slightly intimidating.

“Only for a little while.” His smile was both amused and fond at the same time, and I swallowed the urge to flee. What right did he have to look at me like that? “You’ll be perfectly fine at the hotel. Or, if you want to go out, I could hire a guide-”

“I’ll be fine,” I cut him off quickly. Better I didn’t dig the hole even deeper than it already was. “You go ahead.” I did the best I could to busy myself with unpacking once more. I didn’t think I’d be able to draw a comfortable breath until Rhett left. Despite our history, and despite the fact that I’d slept with the man twice already, I was always nervous around him. His mere presence was enough to make my palms sweaty and my knees weak.

“Cece.” When he said my name again, I refused to look up. One glance at him and I knew I might do something stupid - like drag him back into bed at me. I only promised myself one private experience...I couldn’t extend it to the whole trip. That meant every time I fell into bed with Rhett in Katmandu, I’d have to dish. That should be enough to dissuade me from doing it. “Cece.” When Rhett’s hand cupped my cheek, drawing my face upwards, for the barest moment, I forgot how to breathe.

It had to be illegal for a man to look that good coming off a fourteen hours flight. His hair was mussed and his clothing was wrinkled, but I strongly suspected that not even the apocalypse could make the man unattractive.  “What is it?” I managed, somehow annoyed and aroused all at once.

“If you want me to stay, all you have to do is ask.” The moment the words left his mouth, I was severely tempted. All rationality flew out the window and selfishness threatened to take hold.

But there was no way I was giving in. He was baiting me. He couldn’t possibly imagine that anyone in their right mind would demand he forego business meetings and other matters of import just because they asked. I wasn’t going to fall into that trope just because he offered.

Even though it made me wonder if he’d made any of his revolving door collection of women the same offer.  “Don’t be ridiculous.” I finally managed. “I don’t need a babysitter. You have matters to attend to and so do I.” I definitely needed to get more material to Jim before he decided that he needed to call me again. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining why I had just skipped the country - though, as long as it made the article juicier I could hardly imagine my boss would care. 

“I dunno. I don’t think I’d mind babysitting you.” Before I knew it, Rhett had trapped me between his solid form and the bed. My body responded shamelessly - in an instant, my panties were wet, my nipples pebbled nubs of sensation against the cups of my bra. “For as long as you needed.”

My hands came up to press against his chest as I swallowed thickly. “Rhett...If you need to work, you should go.”

His hands came up to cover mine - warm and heavy. Those blue eyes of his were going to be my undoing if I wasn’t careful. Here, nine thousand miles from everything I knew and loved, I was particularly vulnerable.  “Do you want me to go?”

Jesus, if my life was built on what I wanted, we’d hardly be in this position, would we? I’d be a renowned reporter back in Atlanta and some other gossip-column floozy would be here with Rhett. I wasn’t special. This was in his nature and I... I just happened to be the closest warm body.

So why the hell was he looking at me like that?

“Yes.” Somehow, I pushed the word past my uncooperative lips. “Go.”

Rhett’s gaze lingered on me for a moment longer, as if he were waiting for me to reveal the truth of things, before he finally released me. When he turned away, I felt, somehow, as if I’d said the wrong thing - upset him in some way. “I’ll be back later, then. Have the hotel call me if you need anything.” He grabbed his jacket from the coat-hook near the door, and in the next instant, he was gone.

The suite, already lavishly oversized, seemed even bigger without him inside it.

Taking a deep breath, I slid to the floor, leaning against the side of the bed for support. Perhaps this hadn’t been as good an idea as I thought. Hypothetically, our readership would love to hear about a whirlwind affair in a foreign country, but was I comfortable writing about it?

Ultimately, it didn’t really matter.

Setting my mouth into a firm line, I stood, digging through my carry-on until I extracted my laptop. I sat at the intricately carved desk in the corner of the room and booted up the device. When I was faced with the document where I’d been detailing Rhett’s story, I hesitated. Up until this point, things had remained fairly platonic. A kiss here and there - a few details designed to titillate the minds of people more absorbed with people’s physical and monetary disposition than anything else...but I knew that wasn’t what Jim wanted. Ultimately, I’d have to deliver on my promise.

And the sooner I started, the better.