Chapter 7
"Stop!" Her voice sounded loud in the quietness of the elegant sitting room, but she had to do something to make him stop. He was crowding her and the feelings she had buried and assured herself were under control had come back to the forefront of her mind. "You don’t get to do that to me a second time, Stephan." She called him by his first name without even realizing it. "You don’t get to fool me a second time. Please, let go of me."
He released her arm, but to her consternation he tilted her chin up. "I did not fool you as you put it," he told her softly. "I am attracted to you, fiercely so, and that was the reason I had to put what I am feeling on hold. I could not afford anything to cloud my judgment in getting the work done."
"I am not doing this," she told him firmly even though her insides were quivering. "This is madness and we have to realize that this cannot happen between us."
"You are right," he murmured, but still he did not let her go. "It’s madness and I should just let you go on your way and keep it just business between us."
"We should," she whispered. She had on boots with heels and still yet he towered over her. She could feel the heat of his body near hers and was not aware that he had come closer until he was. "We should not do this."
"I agree," he murmured huskily as he bent his head and his breath fanned her face. "I should let you leave." His lips hovered over hers before touching. Sasha felt her knees buckling and she had to grab onto his sweater for leverage! Her mouth opened beneath his as his tongue entered hers and ventured in, the movement slow and precise as if he was waiting for her to push him away. But she could not do that! Not even if her life depended on it, she could not push him away or tell him to stop! She had promised herself that this would never happen again! She had promised herself that she would never fall prey to him like that time at his office. But here with his lips on hers and the passion coursing through her body at the touch of his lips, she did not think about that part of it, she just wanted to feel and she was doing so in spades! He pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss, his heart thundering inside his chest as his lips moved over hers, the desire evident as he hardened to almost impossible proportions. He should not have invited her up to his suite. This was not very good idea. He wanted her like he had never wanted another woman in his entire life! The insistent ringing of his phone broke through the haze of passion that surrounded them and it took several minutes before he realized what it was making the noise. He lifted his head and she took that opportunity to push him away from her. They stood there staring at each other for a minute before she gathered up her pocketbook with shaky hands.
"Please, tell your mother goodbye for me," she said huskily. She stepped back as he advanced and she held up a hand. "Please, don’t."
He took a deep breath and stayed where he was. "You cannot run away from it."
"Watch me," she told him grimly as she turned and hurried to the door. He was about to go after her when his phone started ringing again. He hesitated, torn between answering it and going after her, but with a sigh he strode towards the phone and pressed the answer button, his eyes closing as he tried to get his emotions under control!
******
Sasha dumped her jacket and her pocketbook onto the chair in her small bedroom before dropping down onto the bed. Even during that long drive home she had not recovered from the heat that had enveloped her body throughout the time she had been with him and the time she had spent coming home. Now seated on her bed she was reliving every single touch of his lips on hers and his body against hers. If the telephone had not rung and had he ignored it and continued she would have allowed him to make love to her. "Jesus!" She flopped back against the pillows and closed her eyes. She had wanted him to take off her clothes and make love to her and then what? They were miles apart! She did not believe for a second that because she had gotten along so well with his mother and that they had some kind of passion between them that anything would work for them. He was one of the sexiest men in the beauty industry, he was handsome, incredibly wealthy, and was used to beautiful, thin women, and she was not one of them. She was a working class woman and she was proud of what she did, but she was also a realist who found herself caught up in this position of having feelings for this man who turned her on like no one had ever done before. She let out a scream suddenly and beat her fists on the bed not caring if she was disturbing her neighbors. What the hell was she going to do? How was she going to remain neutral whenever she saw him in a room? How was she going to cope with being in the same room as him? She groaned softly as she removed one of the pillows and placed it over her head.
*****
He called her Sunday morning. She had been contemplating whether or not she should go to church, but she had not gone to bed until in the early hours of the morning and it was the ringing of the telephone that woke her up. She opened her eyes and saw that it was almost ten. With a groan, she rolled and reached for the phone, not recognizing the strange number. "Hello?"
"I woke you." His deep voice awakened all the emotions she had felt yesterday!
"You did. What do you want, Stephan?"
"I want to see you." He went on hastily before she could say anything. "To talk more about helping your friend. I have been in touch with the doctors at Mercy General and they want her to come in tomorrow."
"Thank you, but we don’t have to see each other to talk about it. I can just make the arrangements with the minister and he will see to it that she gets there."
"I need to see you, Sasha."
"No," she said firmly.
"I will come over."
She sat up abruptly. "Don’t you dare! I have nosy neighbors and there is nowhere you can go without being recognized. I will not have you ruining what there is of my reputation and making people think that I am some rich man’s tart."
"Tell me a solution, Sasha, because I am going to see you today one way or another," he warned her.
"What happened to it being just business between us?" she demanded, fully awake now as she sat up against her pillows. "You think that because you are wealthy, that you call all the shots? I don’t play that way, Stephan."
"I am not playing," he told her. "I could not sleep last night and this morning I woke up fully aroused. I have to do something about it."
"Too bad," she said in a rush as the heat plunged into her body at his words. "I am sure you have someone on call to deal with that for you. Or better yet, deal with it yourself."
"There is an apartment near the office. You can meet me there in an hour. I will text you the address." He ignored what she had just said to him and Sasha almost ground her teeth in frustration.
"You can text me all you want, but I will not be there."
"I am sending the text, Sasha, and if I don’t see you in the next hour or so I am coming over. And don’t think about running off somewhere because I will be waiting at the apartment for you to come back." He hung up on her and Sasha bit back the scream that came to her lips! She was going to have words with him and that was for sure!
*****
"Mother, I have to go out for a few hours, but I will be back in time to have dinner with you." Stephan pulled up a chair and sat next to her bed. It was almost noon and she had already eaten and had her medications so it was time for her afternoon nap. "How are you today?"
"Feeling a lot better." Elizabeth’s gray eyes wandered over her son’s handsome face. "I was disappointed that Sasha could not come by and say goodbye to me last night. I would like to see her again."
"I am sure she would like that too," he said gently. "You really like her."
"I do," she said with a smile. "She is animated and filled with life and is honest to a fault." Her eyes met his. "I have a feeling that you like her as well."
"Something like that." He moved his shoulders restlessly.
"But you have misgivings."
"She is a pain and her penchant of speaking her mind gets on my nerves," he said with a rueful smile. "I have never met anyone like her."
"I don’t think there is anyone like her and she does not care how wealthy you are," his mother said with a smile. "Are you going to see her again?"
"Mother, are you up to your usual matchmaking?" he asked her indulgently.
"She would be good for you, darling."
"She is stubborn and everything for her is an argument."
"You are challenged by her and you are not used to that," she said to him.
"You are right." He took her hand in his. "I saw her with you and was quite impressed."
"She does not treat me as if I am sick. People come in here and they have no idea what to say to me. She is the only person who treats me like a human being."
"She is something else."
"And you more than like her," his mother observed.
Stephan bent and kissed her veined hand. "I more than like her," he agreed.
******
The apartment building was empty and that was the reason why he had chosen it for them to meet. It had been acquired by his company a year ago to house the models and business associates. At this time of the year, it was usually sitting empty, but during the busy seasons it was filled with people who were apart of the ad campaigns and the businessmen who came from all over to overnight and discuss business ideas with the company. He waited for her out in the parking lot and within minutes he saw her car turning in. He was prepared for the arguments and had braced himself for it.
She parked and got out of the vehicle. She had on an afghan over her sweater and denims and her brown boots made crunching sounds on the packed up snow as she came towards him.
"Let’s do this," she said coolly to his utter amusement.
"Is that your way of dealing with it?" he asked her as he reached out to take her hand. She shifted her hand away from his.
"I don’t want to talk or argue or turn over in my mind what the hell I am doing! I just want to get it over and done with."
"You make it sound like something horrible," he mused as he followed her into the building. "I assure you it will be far from that."
She did not answer as the guard came forward to open the doors for them. "Mr. Coleman," he said with a respectful nod of his head. "Miss."
"It’s Sasha Fullerton. Just want to let you know in case you want to distinguish me from the other women he brings here."
The guard stared at her not knowing what to say!
"That will be all, Collin," Stephan said with a strained smile, really wondering if this had been a good idea.
"Yes, sir." He disappeared swiftly and they made their way towards the elevator.
"I am beginning to think that this was not such a good idea," he muttered as they made their way into the elevator.
"Why? Because I showed you up in front of your employee?" she asked sweetly. "Are you going to tell me that I am the first woman you ever brought here?"
"No," he told her coolly. "But you are the only one who has gotten on my nerves."
He strode over to a row of doors and opened one, stepping back to let her inside. She gave a quick glance around and noticed the simple elegance of the place. They were standing in the foyer and he took her coat.
"I am just making you see that we do not belong together," she told him.
"It is just sex, Sasha," he told her coolly, his ire up. "It is not like I am proposing."
"You are right. It is just sex so let’s get it over and done with and then get on with our lives," she told him coldly.
"What the hell is your problem?" His gray eyes glowered as he looked at her.
"What is my problem?" she blazed at him. "You railroaded me into coming here today telling me that if I did not show up you were going to come to my apartment and you are asking me what my problem is?"
"Do you want to leave?" he asked her grimly.
"Hell no! I came here to get laid and that’s exactly what is going to happen."
"Then let’s do this." He turned and led the way into the bedroom. He had never felt so contrary toward a woman in his life! He was angry at her attitude and he still felt the desire for her going through him like a damned furnace! He wished he could tell her to get the hell out and go back to her place, but he could not! He wanted her so much that he could not think straight. He turned to her. "Take off your clothes," he told her.
"What? No romance?" she asked him with arched brows.
"You want to get it over and done with it and so do I." He sat on the edge of the bed and took his boots and socks off, and then getting to his feet, he unbuckled his pants and took them off before pulling the sweater over his head. Sasha felt her bravado fade away as she looked at him. His chest was firmly muscled and rippled with the slightest movements of his arms. Her eyes wandered over his magnificent physique but shied away from the bulge in the underwear he still had on.
"Take off your clothes." His tone had fastened as he looked at her. "Now."
She would normally tell him that he did not get to tell her what to do, but she could not say anything. Not now! She sat on the side of the bed and started to take off her boots when he came over to help her take them off. He put them away and knelt there before her. "Take the rest off."
She eased up and took off her denim jeans and he pulled them down for her as well as the leggings she had worn. He ran his fingers over her thick legs wandering up to her bare thighs, opening her legs as he knelt before her. He lifted the edge of her sweater and pulled it over her head, his eyes going to her breasts encased in black satin. He unhooked the bra and let the material slide away and then he cupped her small breasts in his hands. His eyes lifted and met hers for a moment before he bent his head and took a hard nipple inside his mouth. Sasha emitted a serrated sigh and just managed to stop herself from moaning and gripping his dark head in her fingers. She felt the heat rising inside her body, the impossible searing heat that uncoiled inside her belly and traveled upwards as his tongue worked its way around the hardened bud of her nipple. He got his feet and braced her back on the bed. He lifted his head and looked down at her, his face unreadable, his gray eyes bright. "You are the most infuriating woman I have ever come across," he muttered. "But God I want you so much that-" He broke off as he bent his head and took her lips with his in a brutal kiss that had her shuddering against him. Sasha brought her hands up and wrapped them around his neck. Every argument she had spoken to herself coming over here vanished into thin air as the passion and desire clamored for release inside her! He released her lips and eased up but only to get rid of both their underwear before coming back over her, between her legs, the tip of his penis brushing against her leg as he braced his hands next to her head. "I did not remember to bring anything." The knowledge gave him stay for a moment. He never forgot to do something like that because he had to be careful in his position, but he had been thinking about her so much that he had forgotten about that important part of it.
"I am safe." She moved restlessly beneath him. "Trust me, Stephan, the last thing I would want is to be pregnant for someone like you. Put it in."
He did not ask what she meant by that sentence; he was past caring. He entered her swiftly and felt the breath whoosh out of him as her tightness closed around him like a vice. He had to stop for a moment, he could not move as he looked down at her, his body shuddering!
"Stephan?" She moved against him and he had to close his eyes at the effect of her moistness sliding over his rigid dick!
"Jesus!" he whispered as he bent his head to take her lips. He had to do something, concentrate on something or else he was going to disgrace himself! He was experienced – certainly more experienced than she was and he felt like a damned schoolboy getting laid for the first time! He finally moved and he could not stop the control from slipping away from him. His body quickened against hers as he increased the pace, his fingers biting into her flesh of her hips as he plunged into her.
Sasha felt it too. The incredible buildup of passion between them, the heat and intensity that seemed to increase with every movement of their fevered bodies! She dug her blunt nails into the bunched up muscles of his shoulders as she arched her body towards his! His mouth was hard on hers, but she did not mind. She had never felt so much heat and passion in her life! He lifted his head as he looked down at her, his gray eyes smoldering, his face intense. He did not stop; he did not say anything as they stared at each other. There was nothing to say! His body tensed and he knew that he was near, too damned near, and he could not stop what was coming! She curled her fingers into his hair tightly. "Damn!" she whispered huskily. That was all she managed to say. He saw her arch her back and knew she was near as well. He bent his head to hers and took her lips with his swallowing the cry that escaped her lips as the orgasm splintered through her body, taking him along with her. He bruised her mouth with his as the powerful gripping and encompassing orgasm tore through his unsuspecting body causing him to stiffen against her and caused him to dig his fingers into her skin, not realizing that he was leaving marks on her. He could not control the movements of his body against hers. And he could not stop! He was wrung dry and so out of control that he had no idea that he had torn his mouth from hers and the sounds emitting around the room were actually coming from him!