The atmosphere at work was tenuous at best. Jesse avoided Avery as much as he could, but didn’t let an opportunity slip by to warn her with a searing look that she was running out of time.

Then there was Stone. She’d been waiting on pins and needles for him to make his next move. It defied reason why she hadn’t heard from him in eight days, since he’d made his intentions known.

Avery had greeted the New Year with a splitting headache after the overindulgence the night before during her big reveal. It was two days later and she still sported a slight twinge behind her eyes.

“Let that be a lesson, Avery. You’re way too old to drink that much,” she grumbled under her breath as she walked through the kitchen.

The staff had been walking wide circles around her the entire day since she had snapped at one of the junior chefs early that morning. She grumbled goodbye and gave them a quick smile of reassurance.

The slight breeze outside was cold and Avery huddled deeper into her thick jacket; her head lowered as she rushed to her SUV in the parking area.

“Damn it,” she cursed as she dropped the keys when she tried to deactivate and unlock the car without removing her gloves. She picked it up and froze.

Stone was leaning nonchalantly against her car, watching her with a brooding expression on his face.

“Oh, hi,” she murmured. Her heart raced in her chest.

Why did this man have such an effect over me? I can’t seem to think straight the moment he looks into my eyes.

“I’m taking you to dinner at my house.” His deep drawl floated across the short distance separating them to soothe her frayed mind.

“I can’t. I have to get home.”

Tammy, Wyatt's nanny, had told her she had an exciting date that evening, which meant she had to get home to relieve her.

Stone’s eyes narrowed. He took one big step and pulled her against him before he asked with a voice vibrating in anger, “Are you married?

“No.”

“Is there another man in your life?” His eyes glowed like balls of blue fire.

“No.”

“Then you’re coming with me. It’s late and you have to eat, so, let’s go.

“Stone,” she protested but his searing look shut her up. He seemed too powerful and threatening in her present state of mind for her to oppose him in that moment. Her stomach lurched as a thought came to her.

Don’t tell me he knows! She swept it aside immediately. He wouldn’t be this controlled and relaxed if he did.

“The French have a saying, vivre de pain, d'amour, et d'eau fraiche, which means: live on bread, love, and freshwater. Me, on the other hand, I believe in filling my belly with proper food, so . . .”

He opened the door to his truck and waited for her to get in. She glanced at her SUV.

“This is silly. I can take my car, so you don’t have to do double trips to bring me home later.”

“What makes you think you’re coming home tonight?” He drawled. The seriousness of his expression worried her.

She gulped, she could imagine her ovaries bursting out in a soprano version of Joy to the World.

“Stone, I really need to—”

“If you made other plans, cancel them. You’re having dinner with me at my house and afterwards, I plan on fucking you every which way I can.”

Avery got into the car.

He took off and ordered irritably when she just stared ahead. “Make the call, Avery.”

She glanced at him. With him listening to every word? No chance in hell.

“I’ll just send a text,” she muttered. She formulated a coded text message to Kim and Jill, asking them to spend the night at her house with Wyatt.

Their response was immediate.

 

Done. Make sure you know what you’re doing, Avery. Do what you need to do. This is the best opportunity you’ll get.

 

Stone led her directly to the dining room when they arrived. It was an exquisite room. The walls were painted in a rustic olive color with pristine white trim. In the middle of the ceiling above the carved oak table was a chandelier. A runner with a Celtic design woven in gold and green graced the center of the table. At the far end of the room, the floor to ceiling French doors offered a breathtaking view of the landscaped garden and pool.

“This is a beautiful room,” she said as she sat down. Stone didn’t respond and poured a deep red Merlot into the large wine glasses on the table. She took a sip for some added courage. It was rich and delicately smooth on her tongue.

Wendy, who Stone introduced as his cook and housekeeper extraordinaire, rushed in with their first course.

“Enjoy lovies,” she trilled in a musical voice as she trotted back to the kitchen.

Avery breathed in the delicious smell of the ravioli. The little white parcels were wonderfully fresh, filled with wild mushrooms, and served with a salad of mixed greens and parmesan cheese.

“I left the menu up to Wendy. She’s worked for me for ten years and has been a gem.”

“It’s delicious,” Avery praised as she bit into the pasta.

“Tell me about yourself, Avery,” Stone said colloquially.

“What do you want to know,” she hedged.

“Everything. What you’ve been doing since you left school. Your likes, dislikes, favorite color, that sort of thing.”

She glanced at him, surprise edged on her face. The dinner was turning into a proper date of two people getting to know each other.

“Only if you promise to reciprocate,” she dared.

His smile was gentle and whisked away her fears. Excitement rushed through her veins.

“Of course,” he said.

His good mood set the trend for the balance of dinner. The atmosphere was relaxed, yet charged with an undercurrent of electricity that lit their eyes whenever their gazes met.

After they finished the meal, they moved to the den and settled in the sofa in front of a large roaring fire. Stone told her about his family, Jesse, and his mother. He made her laugh with tales of his youth, and how starting his company had changed his life. He spoke about his friend and partner, Jaxon Lenox. His one eyebrow curved toward his hairline when he noticed the beginnings of a rosy blush on her cheeks.

“You’ve met Jaxon, I presume?”

“Well, not formally, no but he did give me a Santa kiss on Christmas Eve.”

“Of course, he did,” Stone muttered with a dark look on his face.

Avery stared at him wide eyed. If she didn’t know better she’d swear he was jealous.

She was still processing this enlightenment when Stone picked her up in his arms.

“And now little elf, it’s time.”

The vibration of his deep voice held a promise of unbound passion that found resonance deep inside Avery. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled sweetly.

“Well then Santa, show me what you’ve got,” she purred.

His delighted laughter followed them up the stairs. Avery nibbled on his ear, drawing a warning rumble from him. She became lost in the magical spell he wove around her and thoughts of informing him about Wyatt disappeared with the promise of sensual delights.

Avery was so enraptured by the heated look in his eyes that she was surprised to find herself on her back on his bed with him setting between her legs, naked, and without her having a conscious memory of how it happened.

Stone palmed her cheeks and captured her lips with a hungry urgency that caused her blood to rush with alarming heat through her veins. He completely overwhelmed her with the passion in his kiss.

The warmth of his mouth on hers sent a current of desire charging through her body, so strong that she started to tremble. Her skin came alive under his touch as shivers danced over her flesh.

“Ooh,” she released that sexy telltale gasp he loved so much when his hand trailed over her chest to tweak her nipple. He slowly ended the kiss, placing tender pecks around her jaw.

Avery pushed against his chest, forcing him to lean back. She kept pushing and adding a twist from her hips, Stone rolled onto his back with her gently prodding. She straddled his hips and ran her hands up and down his muscled chest.

“This time, I get to play,” she lilted in a husky voice.

Stone smiled and relaxed on the bed, his hands caressing the curve of her hips.

“Now, that sounds very promising, baby.”

Her fingers crawled over his shoulders and trailed across the hair at the nape of his neck. She sucked a breath through her teeth and pressed her body against his. Her fingertips brushed over his lips gently, before she started her quest to taste his skin with passionate kisses down his body, moving lower between his legs until she reached her objective.

She caught his rising shaft in her hand, wrapping her fingers around the base.

“Ah, Avery, you read my mind,” he praised. His eyes glimmered in the soft glow of the bedside lamp.

She curled her tongue over the smooth, bulbous head, lapping at the viscous drops oozing from the slit. Stone reached down to massage her scalp and caught a tuft of her hair in his fist.

Her lips were soft as she moved them over the top to suck him into her mouth, running her tongue across the slit. The heat of her lips as she rolled them around the tip, almost like she was savoring her favorite ice cream, incinerated Stone. His moan echoed through the room when she lapped at the area where the spongy head connected with his hard shaft.

Stone caught her around the waist and pulled her legs toward him.

“Oh, my,” she cooed at the sudden change in position, excited about his intent.

A soft moan escaped from Avery which vibrated around his cock when he flicked his thumb over her clit until the nub swelled in response. Her hips lifted in reaction, silently begging for more. Stone acceded by rubbing the tiny bud, with varying degrees of pressure. Soft at first, then hard. Now and then he tapped his finger hard against the fleshy protrusion. Avery jerked as heat filled her veins caused by the insistent throbbing of her clitoris.

“Not fair, I’m supposed to be the one giving you pleasure,” she complained as she lapped languidly at the tip of his cock.

His breath got stuck somewhere between his lungs and throat at the sensual gesture. Stone closed his eyes, savoring the feeling as she ran her tongue up and down the shaft of his cock.

His hand tightened around her silky tresses and he watched as she sucked on him, her red lips wrapped snugly around his fully aroused size.

So hot. So fucking hot!

With her hand around the base of his shaft to guide her, Avery fed his cock deeper into her mouth, sucking as she pushed down, her mouth stretched wide to accommodate his girth. She kept going until his bulging head nudged the entrance of her throat then started working him up and down, pumping his shaft with her hand.

Stone reciprocated by pushing two fingers deep inside her pussy. She gagged as she lost concentration when he started to plunge them into her pussy.

“Easy, Avery,” he cautioned, waiting until she settled into an even pumping rhythm before he began to guide her pace with his hand. He thrust his hips and soon felt the telltale sign of heat expanding through his groin.

He pressed his hips into the bed and pulled on her hair to drag her mouth off his cock. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Stone moved and flipped her onto her stomach.

He took her breath away as he pressed his chest against her back to whisper in her ear, “Now, baby, it’s my turn.”

He yanked her hips higher until she was on her knees with her head pressed into the pillow.

“Lord, that feels wicked,” Avery crowed as Stone tapped the end of his cock against her clit. She couldn’t curb the excitement in her voice, even if she tried.

“It’s about to become more wicked, little chef,” he teased with the sound of paper crinkling as he sheathed his cock in a condom.

“Beautiful,” he grunted as he found her core flushed with moisture. “So hot and wet.” He brushed his palm up and down her labia. “Spread your legs for me, baby.”

Avery didn’t hesitate. She gasped when he pushed them wider apart. Her breathing increased when he brushed his fingers over her swollen folds and pulled her hips backward.

“No man can resist such an invitation,” he hummed before he dipped his head to bury his tongue inside her and to suck at her fleshy folds.

Her traitorous body reacted with a surge of heat that flushed her skin. His delighted, almost evil laughter spurred her on, making her press her pussy harder against his face as he continued to dine on her like a feral animal.

Avery clawed at the sheets, moaning at his sensual enjoyment, desperate to find that rush of pleasure her body hungered for.

“Stone, please,” she begged with flared nostrils but his own desires had consumed him. He continued to hunt and stalk her body, wanting to trap her in his spell.

Stone was too far aroused to deny her and quickly pressed his swollen length into her with one hard thrust, exulting in her surprised cry—a mixture of pleasure and pain—while stroking her clit with deliberate forcefulness.

“Too much. Stone it’s too . . . ohh!” Avery gasped, not used to such continued stimulation. Every nerve connected with her brain, left her floundering as a flash flood of sensations tore through her body. She pushed back, arching her neck in rapture as he hilted into her with strong, hard thrusts, plunging deep, triggering lustful cries from her lips.

Avery twitched and wriggled as she reached between her legs to cup and then squeeze Stone’s sack in her hand.

“You little witch,” he belted out as she pulled gently with every plunge. She squeezed harder, exulting in his moans.

She felt him swell even more inside her. The added sensations she was causing with her manipulations were sending him deeper inside her tight channel.

“Holy . . . fuck,” Avery wailed. She erupted with long guttural moans crawling from her chest. She released a warm gush of nectar that flushed his loins as he continued to plunge and stroke her silky walls. She screamed out at the climax that curled her toes and sent shudders coursing through her helpless body.

“Again. Avery, come for me again,” he crowed as he stroked her clit while pounding her pussy. His loins slapped layers of pleasure into hers in rhythm to the wailing of her cries. A prodigious spasm struck him as he plunged deeper with an eruption of hot spurts of cum inside her.

Avery bucked despairingly as he continued to jerk against her, both of them lost in the depths of their euphoric lust. Her loins tightened as she came beneath him once again.

And that was only the beginning. Stone kept to his earlier promise. He spent the rest of the night turning her body into his own personal masterpiece of sensual delights.