The weight of Cassandra in his arms sated him in a way that felt like the punctuation of a sentence. There was no other woman he wanted in his arms; there was no other woman who’d ever felt like this against him. He cinched her tighter, gaze sweeping over her playful smirk, glossy blonde hair, the look in her eyes that told him this wasn’t just his imagination.

“Why are you so beautiful?” He stopped mid-stride to the bedroom, admiring her as if it were the first time all over again.

“I suppose I can try to be less beautiful,” she said breathily.

“You’ll fail,” he warned, dotting her jawline with kisses. “I can guarantee it.” He turned and headed back to the dining room, a new idea gripping him.

“Where are we going now?” She cupped his face, parting her lips for him, receiving his urgent kiss with grace.

“Phase two of my surprise.” He set her down on the edge of the dining room table, the sunlight showering her in ethereal light. Yes, this was where he’d have her. Right where she shone like a goddess.

“You want to do it here?” She lifted a brow, looking back at the expanse of dining room table behind her. “I didn’t take you for a dinner table kind of guy.”

“I’m not,” he admitted, tugging her low-cut shirt out of her work slacks. “But you make me want to be.”

She sighed. “Let me see you.”

His kisses drifted down her chest, into the sweet valley of her breasts. “Hmm?”

Cassandra’s fingers knotted in his hair, sending a shiver of anticipation through him. His cock throbbed in his pants. “Come on, Nasir.”

He dragged his tongue over the top of each breast. Her flowery smell drove him wild, almost made him dizzy with lust. “Maybe I want to take my time.”

She groaned, tensing beneath him. He grinned at her frustration, sliding a hand down the side of her body. She spread her legs, making her intentions clear. His hand drifted toward the heat between them. He watched her as his fingertips grazed her pussy through the thin fabric of her slacks; the expressions crossing her face fascinated him.

“Hmmm.” He dragged his thumb over the crease of her pussy, liking the way the pants bit into the cleft. “This area seems to be the warmest.”

She laughed. “You’re a scientist now?”

“Making my observations.” He cupped her ass cheeks, bringing her hard against him. She gasped, wrapping her legs around his back, locking his body into place.

“I’m observing something very…hard.” She seared him with a sexy look. “Quite the protrusion.”

He laughed, pressing his lips to hers. She could always make him laugh…anywhere. Anytime. “Perhaps we should expose it for further study.”

His own words rang foreign to him, but that was part of what he loved about Cassandra—she pushed him out of his comfort zone in small ways that counted. The idea of referring to their own genitals as parts of a scientific experiment was inherently absurd.

But damn if he didn’t love it.

Her hands drifted to his belt, undoing it like she’d done it a million times before. She snapped it out of his belt loops and then dropped it to the ground unceremoniously. In the back of his mind, he wondered if it might damage the floor or his belt buckle, but then the true voice of reason emerged: to hell with it.

Cassandra’s small fingers made quick work of his zipper and pushed his pants down until they bunched at his knees, their kiss never breaking. She palmed the ridge of his cock through his briefs. He moaned low. “Habibiii…”

She looked up at him with a sexy smirk. “What did you say?”

He blinked a few times as her fingers circled the head of his cock, squeezing it gently. It was so hard to think while she touched him. “I don’t know. What did I say?”

She palmed his cock again and then dipped her hand beneath the elastic of his briefs. Her cool hand fisted him, thumb making swirls over the tip of his cockhead.

“Mmmm…” The word came to him. “Habibi.”

“There it is.” She shoved the briefs down, his cock springing free. “What does that mean?”

“It’s Arabic. Loosely translated, it means ‘baby.’” More accurately, it meant “my love,” but he didn’t want to drop that on her; she’d flee for sure. He ran his hand over her shoulder, his eyes glued to her grip on his cock. She started a quick, tight rhythm that made his knees weak, right at the top of his shaft where he loved it. Like she fucking knew the quickest way to make him come.

“Mmm.” He wet his lower lip, unable to look away. “It’s so sexy watching you do this.”

She drew a low breath, her grip tightening. He’d blow his load if she kept that up, and it couldn’t happen so quickly.

“It’s kinda hot being exposed, too,” she whispered, her voice sounding far away. “Like maybe we have an audience out there.”

He chuckled, stilling her hand, feeling the tight prickle in his groin that warned him he was close. “If that’s the case, we better give them a show.”

He tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it aside, his own words ringing in his ears like someone else had said them. He tugged her bra down so her breasts spilled out over top. She gasped and arched toward him, legs spreading wider. He tutted, shaking his head.

“These need to come off.” He unbuttoned her pants and guided her to slide off the table so he could push her pants off. He stepped out of his own trousers and removed his briefs for good measure. When Cassandra started to push her panties down, he stopped her and lifted her back onto the table.

“I want to do it with them on,” he said softly, dragging his thumb over the crease of her pussy. She inhaled sharply, legs widening again. He slipped a finger beneath the damp fabric, pleased by how wet she was, the slickness reserved just for him. He moaned low, plunging a finger into her depths, eyes fluttering shut as he relished how tight she was.

“You feel too good,” he said, bringing her hard against him. She hooked her ankles behind his back, leaning back on the dining room table as if proffering herself for his pleasure.

“Take me, Nasir.”

He took a small bite at her shoulder, pushing aside the scrap of fabric as his cockhead slipped against the folds of her pussy, seeking that familiar hot entrance. He groaned into her shoulder when he found it, stilling himself before he plunged deep, gathering her against him like she might drift away.

And then he pressed himself inside her, lusciously slow, relishing each new inch as if it were his first time all over again. She whimpered, digging her fingernails into his back as he found the final inch. He gyrated in a slow circle against her, loving the way her hair fell across her face as she tilted her head away, mouth parted with pleasure, brows furrowed into a tight line.

“Please,” she whispered, voice weak.

His lips drifted over her forehead, mind cloudy from the feel of her velvety heat wrapped tight around him. “Please what, habibi?”

She laughed low, eyes drifting shut. “God, it’s sexy when you call me that.”

If that was sexy to her, he had a whole slew of things he could tell her in Arabic. Maybe that would make her stay, once the haze of sexual euphoria cleared and she threatened to run. Like he knew she would.

“You’re my habibi.” He said it factually, gripping both ass cheeks in his hands as he started a slow, forceful rhythm against her. Pulling away until he almost slipped out, then easing back inside in a glorious rush.

She grinned, draping her head against his shoulder. “Say more.”

“Baladay almalak aljamil,” he whispered into her ear, tensing his butt cheeks as he thrust into her again.

“Mmmm.” She hooked her arms around his neck, tilting her head back to look at him. “What does that mean?”

“My beautiful angel.” He ground his pelvis against her, starting a slow roll. She gasped, thighs tightening around him like a vice.

“Don’t stop,” she breathed, arching, holding herself against him in a particular spot.

He grabbed big handfuls of her ass, squeezing her hips, angling his head to commit this view of her to memory. He rolled against her until desperation took over, and then he pumped fast, in and out, long hot thrusts that made pleasure churn deep in his belly. Sweat prickled at his temples as he fucked her, the wet slaps of their skin a mesmerizing rhythm.

She squealed and clutched at him, her pussy contracting in waves around him, signaling her release. He grunted and pumped harder, gathering her against him as the pleasure gathered and then broke, cascading into a million tendrils through every cell in his body. He groaned, hugging her tight, chest heaving as he pressed his lips into her hair.

She drew a shaky breath, fingernails biting into the sides of his waist. “Oh, my God. That was intense, Nasir.”

Intense didn’t cover it. He never wanted her to get off this table. He dragged his lips over her forehead, throat tightening. “Among other things.”

She laughed a little, silent for a few moments before she shifted, straightening. He could sense her pulling away—not just physically, but closing the doorway he’d managed to break through. She’d seal it up tight again, just like he’d feared.

She pressed against his chest and he stepped away, his cock slipping out of her, a draft of air coming between them that felt as cold and thick as a glacier. He watched helplessly as she reached for her clothes, tugging them on with her back turned to him. Tension hung in the air, bloated and awkward.

Nasir pulled his briefs on and then his pants. As he fastened them, the silence between them became deafening.

“Cassandra, why don’t you spend the—”

“I should go.”

They both spoke at the same time. Nasir sighed tersely. “Why do you want to leave?”

“This was inappropriate.” She shook her head, nostrils flaring. “I’m a little upset with myself, so I should go.”

“Upset with yourself?” He reached for her, but she dodged him. “Cassandra, this was both of us. I wish you wouldn’t feel badly about what happened. It’s natural…and inevitable.”

“Exactly. Which is why I shouldn’t be working with you anymore.” She tucked her shirt into her work pants, her mouth a thin line. “If this gets out, it will ruin my career. And apparently I can’t help myself, so something needs to change.”

Nasir wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or concerned. “This won’t get out. I promise. I have no interest in ruining your career.”

Her nostrils flared. “Thank you. I believe that.”

“Why don’t you stay the night?”

Her gaze swung to meet his, prickly and intense. “Are you serious?”

Nasir straightened. “Of course. We were having a lovely evening.”

“Yes, a lovely work evening.” She sighed, gathering her papers from the table. “What do you want from me?”

The question landed like a spear in the gut. It wasn’t a simple question, but rather rimmed with barbed wire. If he told her what he really wanted from her, she’d shoot out the door faster than a bullet. I want to be with you. It feels right. He had to answer carefully—to strategize. What was the simplest, the most honest-yet-soothing? “I’d like to spend more time with you.”

“That’s the one thing I shouldn’t do.”

He ran a hand through his hair, her tone sawing at his patience. “Well, what do you want from me?”

She cleared her throat as she packed up her briefcase. “I want you to respect my career.”

Silence settled between them, heavy like a dense fog. He had nowhere to go from here. If that was how she wanted things, then he had to respect that. He’d barely found the time to go on an arranged date due to his own commitment to his career. If Cassandra was cut from that same cloth, he had to respect it.

“I would never do anything to ruin it,” he said in a soft voice, turning away from her.

But what about us? The question hung in the back of his throat, bulky and foreign, with no way to speak the words.

“I’ll send you the information about the lunch dates,” Cassandra said a few moments later, her voice quiet and calm. She headed toward the door and he slunk down the hall behind her, his limbs a confusing mess of post-coital body buzz and disappointment.

Nasir didn’t say anything, just held the door open as she slipped into her heels and then strode out of the penthouse. He watched her get on the elevator, hoping she might glance at him, waiting for even a scorching millisecond of recognition or doubt or regret.

Cassandra kept her lips pursed and eyes on the ground, the elevator doors sliding shut, removing her from his life.