Chapter Nine
Carson gathered Avery close as she rode his fingers, hips rocking, her walls clamping down in sharp spasms. She was beyond beautiful. Her head thrown back, lips parted in lost invitation he barely resisted.
He pushed her too, rubbing her clit until he felt the last hard contraction of her muscles. Her gasping breaths stalled before she went lax. He eased up, caught her weight as she sagged in his arms. He slid his fingers from her, a twinge of regret pinching his chest for what he longed to finish but couldn’t here.
His dick ached with the need to sink into her heat, to make her scream again. She’d responded to the scene with a wild abandon he hadn’t been prepared for. Not fully, at least. Gone was the shy hesitation. In its place was a lush sensuality that was absolutely stunning on Avery. Pure in its newfound freedom.
He ran his teeth up her neck. The urge to suck, bite and leave a mark scraped at his control. He scooped Avery up. Her eyes flew open on a shocked gasp as her arms came around his neck. Wide, deep blue eyes still dilated with passion stared up at him.
He strode forward without answering her unasked question. Jacob met him at the door, swung it open. His smirk was knowing.
“You can let yourself out when you’re ready,” Jacob said. He glanced back at the table. “We’ll be a while.”
Carson nodded and left. He didn’t look back or give another thought to what the three of them would do. Avery stayed silent in the short walk to the smaller conference room. The front of her dress was skewed to display the rounded flesh of a breast and the darker edge of her areola.
It tempted him, just like her doe-eyed look that screamed of innocence even though she’d just shattered every concept of that.
The warm drizzle of his precome stuck to his abdomen and his balls ached for the release he’d barely withheld. His temper simmered on a low burn directly connected to his frustration. She’d done nothing wrong. No, on the contrary, she’d been exactly right.
“Carson?” Her brows pulled together in a slight frown, doubt sucking the afterglow from her expression.
He stepped into the smaller room, breaths coming too quickly despite his attempt to slow them. He lowered her feet to the floor, holding her close to ensure she didn’t fall. Right. That was exactly why he couldn’t loosen his hold when she tried to step back.
The questions were back in her eyes, her pupils smaller now. A flush held on her cheeks, the sultry woman from the boardroom still visible.
He shook his head, tried to deny the recklessness urging him to act. She wet her lips, and his focus went to the pink tip before it slid back inside. Blood roared in his ears, and he leaned down, mesmerized. His lips were on hers before he could stop himself.
Soft. Warm.
Her short inhalation left an opening he plunged into without thought. He cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss with one stroke of his tongue. His groan rumbled up his throat as he plundered her mouth. His frustration poured out in a wild battle of tongues, nips and gasps. He tumbled into the haze with a blindness he rarely allowed.
The heavier scent of her arousal merged with her lighter perfume to form a sexy musk he couldn’t get enough of. Like her heavenly taste and wild abandon.
She clutched the back of his neck, drawing him in as he did the same. He wanted closer to her. His erection raged its desire in a throbbing ache he was so close to easing. Yet...
He ripped his mouth from hers, gasping breaths rushing through the silence. “Fuck.” He squeezed his eyes closed, held her tight when she started to protest. “Don’t,” he snapped, his tone sharp with everything he was holding back.
He pressed his cheek to her head and drew in long, slow breaths. She remained still, her breaths slowing with his until the quiet hush of the office returned. It was another long moment before he eased away. She blinked up at him, that frown line back between her brows.
His low snicker was totally inappropriate. “I’m not laughing at you,” he quickly said when her retort previewed across her face. “Honestly.” He stroked his thumb down her jaw, thoughts scrambled.
He didn’t get involved. He stayed on the peripherals, out of the conflicts. And Avery was a huge conflict. His conflict.
“What’d you think?” he asked, thrusting the focus onto her. “About the scene?”
Her brows dipped. A corner of her mouth turned up. “I thought that was kind of obvious.”
His balls drew up. Fucking... He forcibly shoved back the lust that refused to be denied. He managed a weak smile, too aware of how much she’d enjoyed it—physically. “Tell me what you liked.” He kept his voice even while trying to be encouraging. He really did want to know what, exactly, had turned her on—so he could do it again.
She glanced down, but he immediately forced her chin up until she looked him in the eye. He wouldn’t let her hide. Not after she’d let herself go so beautifully.
“Did the scene make you hot?” he prompted. “Was it too tame?”
She nodded, then shook her head, eyes widening slightly. Her nostrils flared on her inhale, but she didn’t pull away. He stroked a hand up and down the small of her back in calming passes. The silky softness of her dress skimmed over her skin in a mocking reminder of what he couldn’t touch.
She swallowed, throat working hard. “It was...hotter than I’d expected. Different.” She glanced away, but that determination flashed when she brought her gaze back to him. “I liked all of it. The watching. You touching me. The sounds. The scents. Your commands. The entire experience was...” She searched him, eyes darkening again. “Amazing.”
She drew his head down, and he let her. Her lips brushed his, the tentative sweetness so her yet not. He knew better now, and that knowledge was scored into his memory. He deepened the kiss in one controlling swipe that ripped a moan from her and sent his frustration to warning levels.
He jerked back, cursing softly. He pressed a kiss to her temple, his breaths ragged once again. “We need to go,” he said, regret heavy.
“Why?” The confusion was so clear in her breathy question.
He stepped away and reached for her coat. “Because I’m going to fuck you over this table if we don’t leave.”
Her brows sprang up, mouth forming a silent O. His smile was tight as he held her coat out for her to slip into.
She slid her arms into the sleeves before she turned her head back to glance at him over her shoulder. “You could.” Her gaze slid to the table, then back to him.
The image of her splayed on the light wood, dress rumpled under her arms, everything bared to him, almost did him in. Her musky scent still lingered on his fingers, and he caught a hit of it with his deep inhalation. Fuck, how he wanted to taste every damn inch of her.
He dropped his hands from her shoulders, grabbed her purse from the table. “The scene is over, Avery.” He turned in the doorway and waited for her, hand extended. “It’s time to go.”
Her jaw dropped before she snapped her mouth shut. Her eyes narrowed, chin rising. He tensed, but she stayed silent as she swept by him. Her strides were brisk, spine straight through her march from the building.
The cooler night air was a welcome refresher when they stepped outside. Avery didn’t pause in her hurry to escape him. Not until they reached his car. She spun around so quickly he almost ran her down. He froze, prepared anew for her attack.
“I don’t understand,” she bit out. Anger radiated from her. No. That was hurt camouflaged by anger. She shook her head, arms crossed. “How can you just cut it off like that?” She sliced a hand through the air.
He almost winced at the unintentional implication. The shadows softened her features despite the hardness that’d slammed over them. She was wild again. The fire that’d blazed so clearly in the boardroom reappeared to call him on his dickish behavior.
His smile grew in small increments. He raised his hand slowly, giving her plenty of time to duck away. She remained still as he brushed her bangs away from her eyes. “There are rules,” he explained. So many rules, both defined by others and himself. “The Boardroom works because they’re followed. Our arrangement was limited to there.” A flash of hurt blazed in her eyes before she smothered it. Her lips compressed, her nod one short bob. “This isn’t more.” The reminder was for her, or so he told himself. “I loved every second of what we did,” he added to reassure her.
Her frown deepened, doubt clear. She didn’t believe him.
He grabbed her hand and pressed her palm to his erection. A gasp accompanied her frown, but he held her hand there when she tried to jerk it back. His frustration buzzed too close to anger with no clear definition of what or who he was mad at.
“This is what you do to me.” He forced her palm down the length of his boner before he let it go. Her hand lingered for a moment, one breath too long, before she pulled it back. “Don’t doubt my intentions nor my words.” He stepped around her to open the car door, his temper plucking at his control. It happened so rarely, he wasn’t prepared for it now.
And that irritated him even more.
They rode back to her place in silence, the night passing on a glare of headlights that eventually shifted to streetlights. She remained tense beside him, but he resisted the urge to reach out to her.
He pulled into the small driveway beside her building, stopping once he cleared the street. He shifted into Park, flicked the headlights off, then turned to her. She stared straight ahead, hands clasped in her lap. She didn’t move to get out, so he waited. He could give her that much.
“Can we do it again?” she asked, her voice so soft he almost missed it.
Shock nailed him. His hand tightened on the steering wheel. His pulse kicked up. His mind screamed, “fuck yes.”
“You’d like to?” he asked instead, voice purposefully level.
Her eyes closed. The faint glow from the street and over the building doorway provided enough light to catch her hesitation before he heard a soft “yes.”
Indecision warred. The battle of desire and logic wrestled for victory. “This isn’t a relationship,” he clarified. Again.
She whipped her head around, her glare cutting through him. “Trust me. I get that.”
He raised a brow, a deliberate action to hide his own cutting retort. Damn, he almost wanted to fight with her. He loved the fire when she let it show as much as the quiet restraint. There was so much more to her to discover...
“And you still want to do another scene?” he asked. She nodded and he clarified, “With me?” Another nod, this one very careful and slow. The darkness hid so much of her expression, but he felt the challenge, caught the same defiance she’d shown him the first time she’d asked for this.
He shifted his leg to give his overactive dick more space as he hardened again. That body part was on board with doing everything with her. But he’d never allowed that head to do his thinking for him. Not even when he’d been a horny teenager. He savored the feeling, though. That building want and smoldering desire that curled in his gut and eased through his system.
“Would you like something different next time?” His voice had dropped, bringing the intimacy with it. The small space seemed to shrink, the tension circling them.
She sucked in a breath, eyes closing for a moment. Her hands were fisted on her lap, but they slowly relaxed as she lifted her eyelids. “I don’t know what else there is,” she finally admitted. “I have to trust you on that.”
Power surged through his chest and spread downward to mix with the desire he was finding hard to control. She’d given her trust to him completely tonight, and he treasured the gift for how special it was. He let the corner of his mouth curl up. “So you’ll trust me past tonight?”
Her shrug was small. “You haven’t lost it, yet.”
The ending implied that he would at some point. Would he? Maybe—if he forgot his rules. “Next Saturday?” he asked. He should say no. He should but couldn’t.
She looked away, brows dipping. “Yes. That should work.”
A week. He had an entire week to wait before he could touch her again, make her come and fall apart in his arms. Could he handle that? Control himself? “I’ll make the arrangements.” His tone was brisk and he kicked himself when she flinched. Damn it. He didn’t want to hurt her.
He cupped her jaw and turned her head toward him. Again, she didn’t resist, and he was so tempted to follow her upstairs and show her everything he thought of doing to—with—her.
“You’re beautiful, Avery.” In so many ways. “But we work together. This can’t get awkward.”
Her sigh was low but heavy. “I know. It won’t.”
Could he trust her on that? He had to, unless he was willing to walk away.
He gave in and pressed a kiss to her lips. He lingered there, her lips soft on his, want crashing against reality to ignite his frustration once again. It churned in his gut and beat at his mind. He was playing with fire, and a part of him hoped to get burned.
“I’ll pick you up at nine on Saturday,” he said when he eased back, his thumb making one last swipe over her cheek before he lowered his hand.
Her “okay” was soft, a resignation to it. His eyes narrowed, but she shoved the door open and was out of the car before he could stop her.
He was out his side and around the front of the car in the next moment. “Hey,” he said when he reached her side, a hand going to her back. “I can walk you to the door.”
“And I can walk there by myself,” she shot back. “I’ve done it plenty of times before.”
He grinned. “I’m sure you have.” He stayed at her side until they reached the building entrance. “But my mother would kick my ass if I didn’t ensure that my date was safely home.”
She turned to him, brow raised. “I thought this wasn’t a date.”
She had him. His smile grew, spreading within him to set off another round of warning bells. “Touché.”
Her lips pursed, a bemused gleam shining as she shook her head. “Goodnight, Carson.” The formality felt false yet somehow appropriate. “I had an interesting evening.” She stuck out her hand. “I look forward to our next one.”
Damn. She’s... He couldn’t finish that thought, not if he wanted to walk away. He gave a low laugh, accepting her offered handshake. His voice was formal like hers when he responded. “Goodnight, Avery.” He brought her hand to his lips to kiss the back of her fingers. “Until next time.”
Her shoulders shook, but her laugh was silent. He let her fingers slip free of his grip and stood back while she typed a code into the access box by the door. The latches clicked, and she swung the door open. She gave him one last smile over her shoulder before ducking into the building.
The night was suddenly loud when the door clicked shut. A car passed on the road, a cable car bell clanged in the distance. He jerked around and strode to his car.
He’d give Avery every sexual experience she desired. Hell, he longed to open her boundaries and see her embrace every aspect of her sexuality. But that was all he could have.
All he should have.
All he would have—if he stuck to his rules.