Fallen Into You (6 page)

Anders took one step toward her. Before he could take another, she was right there in front of him, her eyes filled with stormy anger but her lips trembling as she ran her hands into his hair and pulled him to her. Evidently, she felt the same.

Anders kissed her hard. He pushed her back against a stack of boxes, and when the boxes began to sway, he turned her so that she was back against the wall. He pressed up against her, making it clear how much he wanted her, and he was surprised when she slid her hands down to the front of his shirt and began to work the buttons.

“Lock that door,” she whispered against his mouth.

“Thought this wasn’t going to happen again,” he whispered back, reaching behind him to click the lock.

“It isn’t.”

“So that’s how it is.” He unbuckled her belt and then the button. The zipper was loud in the tiny space. When he slid his hand over her silk panties, her moan was even louder. “Hush,” he murmured against her lips.

“Just one more time,” she whispered.

Anders pushed her slacks down. She unzipped his jeans and pushed them open. What he had for her sprang out immediately, long and hard. She took one look at it, then lifted her leg to wrap it around his waist. He bent his knees, pushed her panties to the side, and was deep inside her with one long thrust.

They both caught their breath. Anders held steady, already far too close to move much. Kara lifted her other leg and Anders caught it, pulling both legs around his hips. That drew him even deeper, and they both hovered there, their breath mingling while they looked into each other’s eyes.

“Don’t tell anyone,” she whispered.

He started to move. She bit her lip to stifle her moan. Then he was moving hard and fast, pushing her against the wall with every thrust. She clenched his hair so hard it made his scalp ache. He kissed her neck, careful not to leave marks even as he nibbled his way along her collarbone and up to her ear.

“I need to pull out.”

“No,” she hissed.

“No condom,” he panted.

“I don’t care.”

Anders was so close, too close. “You sure?”

“Give it to me.”

He slowed down, then pushed deep into her. He watched as she moved her hips the slightest bit, grinding on him. He closed his eyes and tried to hold back, but then her body tightened around him and she cried out into his neck, the sound muffled and desperate.

Anders drove into her over and over, pushing himself to the edge and right over it. He growled out his pleasure as he came, his body pulsing so hard that it almost hurt. He was instantly lightheaded, and leaned harder against her to keep his balance. Her legs and arms were tight around him as he emptied the last of himself into her.

Neither of them moved for the longest time. Then there came a knock on the door. “Boss, I need some brake pads!”

***

Untangled and still panting, neither one of them spoke as they put their clothes back in order. Anders watched as she straightened her panties and pulled up her slacks. Her face was an almost violent red, whether from the passion or from the subsequent embarrassment – he wasn’t sure.

“This didn’t happen,” she whispered as she buckled her belt.

“Okay.”

“I mean it.” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, shocking him into stillness. “This could ruin my life.”

“You’re not the only one with something at stake here,” he said. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but your creep of a boyfriend just happens to be in charge of my loan.”

“Maybe, but even aside from everything, you and me…it would never work.”

Anders knew exactly what she meant – the context of her words didn’t have to be spelled out for him. Forget the tangled mess of her relationship – people get together and split apart all the time. The real issue was that he was from the wrong side of the tracks while she was the wealthy girl from the hill – the one who would forever be out of his league.

“I don’t know,” he said casually. “You seem to have no problem slumming when you want to get properly laid.”

She stared at him. Her mouth dropped open. “That’s…that’s not what I meant…”

“Yes it was,” he said softly. He reached back and unlocked the door, then hollered, “Come on in and get what you need.”

He took her arm and quickly walked her down to the back of the room, where a second door led outside. They both stepped out, and he nodded at her. “Let’s walk around to look at your car. Act like nothing happened, okay? Fake it ‘til you make it, so to speak.”

“Anders…”

“There’s nothing wrong with getting a little pleasure,” he said, and then started walking. A moment later he heard her heels on the pavement, coming after him.

Chapter Six

K
ara was shaking as she followed Anders around the shop. What had just happened? Had that really been her doing those things in the storage room, having sex among all those dusty boxes? Had she really been unfaithful again?

And had she really enjoyed it to the fullest?

She could feel the proof of what she had done with every step she took. The wetness between her legs oozed out of her, caught by her panties to make her feel wet and ashamed and hot and all manner of things that she shouldn’t be feeling, especially not about this man in front of her.

He didn’t turn around once, not even when she said his name. He did slow down his walk, though, which was good – there was no way she could have kept up with him in her high heels.

Then he stopped so abruptly that she almost ran into him.

“There’s your car,” he said.

Kara took one step around him and stopped. She stared. For a brief moment all that had just happened in the storage room was forgotten. “That’s…that’s…”

“That’s bad,” he finished, and she stared some more, taking in the bent fender and bumper, the tire that jutted up at a strange angle, the flatness of the rubber and, of course, the white moon of the deflated airbag that rested across the steering wheel. There was a starburst of broken glass at the top of the windshield, and the front of the hood was covered in mud.

Kara suddenly felt dizzy. She swayed, and then Ander’s arms were around her, holding her up.

“It’s okay,” he said into her ear. “Just breathe. Breathe…”

She did, big gulps of air that seared her lungs. Tears sprang to her eyes. “I almost died,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I could have died out there…oh my god, how did I not die out there?”

Anders nodded as though he had seen this all before. “You could have, but you didn’t. I know it’s a shock, though, seeing something that reminds you of how close you came.”

Kara took another deep breath. She was steadier now. “You get this a lot? Women who faint in your arms at the sight of their busted-up car?”

“The men are even worse,” he said, giving her a bland smile.

Thoughts of the storage room came flooding back, and she took a small step away from him. “So what now?”

“Well, there’s no working on this car – it’s totaled. You will have to get in touch with your insurance company, and I will sign off on everything, of course. It won’t be a hassle. Then they will issue a check within a matter of weeks, and you will be able to shop for something new. I assume you have full coverage, of course?”

Kara nodded.

“Okay then…we’ll just need to go over some paperwork, and you’re good to go.”

“How much do I owe you for the tow?”

He waved away the question. “The insurance company will pick up the tab.”

“Okay…thank you.”

“So that’s it. Let’s go inside.”

“Wait.”

Kara stood there in the sunlight beside her totaled car, looking at the man who had just ravaged her very willing body in the tiny room hidden way from the rest of the world. She felt as though there had to be something to say at this point, something that was meaningful enough to not make light of the situation, but not serious enough to make him think that this would happen again. But even as he stood there patiently, looking at her and waiting for what she might have to say, her mind was too clouded with the avalanche of emotion and memories to say anything at all. It was as though any sanity was crowded out when this man was in the vicinity.

In the end, she decided to go with blunt honesty. “I don’t know what to say.”

Anders shook his head. “I’m not sure there is anything to say.”

“I wonder if…”

“Look, your secret is safe with me, okay? I’m not going to tell anyone about what happened today, or this past weekend. Your perfect life will remain perfectly intact.”

“I didn’t mean…”

“I’m sure you didn’t. But I recognize how things are. And I don’t need the trouble either.”

“Just…just stop, okay?” She put her hands on her forehead and massaged her temples with her fingertips. She was already developing a headache, and it wasn’t yet the afternoon. And the more she tried not to think about the wetness between her thighs, the more of him seemed to ooze out of her, as if constantly reminding her of just how far she had fallen from grace.

“I never do this kind of thing,” she said softly. “I just don’t. And now that I have, well…I don’t know what happened there in that little room. I just know that I felt like someone else, but more like myself than I have in a very long time. I know that makes no sense at all.”

“It makes perfect sense,” he said, and she looked up at him with surprise.

“It does?”

He shrugged. “You’re discovering something new. It’s a new side of who you are, maybe. And it feels like you are finding out something entirely out of character, but the truth is, this was inside you all along. You are just now letting it out.”

“But…” She threw up her hand. “I’m acting like a randy teenager who gives no thought to consequences and doesn’t give a damn who she hurts.”

“Have you ever been a randy teenager?”

She contemplated that. “Hardly.”

“Have you ever been reckless?”

She snorted in wry amusement. “No.”

“And you haven’t really hurt anyone, have you?”

“Yet.”

“You haven’t,” he insisted. “So…you’re just enjoying yourself. It happens, Kara. People do this every day.”

She blushed as more thoughts crossed her mind, thoughts that she wanted to damp down, because what did it matter? But she found herself speaking anyway, even as her better judgment said it was time to keep her mouth shut.

“Do you do this every day?”

He eyed her with a new regard, as though they had stepped into dangerous territory together and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. “Are you asking if I have one night stands and weekend flings with women I just met?”

She swallowed hard. Might as well go for the rest of it, since she had opened that door. “Or quickie fucks in the storage room.”

He paused before he answered. “The storage room was a first.”

The silence swelled between them. She realized that he hadn’t answered her question, and of course, that meant that the answer was yes. She looked back at her car, just to give her a place to rest her eyes that wasn’t anywhere near his direction. She could feel the heat rising in her face.

“I understand why you asked,” he said.

“Do you?”

“You want to know just how cheap you should feel.”

The flush now filled her whole body, turning her hot all over, then cold as ice. She crossed her arms over her chest. “You know nothing about me.”

She waited for something from him, but nothing came. When she finally wiped her eyes and looked back at Anders, he was studying her with no expression whatsoever on his face.

“You know nothing about me,” she repeated, trying to convince herself that it was true.

Finally he nodded and looked toward the building. “Let’s go take care of that paperwork.”

***

Kara pulled up to the stoplight. The unfamiliar feel of her father’s BMW didn’t help ease the tension that had taken up residence in her shoulder and temples. Her head was pounding, despite the four ibuprofen she had popped from the first aid kit in the trunk. Her father was always one to be prepared, even if the emergency was just a headache.

That made her think of Anders. Always prepared. But not today – there was no condom that magically appeared from his pocket today. Instead she had insisted that he let go inside her, and he definitely seemed the kind of man to honor a woman’s request.

She shifted in the seat and felt again the wetness between her legs. Why hadn’t she cleaned up? She could have gone into the bathroom while Anders took care of the paperwork and studiously ignored her. Now that she was away from him and could think a little more clearly, she thought that maybe she was out to punish herself. Maybe that’s why she still had the evidence of Anders between her thighs, and maybe that was even why she had fucked him in that little room. This time it was in broad daylight, and she definitely was not a damsel in distress, grateful to some complete stranger.

No, this time she had acted like a total slut.

The light turned green and Kara hit the gas a little too hard. The fine engine reacted smoothly, forgiving her for the rough treatment. She wondered if Scott would be as forgiving, and she immediately knew the answer. He was a man who wanted everything to be a certain way, just like she always had, and that was part of the reason they fit so well.