Good Karma (43 page)

That night felt like so long ago and yet like
only yesterday. He had been in control then. He had known what he
was doing, and the course with Karma had seemed so simple. So cut
and dry. In those first couple of weeks, he had guided her as he’d
wanted, leading her, teaching her, molding her. Their conversations
had been almost clinical at times, so one-sided and bleached of
intimacy. Now, he didn’t want to mold her. He liked her just the
way she was.

What had started out as two adults simply
seeking pleasure from one another—one the teacher, the other the
student—had transformed into something much more complicated. What
had once been impersonal was now
deeply
personal. His
emotions were involved in a way he hadn’t bargained for.

She
was in control now. Every day, he felt his
authority slip further out of his grasp, right along with his
heart, and he couldn’t walk away if he wanted to. His discipline
waned. Before he met Karma—and after Carol—he had been a stalwart,
emotionless vacuum, able to turn on and off at will. Women liked
that about him, because it made him a challenge. Now, he was
switched on all the time. Thoughts of Karma invaded every moment,
and for the first time in years, he struggled to contain himself.
He wanted Karma. This was no longer about helping her come out of
her shell or about teaching her what she’d been missing. Their
relationship was about sharing. About being together. About the
smile she gave him every time they talked or texted. About how her
cheeks reddened every morning when she saw him walk around the
corner at the office. About the way her arms felt around him and
the way his felt around her. It was about so many tiny little
things that felt so incredibly monumental.

The teacher had become the student. He was
changing, and it was because of her. But he didn’t want to change.
Change scared him. One day, she would leave him if he didn’t leave
her first, so he had to keep things in perspective. He couldn’t let
her steal his heart. She already possessed too much of it. If she
took the whole thing, it would only hurt more later when she gave
it back.

“You’re good for me, Mark,” she said,
snapping him from his thoughts. He had absently doodled her face a
third time. “Like I told my dad, I’m different now, and you’re the
reason why. Not because you’re my boyfriend, but because you’ve
made me see myself differently. I don’t want to lose that when I
feel like there’s so much more to learn.”

He didn’t feel he could teach her anything
else. She was perfect as is.

“What if your dad does tell Don? What then?”
The irony that he was now the one voicing concern was further proof
of how far the control had slipped from his grasp.

“I don’t think Dad will tell him, but if he
does, he does. As you said before we got involved, ‘we’ll deal with
it.’”

It would be easier if she ended it now,
because then he wouldn’t have to later. The thought of leaving her
at some unknown but foreseeable point by year’s end wasn’t
something he relished. That was like looking forward to his next
bout with a stomach bug. He knew it was looming out there
somewhere, and he knew when it hit it would be the most miserable
few days of his life, but there wasn’t much he could do to stop
it.

“I don’t want you to end it, either,” he said
honestly. Would it be easier if she did? Yes. Did he want her to?
No.

“Well then…good.” She sounded pleased.

Mark stood and strolled across the room to
the window, eager to regain at least some of the control he had
relinquished. “Speaking of Don, he and I have to fly out east
tomorrow morning to talk to the leasing company about warehouses.
We’ll be gone until late Thursday.” He drew the curtain aside and
looked out over the courtyard behind his condo. “So, I was hoping
you and I could spend some time together next weekend.”

All. In.

The brief silence that came through the
connection before she answered was enough to indicate she knew
exactly what spending time together next weekend entailed. He
wanted more, and it was clear she was ready.

“I’d like that,” she said.

“It’s a date then.” He let the curtain drop
and made his way back to his desk, where he picked up his pen and
began doodling again. “I’ll call you later in the week to make
plans.” Taking the lead put him back in the driver’s seat.

“Okay. I’ll…um…keep reading my books.”

The tip of his pin swirled and drew a pair of
heart-shaped lips. “That would be a good idea, but don’t worry,” he
smiled as Karma’s face began to take shape on the scrap of paper a
fourth time, “if you miss something in your reading, I’ll be more
than happy to give you hands-on instruction.”

“Such a devoted teacher you are.”

“I just want you to get your money’s worth.”
He drew a button nose on his caricature.

“But I’m not paying you.”

“Oh, yes. That’s right.” A pair of large,
luminous eyes came next. “Well then, I suppose I can only claim
perfectionism as my motivation. I am nothing if not thorough in my
teaching methods, Miss Mason.” Even as he said the words, his heart
wasn’t in them. He was no longer the teacher, even if she didn’t
realized it.

“And I am nothing if not your eager
apprentice, Mr. Strong.”

“Why do you always make me sound like
Yoda?”

She laughed. “I don’t know.”

“Does that make you Luke Skywalker?”

She giggled coyly. “No. I’m Princess Leia.
You can show me your
Force
.”

“Mmm,” The tip of his pen slashed color into
the irises. “In that case, do you think I can get you to wear that
sexy outfit from Jabba’s palace next time I see you?”

She laughed again then said, “If that’s what
it takes for you to bring out your best, Master, then I suppose I
can.”

When had Karma grown so overtly sexual? He
liked this side of her. She pushed his buttons in all the right
ways. “You know, if I wasn’t so set on waiting, I’d stop by tonight
and explore your new, bolder side. What’s gotten into you, anyway?
You don’t normally talk with such…” He searched for the right word.
“Sexual
innuendo
.”

“I don’t know.” She paused for a moment as if
thinking. “Maybe it’s that I haven’t really seen you in a week—last
night notwithstanding. And about that, maybe I’m still a little…oh,
I don’t know…
rattled
by what we did right before my dad
showed up.”

“Rattled?”

“Yes, rattled.”

He pressed his lips together and smirked.
“You liked it?”

When Karma answered, her voice was light and
airy, almost wistful. “Yes.”

“So did I.” And if her dad hadn’t shown up,
Mark would have seen that blazing kiss through until Karma cried in
pleasure, her body shuddering beneath his as he took her to the
heights he so badly wanted to show her…and which she obviously and
so eagerly wanted to experience.

She lightly cleared her throat. “And maybe
I’m growing bolder because I’ve been learning so much from my
books. They say that with knowledge comes power, and I believe it.
I never knew there was so much to learn about all this sex
stuff.”

He rocked forward in his chair. “Sex stuff.
Now there’s a scientific term for you.”

Her breezy laughter lifted his heart. “Stop
making fun of me, Master Mark.”

“Dream of it not, I will,” he said in his
best Yoda impersonation, which was pretty bad.

Karma laughed harder.

Mark leaned his arm on his desk, admiring the
four caricatures of Karma’s face staring up at him from the paper.
“Well, all the ‘sex stuff’ is going to wait until next weekend, so
you’d better get your rest this week while I’m gone.”

“Oh? Why’s that? Do you plan on keeping me
awake for two straight days?”

Mark’s voice dropped, and he grew deadly
serious. “I just might. By this weekend, I’ll have been away almost
two weeks, with last night’s very pleasant, sexy, and
unfinished
kiss still haunting me. I might not be able to
control myself once I get my hands on you again.”

His words had the effect he was after. Numb
silence answered him through the phone. A moment later, Karma
practically whispered, “I see your point.”

“I thought you might.” He drew in a breath
and slowly blew it out, so aroused that he knew he’d need a shower
if he was going to get any more work done today. “And with that, I
should be getting off here. I have a lot of work to do before I
meet Don in the morning, and I’m not going to get any of it done
listening to your sexy voice.”

“Awe, you do say the sweetest things.” He
heard the smile in her tone.

“So do you. Now, get back to your reading and
your Kegels and all your other wonderful lessons, but leave Hank
alone. I don’t want you touching him. You’re mine now. The next
time you come, I want it to be with me. So…no playing.”

“None?”

“None. Nada. Zilch.”

“No fair.”

He chuckled. “You’ll understand next weekend
why I want you to wait. Trust me on this. Now, promise me you won’t
play.”

She hesitated.

“Karma? Promise me.”

“Fine. I promise,” she said with obvious
reluctance. “I trust you.”

“Good. That’s what I want to hear.” He
checked the time. “Okay, sweetheart, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you
later this week.”

They said their good-byes, and Mark set his
phone on his desk, ready to address the raging hard-on putting
pressure on the seam of his jeans. He didn’t want Karma to play
with herself, but if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself
back long enough to perform next weekend. So, for him, the more he
masturbated in the next six days, the better. For her, abstinence
was key. She would understand why soon enough.

Okay, so maybe there were still a
few
things he could teach her.

Chapter 37

I am good,
but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a
small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love.

-Marilyn Monroe

Karma didn’t think Friday would ever arrive. As busy
as she was all week, time should have flown faster, but as is
usually the case when there’s something to look forward to, time
crawled.

Six weeks ago—hell, even five weeks ago—she
would have been a nervous wreck about what was to come this
weekend. Mark planned on making love to her. This was
it
.
The old Karma would have been queasy with nerves, but new Karma was
excited. She trusted Mark. Like an expert gardener, Mark had
cultivated the delicate, vulnerable seedling of her newfound
sexuality. He hadn’t forced her to grow faster than she was capable
of. More like he had coaxed and prepared her to blossom at her own
pace. His words of encouragement and his guidance were fertilizer,
and his kisses and gentle touch were water. He was attentive and
patient, and in him, Karma had found a lover worth giving herself
to. One who waited until she was ready, and only then would he
pluck her fruit.

And it was harvest time. He had gently pulled
her along, showed her how beautiful she was, urged her to realize
her own beauty, and now waited for her to give herself to him.

Was she still nervous? Hell, yes. But was she
so nervous as to be crippled? No. These were good nerves. The kind
of nerves a speaker channeled into a kick-ass speech, not the kind
that caused a breakdown.

So, when Friday morning finally dawned, Karma
eagerly awoke. After getting ready for work, she smiled as she
picked up the gold brooch that had been the catalyst for the
official start of their affair. Mark would understand its meaning
when he saw it pinned to her scarf. The brooch was her way of
telling him that she was ready for this weekend. Ready for whatever
their time together brought. That her answer was yes to whatever he
wanted to do, because she knew he would care for her body as well
as he cared for her mind.

She arrived at work before he did. Not
surprising since it was seven thirty and his return flight
yesterday had been delayed due to weather. He and Don hadn’t
returned to Indianapolis until almost midnight.

At nine thirty, Mark appeared at the end of
the hall, wearing the navy, pin-striped suit that made him look
like the sexiest executive on the planet. There were power suits,
and then there were
power
suits. This was the latter. Why
did she get the impression he had worn it for her?

“Good morning, Karma.” His gaze dropped to
the red scarf secured around her neck. “That’s a pretty
brooch.”

She lifted her hand and fondled the gold
circle. “Thank you. I wear it on special occasions.”

His eyes narrowed with understanding as one
side of his mouth lifted. “And that special occasion today would
be…?”

“Oh, it’s just special.” She waved her hand
dismissively.

“That it is.” He winked and turned for the
conference room, grinning as he walked away.

The devil. He was going to make today
unbearable. She got up, went to the coffee station, and prepared
him a mug.

“Thank you,” he said as she set the coffee on
a Solar coaster beside his tablet.

“You’re welcome.”

“And…” He stopped her before she could leave.
“Thank you for the brooch.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome for that,
too.”

He spun his chair toward her, looked behind
her to make sure no one was listening, then whispered in a voice so
hot she practically melted, “If we were alone, I’d bend you over
this table right now.”

Her mouth fell open, and heat exploded
between her legs.

He leaned closer. “I’d lift that pretty
skirt, peel off your panties, and bury myself inside you until you
cried my name and quivered around my cock.”

Karma closed her mouth and swallowed, feeling
the heat between her legs intensify, but she couldn’t utter a
single word in reply. He had never talked to her like that. Maybe
he should do so more often.