Hardline (10 page)

  
His hold on my hand tightened slightly. “Sure. I’ll have Cady make arrangements. We can get a flight Friday night.”
 

  
I leaned over and slid my free hand across his button down. His eyes darkened. We stayed that way, still in the darkness, eyes glittering in lamplight. I sensed he had more to say, but I didn’t want to push him tonight. I reached up, closing the small distance between us.
 

  
Sealing our mouths together, I sought the sweet depth of his. The kiss deepened. Our tongues tangled. He freed my hand to cup my cheek, angling me to his liking. I reared up, wanting our bodies closer in this small moment, as impractical as it might have been.
 

  
“I love you,” I whispered, panting for air when we separated.
 

  
I lowered my hand, gratified as always to find him hard, his erection straining. I kissed him deeper, teasing him with strokes of my tongue that I imagined lavishing elsewhere.
 

  
He pulled back, catching his breath. “Let’s go in.”
 

  
Before he could move I had his fly unzipped, my fingers circled around his length. I kissed his neck, nipping at his skin while I stroked him from root to tip.
 

  
“Fuck, Erica, let’s go in. Someone’s going to walk by.”
 

  
I smiled against him. “And do what? Tell on us? Maybe they’ll want to watch me suck you off.” I took his earlobe in my mouth. “My lover’s had a bad day. Let me make it better.”
 

  
He exhaled sharply, his cock twitching in my palm. “I’m going to punish you for this later.”

  
I laughed quietly. “You’re going to punish me for wanting your cock in my mouth? I think I can handle that.”

  
“If a cop pulls up before I come, we’re going to redefine punishment. You might not like it. Make it fast.”
 

  
He lifted a fraction, his erection shifting in my grasp. My mouth watered at the promise of tasting him. I took the hint, lowered, and wrapped my lips around his hot flesh. I swiped my tongue over the head and down his shaft, lubricating my path until my mouth was filled with the throb of his erection.
 

  
“Fucking hell. I love your mouth.”

  
I moaned. The taste and his musk overwhelmed my senses. I eased him in and out with a rhythmic pulse. With his hand fisted in my hair, I slowed, letting him take control of my movements. He tightened his hold, guiding me over his cock, forcing himself deeper, faster. I heard his hand hit the steering wheel. His hips arched, holding himself to the back of my throat and then releasing me. I drew in a sharp breath through my nose a second before he repeated the motion, challenging what I could take.
 

  
Once more, and with a strangled cry, his muscles jumped. Curses filled the air around us. A warm gush flooded my mouth. I finished him, swallowing the evidence of his release until he was clean. He pulled me off abruptly, his head thrown back on the seat rest.
 

  
“You’re killing me.”
 

  
“I know the feeling,” I breathed, writhing with need now.

  
He turned his head, gazing down at me. “You’re all wet, aren’t you?”

  
I shifted slightly, the rub of my thighs together doing little to ease the ache there. “Yes, and I’m willing to beg you to do something about it.”
 

  
He trailed a finger along the low neck of my blouse, grazing the top of my breast. I bit my lip hard, the tension inside me mounting. He lifted his hand to release it with his thumb and pressed our lips together. A deep, possessive kiss, his taste lingered on my swollen lips.
 

  
“Touch me,” I whimpered.
 

  
“I want to, believe me. But as soon as I sink my fingers into your pussy, I’m never going to be able to get out of this car without fucking you. You might want the world to know I’m fucking you straight out of your mind, but if I’m going to jail, I’d like it to be a little more notable.”
 

  
“Where’s your sense of adventure,” I teased. I kissed him hard, too wound up for my own good. “I can’t wait.”

  
“Trust me, you can wait, and you will wait. You’ll wait even longer if you don’t get your ass inside now,” he growled. “This car’s not big enough for all the things I’m going to do to you.”

The sun set over the curve of the horizon as the plane made its way east. I leaned against Blake, tired from my day. I was grateful for the weekend, even if it meant travel and more work. I would have rather enjoyed another break on the Vineyard, but I’d take what I could get.
 

  
“We should talk about all this wedding stuff. If I have to sit through another inquisition with Alli I’m going to lose my mind.”

  
He smiled. “She’s probably giving Heath a heart attack.”
 

  
I stayed quiet, not wanting to hint that maybe marriage plans weren’t so terribly far away for the couple. Heath still had a long way to go pulling his life together after his stint in rehab. Being back in Boston with his family and now Alli seemed like the right move, but we all cared too much about Heath to take this good stretch for granted. That may have been why Blake hadn’t pushed him to move out, even if it had encroached on our privacy now that we were living together.
 

  
“Have you thought about what you want to do?”

  
I sighed. “Not really. I think I’m too overwhelmed to even consider the details. When, where, and who... I can’t imagine how I’m going to pull this together.”

  
He slid his hand into mine and squeezed gently. “We can do whatever you want. At the end of the day, all I care about is being married to you. If that’s at some lavish affair that will go down in Landon family history, or if we take a weekend in Vegas and tie the knot on our own, I don’t really care as long as you’re Mrs. Erica Landon at the end of it. Just don’t make me wait too long, okay?”

  
I relaxed a little at the sweet look in his eyes when he said my name, the name that would be mine. “I feel the same way, but I don’t want to disappoint your family. If we eloped, they’d probably hate me for stealing their moment.”
 

  
He laughed softly. “Their moment? Baby, this is our moment. We can do whatever we want. Heath will get around to it eventually, and Alli can go nuts with her planning then. Say the word, and I’ll book the Elvis chapel.”

  
I rested my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes. “I don’t know. I guess I need to think about it.”

  
“Are you worried about your family?”

  
The dread in my stomach answered his question before I could respond. “Maybe a little. Too bad my family can’t be more like yours. I’m not sure I’d even want to invite them to a ceremony.”

  
“Have you told Elliot?”

  
I shook my head.
 

  
“Daniel?”

  
“Yeah, I told him. He actually said he was happy for us. Totally threw me off.”

  
“Well he sure as hell won’t be walking you down the aisle.”

  
“I don’t think we have to worry about that. If anyone would, it’d probably be Elliot. He actually called me out of the blue the other day. We haven’t talked in months.”

  
“You never mentioned it.”

  
“I would have, but you had a pressing need to tie me to the dining room table. He’s what made me late, by the way.”

  
He squeezed my hand, maybe in a silent apology. I was too comfortable to move and catch his reaction.
 

  
“So what did he say?”

  
I shrugged my shoulders, suddenly wishing I hadn’t brought it up at all. I understood Elliot’s reasons for wanting to reach out to me, but I hated feeling like he was doing it out of obligation or guilt.
 

  
Blake caught my chin, tipping it toward him. “Did he say something to upset you?”
 

  
I met his gaze and straightened in my seat. “No. It’s just that talking to him again brought back a lot of memories. A lot of those are sad, I suppose. He wants to come visit and commemorate Mom’s passing. It’s been ten years.”

  
I stared into the darkening night sky through the small window at my side. A vision of my mother as I remembered her passed through my mind, the same way it did every day and at times like these. She was always with me, somehow.

  
“Funny how years can go by and one conversation can bring me back there so quickly. All of a sudden I was twelve again. I mean, I’m an adult now. I can rationalize and cope when difficult things happen, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to think about her life or her death without the kind of devastating feelings I had as a child.”
 

  
“That makes sense.”

  
“Does it? I mean, I should be able to move on by now, but that conversation made me realize how much is still there, unresolved, for me.”

  
“What do you feel is unresolved about it? I mean, it doesn’t sound like she had options.”

  
“It’s not that. I understand there was nothing that could have been done to save her. It’s more how everything fell apart after she died.”
 

  
“With Elliot?”

  
I nodded. “I don’t feel like I can be angry with him. When everything boils down, he’s not really my father. His commitment was to my mother, and he could have never known she would get sick.”

  
“His commitment was to you too, though.”

  
I lingered on that idea longer than I really wanted to. “It doesn’t matter now. I don’t even know why I’m talking about it.”
 

  
“Because it still hurts you.”
 

  
“I’m a big girl. I can deal with it.”

  
“I know.” He brought my hand up and kissed it softly. “You don’t always have to be so damn strong, you know.”

  
I laughed quietly. “I don’t know how else to be.”

  
“I suppose that makes two of us. Except I’d be a lot happier if you let me shoulder more of the burden for you.”

  
I shot a questioning look his way.
 

  
“This meeting with Alex, for example. I could have easily set that up for you, felt him out for possibilities, and negotiated something that would work out favorably for you. But you’re so damn headstrong you insist on doing it all yourself.”

  
“Why wouldn’t I?”

  
He laughed softly. “Why would you want to, when I can do it and you can focus on other things?”

  
I pulled out of his grasp. “Like what? Wedding planning?”

  
“No, like running other aspects of the business. Isn’t that what you enjoy?”

  
“Building these relationships is part of my job. If anyone should be doing it, I should.”

  
“Suit yourself, Erica. You want to do things the hard way, I’ll let you, but I’m not going anywhere so it might be worth a second thought. We’re on the same team, remember?”
 

  
He took my hand from my lap, laced his fingers through mine, and trailed his lips down my arm. I shivered at the whisper of his breath on my skin. My nipples beaded instantly. I looked out the window, trying hard to be mad, but the innocent touch was a dangerous promise of how easily he could take control whenever he wanted. Blake had enough persistence to break down anyone’s defenses.
 

  
I could fight, but he’d always win.
 

  
* * *

  
The expansive function room was teaming with people. All walks of life. From suits to techies to everyone in between. From what Blake had told me, this was the “who’s who” event in the tech world, and I could expect to meet an impressive cross-section of people in the industry. Blake wore a dark gray suit, and I’d dressed simply in a deep red wrap dress and black heels.

  
Blake kept an arm around my waist as we wove through the crowd. The gesture warmed me in more ways than one. I was always nervous at events like this, and as much as I wanted to hold my own, having him there with me was a comfort.
 

  
“Landon.”

  
Months had passed since we’d met, but after a second, I recognized Alex as he walked toward us. His gaze drifted from Blake to me, and then to Blake’s hold on me. I considered stepping away, but doing so would only be awkward. If Alex didn’t already know about our relationship, he would now. And if he thought my recent success came from Blake’s wealth...well, he might be right. I only hoped he wouldn’t discredit the pitch I’d planned for partnership opportunities because of it.
 

  
I scolded myself silently for reading so much into it. After all, Blake and I were engaged now.
Engaged
. The thought blew me away every time I said it to myself.
 

  
“Alex, it’s great to see you. Thanks so much for inviting us out.” I reached to shake his hand, giving him my best professional grip.