Hidden Depths (4 page)

He slipped one finger inside, finding her soaked and more
than ready. A second finger joined the first, thrusting in and out, three rapid
pumps. Her hips lifted, a little shuddering breath in and out as her fingers
dug into the vinyl of the bed.       

Tugging loose his belt and slacks, he shoved his pants down
to his knees. The cool air against his member did nothing to ease the ache.
This wouldn't last long.

He grabbed her hips, pulling her forward, lining her up with
the edge of the bed, plunging into her in one deep thrust. She cried out, her
voice roughened with arousal. Her little noises of pleasure, combined with the
wet heat of her on his cock, were more than he could stand. He thrust, hard and
fast, driving into her almost violently, his hands leaving bruises on her hips
as he gripped her, holding her still. She wrapped her legs around his waist,
using her muscles to pull him even closer. Meeting his every thrust with one of
her own.

He leaned forward, changing the angle and adding a little
twist on the upstroke. He was close to the edge and he wanted to see her come
first. He reached up with his left hand to flick and pull at her nipple. Even
through the shirt, it was enough. She shattered, a guttural scream echoing in
the empty shop. He felt her pussy clench, the muscles squeezing him, driving
him over that peak. He felt the zipping sensation start at the base of his
spine, burning a path to his balls as the first spurt shot out. He threw his
head back and roared out his pleasure.

The sound of his own moan woke Josh from his dream. He was
still thrusting his hips against the sheet. He could almost feel her wet heat
against his shaft. As his mind began to wrap around the fact that he was at
home, in his own bed, not at the shop inside Gia, he let out a groan. He was so
fucking hard it hurt. He started to move, to head into the shower to relieve
the pressure, when he realized he'd never make it. His hips were still moving
of their own volition, trying to fuck someone that wasn't even there. Unable to
resist, he flung off the blankets, shoved his boxers down, freeing his aching
erection. He wrapped his fist around his cock, that little contact almost
setting him off. One tug. Two. On the third his orgasm hit, hard and fast,
shooting hot jets of come up his belly and chest.

He lay there, half passed out as the pleasure subsided. He
should be embarrassed. Getting so turned on by a dream that he couldn't even
wait to get to the bathroom to jack off.

He should be humiliated, having a wet dream about a woman
that wanted nothing to do with him. She wouldn't even acknowledge that he'd
kissed her, let alone that she'd felt any of the passion that he'd felt. He
hadn't wanted to stop. He'd wanted the dream he'd just had to become a reality.

He should feel guilty. Really guilty. Desiring, dreaming
about, a woman who was not his fiancée.

What he felt was fucking fantastic.

He couldn't remember the last time he had been able to
really let go like that. Even when he masturbated it was controlled, calm. He
thought back to the dream, to the feeling of chaos raging through him. He
wanted to lose control, and in his dream he knew he could. Gia would not only
accept that roughness, but would revel in it. She would respond in kind. With
passion and energy. Desire, heat, strength... she would feed the chaos, let him
dominate her, take her. She would use her body not only to sate him, but to
please herself. At least, his dream Gia would. He was pretty sure the real Gia
would simply shove him away, or maybe slap him.

He knew he should have been dreaming about Deb, but she was
as pristine and controlled in the bedroom as she was everywhere else. Their sex
life was fine, they were compatible and they both managed to orgasm when they
had sex. Like everything else in their life it was pleasant. Easy. But she
would never even want to know about some of his fantasies, let alone act them
out. They would scare the hell out of his soon-to-be wife.

Shrugging off his thoughts, and the last lingering feelings
of pleasure, Josh turned off the alarm clock and headed into the shower to get
cleaned up. He was meeting his parents and Deb at the club this morning for
tennis and brunch. Rubbing his hand across his jaw, he couldn't help but think
that he'd much rather go down to his basement and beat the shit out of his
punching bag.

Chapter 4

Gia finished closing up shop, locking the front door and
pulling the blinds. She waved goodbye to Billy as he headed out the back, then
grabbed her purse from behind the counter. She pulled her keys out and headed
out the back door as well, flipping the last of the lights and locking the door.
She thought about grabbing her car, but The Tavern was just a few blocks down.
Deciding to walk, she cut through the alley to the front of the buildings. She
loved night time here in the Village. This was the old section of Fair Oaks.
Its kitschy vibe had called to her immediately. There had never been any doubt
as to where she wanted to open up her shop. When a small clothing store had
decided to close their doors, she had immediately made an offer to buy the
shop. Luckily, being a business major held some weight with the banks. She'd
put together her proposal, had Deb do a quick once-over, and handled as much of
the initial business by phone as possible. By the time she met with the loan
specialist, their reaction to her appearance had been almost negligible. It
probably helped that she'd worn long sleeves, removed the nose ring, and worn
highly subdued makeup for the meeting. She knew how to look professional when
it was warranted. And she had really wanted that loan!

Now, three years later, she was turning a good business. She
would never be a millionaire, but she made enough to pay her bills, her
employees, and even save a little. That was more than she'd had growing up.
And, she was doing it on her own terms. She was even starting to look for
another artist to come in part time. Billy had another full time job and could
only work weekends. She needed one more part time artist, but she was really
picky and so far she hadn't seen anyone whose work she liked well enough to
hire.

She reached The Tavern, smiling a little at the number of
people still out and about. It was ten at night. Most places, people were home
in bed by now, but the Village was still hopping. She took a deep breath before
heading into the bar, taking a minute to steady herself before facing Deb and
the others. They were meeting for drinks, to discuss some details about the
wedding. Gia was pretty sure one of those details was going to be an
ass-chewing over Josh's new tattoo.

Once inside, it took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the
bar's lighting. When she spotted Kelly waving at her, she smiled and headed
that direction. As she got closer, she was surprised to see Shannon's boyfriend
Scott, as well as Josh and Blake. Mentally shrugging her shoulders she marched
over, greeting everyone as she set her purse in the only empty chair.

"Hey guys. So, no wedding plans?"

Kelly shook her head. "We saved you a seat. The guys
were here when we showed up and we decided that a night of drinking sounded
like a lot more fun. We haven't done this in a while."

Gia smiled, "Works for me. Hey Josh, how's your
shoulder doing?"

Deb looked at Josh, who was making a little grimace at Gia.
"What happened to your shoulder, Josh?" Deb asked.

With a raised eyebrow, Gia waited for the answer. She had no
idea why or how, but clearly Deb knew nothing about the tattoo yet. It occurred
to her then that Josh was wearing a work shirt with the sleeves rolled up,
carefully keeping them at mid forearm. If you didn't know he was hiding
something, you'd probably think nothing of it, since he wore suits most of the
time anyway.

"Oh, I got hit with a tennis ball at the club on
Tuesday. Nothing major, really. I was still kind of sore and rubbing at it when
I bumped into Gia."

"Oh, bumped into her at the club?" Deb asked.

"Yes, because I frequent the club so regularly,"
Gia popped off sarcastically.

"No, at the coffee shop here in the .Village. I was
grabbing some coffee before I headed back to the restaurant." Josh was
referring to the original site, and now corporate offices, for the
international restaurant chain his family owned.

"Oh, well, is it all right now?"

"Probably still sore, by the way it looked Tuesday, but
it should be fine in another few days." Gia said, smirking at Josh. She
grabbed her wallet out of her purse. "I'm going to get a drink. Anyone
else need anything?"

A couple of people tossed out drink orders as Gia made a
mental note of what to get. Josh stood as she turned to go.

"I'll go with you. Help you carry things back. I need a
drink anyway."

Gia shrugged, walking toward the bar. She waited patiently
while they placed the order, laughing when Josh eyed the Amber Bock they had on
tap and then ordered a martini instead. He turned to her with a questioning
look at her laugh.

"I'll take an Amber Bock too, please," she told
the bartender.

"I thought you didn't drink," Josh said.

"I don't usually. I figured if I got the beer you could
sneak sips when no one was looking, lawyer boy."

"Huh?"

"Well, I saw you eyeing the tap when he poured the last
one, but you ordered a martini. So, do you hide everything from Deb, or just
the fun stuff?"

"Yeah, about that... thanks for not ratting me out. I
just haven't seen her much the last couple days. It's been hectic at work. I'll
tell her, but not here."

"Not my business. You tell her whatever you want. She's
marrying you, not me. But, I gotta say, you should've ordered the beer, at
least. It's probably going to suck rocks if you can't even come home and enjoy
your guilty pleasure once she moves in permanently." She smirked at him,
watching his discomfort as he shrugged his shoulders and looked away. Served
him right. "I'm betting there's at least a six pack hiding behind the
fifty year old Scotch you keep for Daddy, right?"

Josh turned and glared at her, his blue eyes shooting fire.
She just kept grinning, finally wiggling her eyebrows at him. At last he
laughed.

"Yes, I have beer in a small fridge I keep in my
basement. Deb used to drink beer on occasion too, but now it is apparently
'uncivilized'. She knows I have it, but I don't rub it in her face.
Happy?"

"Always. But, I do take great pleasure in breaking your
unshakeable calm, lawyer boy."

At her teasing comment, his eyes got hot, shooting out a
whole different type of fire now. With that one look, she was reminded of that
stupid kiss from the other night. The one she swore she would forget. Yeah
right, like that was going to happen.

Josh leaned closer, his eyes staring straight into hers. He
was doing a damn fine job of convincing her he could actually see into her soul.
With his lips just a couple inches from her ear he whispered, just loud enough
she could barely make out the words. "If anyone could break the calm, Gia,
it would definitely be you."

While she was still trying to recover her breath, he scooped
up three of the drinks and headed back to the table.

She slowly grabbed the rest and turned to follow. She pushed
all thoughts of Josh out of her mind and enjoyed the evening with friends. She
flirted with a couple of cute guys, played a little bit of pool, even danced
with a couple of the single guys there. All in all it was a great evening. She
just had to ignore the fact that she really wanted to kiss her friend’s fiancé.

It was after one by the time Gia left the bar. Since it was
so late, Blake walked her home before heading off to his own house across town.
Once she made it into her house, locked the door and crashed on her bed, she
let the barriers fall. She tried to sort out when and why everything had seemed
to change between them. It didn't seem possible that the constant attraction
she'd felt had finally made itself known to Josh after eight years of sniping
at each other. She'd always been able to push his buttons, but not in a sexual
way. Not that she'd ever really tried. Gia was known to be a little bit of a
wild child. She was loud, flamboyant, a ‘do what I want and to hell with you’
kind of girl. Always had been. She'd had her share, or more than her share, of
lovers although not nearly as many as everyone else thought. She had very
deliberately kept her feelings for Josh a secret, buried deep beneath layers of
sarcasm and attitude. Often she was even able to keep them from herself. So,
how had he picked up on her desire for him?

This had to be about more than just that tattoo. More than
just the kiss. Why had he kissed her in the first place? Was she sending off
some sort of vibe, some pheromone that let him know she wanted him? She
wouldn't do that intentionally, especially not now that he and Deb were
engaged. That made no sense. Never, in all her flirtations had she made a play
for a guy who was taken, let alone by one of her friends. Unless, the fact that
he was engaged, and clearly off limits made him somehow more appealing? No, she
had her issues, but she wasn't that screwed up. So, what was she doing
differently that was making him flirt with her, kiss her, tease her? Whatever
it was, she had to figure it out and put a stop to it.

Josh was losing his mind. He had almost kissed Gia up at the
bar tonight. Again! Right in front of his fiancée and all his friends. What the
hell was wrong with him?

He scrubbed his hand over his face, feeling the stubble he
hadn't taken time to shave off before heading to the bar. He had planned to go
and play some darts and pool with a couple of his buddies. He hadn't known that
Deb and the girls would be there. How screwed up was that? He hadn't even known
what her plans had been for the evening. The guilt that he should have felt
over that hotter than hell dream of Gia was finally kicking in. He was a bastard.
A selfish, careless bastard. He had been so caught up in his own little pity
party that he hadn't even asked Deb what she was doing tonight. Not that she'd
asked him either. He was beginning to wonder if this was what the marriage
would be like. Two people, living together, yet having totally separate lives.