His Absolute Assignment - Elise's Love Story: The Billionaire's Continuum (#1) (A Contemporary Romance Novel) (12 page)

We showered and teased each other, playing with and cleaning our bodies together.  Lucent was very formal sometimes, but when it was just us together, he could be so lighthearted and considerate and fun.  I knew he loved his BDSM things, and I thought they were intriguing a lot of the time, too, but I liked that we didn't necessarily need them to enjoy ourselves.

Yes, perhaps it was childish, but I liked splashing around in the shower with him.  Just because we were both adults didn't mean that we needed to always act stern and serious.  And, also, when we got out and dried off, if we happened to, perhaps, jump on the bed, bounce, embrace, fall into each other's arms, kiss...

Lucent kissed me then and my eyelids fluttered, luring me back to reality.  He laughed when I stared at him, slightly dumbfounded.

"I love when you daydream," he said, the sound of the shower spraying all around us.  A lilt of soft music played in the background, adding a gentle symphony to the bathroom.

"I don't mean to," I said, sluicing water across my body to wash away the soap bubbles Lucent had covered me with.  "I just have a lot of things I like to think about."

"You're quite curious, Miss Tanner," he said, smirking.  "Sometimes I fear for your safety.  Curiosity killed the cat, as they say."

"First off, I'm not a cat," I said, trying to feign indignation.  "Also, you, scared?  Lucent Storme, powerful and intelligent Director of Public Relations for Landseer Enterprises?  If a simple girl like me can incite fear in you, I'm not sure if you can live up to your reputation, Lucent."

"You're not simple, Miss Tanner," Lucent said, coming up alongside me.  We were both naked—kind of a requirement, what with the showering and all—but it hadn't seemed like anything out of the ordinary until then.  His body glistened with water, muscles bright and alert.  His cock, while not erect, sat half-hard and tentative between his legs, twitching slightly.  I reached out and touched it, stroking him with my hand.

"You're anything but simple," Lucent said, cooing into my ear.  "You please me in every single way, Miss Tanner, and I find your curiosity and interest complex beyond belief.  I hope I can please you, too.  Sometimes it's the only thing I can think of."

His cock hardened, growing thicker in my hand, soap-slick and wet.  "You can only think of me?" I asked.  "Really?"

He nodded and kissed me softly.  "All the time.  Almost always."

I wanted him.  I'd just had him.  We'd had each other, claimed our passions and desires, shared them as our own, and yet I wanted him again.  Now, in this shower, together.  Wet and slick and fast, moving like dancers on ice, unable to stop, never able to get enough.  I stroked Lucent faster, wanting to quicken his erection, but he stopped me, peeling my hand away and unwrapping my fingers from his shaft.

"I would like nothing more than to offer a repeat performance, but..."

I knew.  We needed to go.  We were already going to be late if we didn't hurry.  I did, I wanted to go.  Not quite, because I didn't actually want to go to the party tonight, but I liked Asher and Jessika.  They were my friends, as odd as that sounded.  Oh, yes, Elise Tanner, acquaintance to billionaires, I thought.  But, well... it was true, so...

"Do you think I'm sexy, Lucent?" I asked.

He raised one brow, clearly not expecting me to ask him that.  He shifted beneath one of the showerheads and began rinsing off his hair, slicing his fingers through shampoo covered locks.  "Yes," he said, curt and straight to the point.  "Have I done anything to make you believe otherwise?"

"No, but..."  I needed to rinse off, too, but I wanted to use the same showerhead Lucent stood beneath, despite the fact that there were four more scattered throughout the shower room, booth, or whatever it was.  "I was talking with Vanessa and she helped me pick out a dress for tonight.  I had one, but she said it was frumpy and I shouldn't wear it, because I needed to look sexy."

Lucent nodded, beckoning me over so he could help me wash my hair.  His fingers pressed into my scalp, massaging, and I nearly melted in his arms.  "And?" he said.  "Go on."

"Well... she said I should want to look sexy, and that I should maybe flirt with someone where you could see it, to build anticipation for later, so you'd be begging me to go back to your apartment after the party," I said.  "Except I was planning on coming back with you anyways."  Quickly, I added, "If you'll let me, I mean.  It's your apartment and I don't want to bother you if you just want to be alone."

"Miss Tanner, you're welcome here any time you wish, whether I'm currently in residence or not.  I've given express instructions to the doorman to allow you entrance if need be, and I'm more than willing to provide you a spare key if you'd like."

"It's yours, though," I said.  "It's your apartment.  I don't want to take that away from you.  I don't know what I mean by that.  I just... I don't want you to think that you need to do it, you know?  Just because we're dating, you can still have your own things, and I can still have mine, and that's fine.  It's not a bad thing, right?"

"Not at all," Lucent said.  He finished teasing my scalp and my hair, then washed away the soap and shampoo.  "I've never felt that way.  I've never felt like I needed to do anything with you.  I very much enjoy spending time with you."

"I like spending time with you, too," I said.  And, I did, but...

But what?  I didn't know.  I just felt wrong sometimes; as if my entire life was wrong.  I felt like Lucent would realize it, suddenly recognize what a fool he was for staying with me, and then where would I be?  Some foolish girl who had the silliest dreams and aspirations, curious to a fault, uncertain of everything, boring, sitting at home, worse than an old lady.

I felt stupid and I didn't want to feel stupid; there was no reason to feel stupid.

Lucent left me for a moment so he could turn off the shower.  His fingers tapped across waterproof buttons and the shower slowed to a stop, leaving me standing, dripping, hair tousled, body cooling quickly.  I shivered and my teeth chattered, but Lucent placed a soft cotton towel over my shoulders and squeezed me into his arms, warming me.

"I don't care what you wear," he whispered to me.  "It doesn't matter.  I find you attractive for far more reasons than your appearance, Miss Tanner.  You're beautiful inside and out, and your purity and innocence combined with curiosity and desire are so astonishing to me.  There's so much more to you than I could ever possibly know about in one lifetime, and yet I want to try."

"Yes," I said, leaning against him.  "I want to, also."  I almost gave myself away, smiling and on the verge of giggling.  "Do I look good in yoga pants, at least, though?  Do I have a nice butt?"

"Miss Tanner, your ass is amazing in those pants.  I want to spank the fuck out of you whenever I see you wearing them."

"Lucent!"  Spank the fuck out of me?  What did that even mean?  I sort of wanted to experience it first hand.  I'd never found spanking sexually arousing until being with Lucent, and now it was one of my favorite things...

His palm gave me a teasing thwap and the smack to my rear echoed through the bathroom.  "We're in a rush, you vixen.  Stop tempting me into wanting to make sure we're far more than fashionably late."

"Yes, sir!" I said, laughing and standing at attention when he strode to fetch a towel for himself.  How cold must he be?  He'd warmed me with a towel and his hug, without even thinking of himself.  I frowned slightly at the thought of it, but I didn't have time to think about it more.  We had things to do.

I scampered out of the shower and rushed into his room.  Lucent grinned, watching me.

"I left my dress and my purse out there," I said.  "I just need to get them quick.  Can I dress in your room with you?  I won't try to seduce you, I promise!"

"It saddens me greatly to have to agree to that, Miss Tanner.  You have no idea."

"Well, I can seduce you later if you want, you know?" I said, hurrying from his room and towards the couch where I'd left my stuff.  "You can seduce me if you want, too!" I shouted back.  "If you'd like to, at least.  We could seduce each other.  I don't know exactly how that works, but it sounds interesting."

I went to the Landseer Estate with Lucent.  We took his car.  He drove, because he liked to.  Despite the trappings of success surrounding him in every part of his life, he liked to do a lot of things on his own, I noticed.  I recognized it, and a part of me understood it, too; he had a difficult time relying on people for the important parts of his life.

Was that a Lucent thing, though?  Or just an "everyone" thing?  I wasn't entirely sure, to be honest.  I felt the same way a lot of times, but I could never really stop it.

Lucent helped me a lot, but other people did, also.  He wouldn't admit it, but I had a strong feeling that he was one of the sole reasons I got a job at Landseer Tower working with Jessika Landseer.  Even if he wasn't the main reason, the opportunity that Jessika gave me was more than immense and I probably didn't deserve it.  Then there was this party, a chance to mingle and mix with people from a social stratosphere so vastly different from the one I belonged in.

I was just Elise Tanner, some recent college graduate, a writer of no renown, former librarian, and that was about it.  I didn't think any of those titles were bad, and I liked quite a lot of them, but they weren't altogether overly impressive.

I wanted impressive things of my own, ones that I gained through hard work and dedication; perseverance.  It was kind of difficult to get those things if people kept offering you stuff that you didn't really do anything to deserve, though.

Or, perhaps I was being stupid.  I thought about all this while Lucent drove us to the Landseer estate.  We parked a little ways up the street, maybe a block or so from the front drive and the gated entryway.

"Do we have to park so far away?" I asked.

"Are you afraid of a minor amount of exercise, Miss Tanner?" Lucent asked with a smirk.  I saw a flash of something mischievous in his eyes.

"No," I answered, huffing and putting my nose up.  "In fact, I think we should just leave and go back to your apartment so we can exercise some more.  What do you say to that?"

He leaned over the middle of the car and stole a kiss from my cheek.  "Your ideas certainly intrigue me, Miss Tanner."

Then he slipped away from me as easily as that.  Lucent unlatched his seatbelt and opened the door, leaving my cheek bereft and me alone in the car.  I started to get out on my own, to unbuckle myself and open my door, but Lucent came up alongside me and helped me out.

He offered his hand to me and I took it quietly in mine.  Stumbling slightly, feeling awkward in my heels and dress, I left the car and went to Lucent's side.  Hovering close to him—perhaps closer than necessary—I leaned into his shoulder.  Protective, or perhaps possessive, he put an arm around my waist, holding me tightly.

With his free hand, he shut my door, then clicked a button on his car remote and the alarm started with a beep.

We began walking towards the front gates, but I couldn't keep from trembling, my legs shaking and wobbling as I walked.  I wanted to blame it on the heels, but I really couldn't.

"What's wrong?" Lucent asked, turning with me in his arms, acting as if we wanted to admire the view of Landseer Mansion from a different angle.

"I..."  Should I tell him?  Or blame it on something else?  He'd probably know if I lied; or that's what I thought, at least.  "I don't feel comfortable," I said.  "I don't like parties, Lucent.  There's too many people.  I know it's dumb.  I'm just not very good at socializing like that.  I know you said it was easy before, and I understand why you would think that, but it still makes me nervous."

Something flashed in his eyes, some inner conflict, struggling turmoil.  It worried me.

"I apologize," he said.  Just that.

"It's not your fault," I added.  "It's just me.  I'm being dumb."

He clenched his jaw, teeth tight.  I could see the muscles working on his face, raw emotion threatening to shove to the fore.  Lucent despised emotion, at least when it came to public affairs.  He was probably as nervous and awkward about emotions as I was about dealing with people.  The odd comparison made me feel slightly better in a weird and messed up sort of way.

And then he moved.

His free hand grabbed my jaw tight, index finger on one of my cheeks and his thumb on the other.  He squeezed, surprising me, but it didn't hurt, it just... it was entirely unexpected.  Lifting my head, he lowered his, and pressed firm lips to mine.  My mouth parted, unbidden, and I gave in to his spontaneous fit of need.  He pulled me to him, nearly grinding against me.  It was... we were...

We were just standing on a street, some overt display of public affection.  And more than that, it was a little rough.  Wanting.  This street wasn't the busiest place ever, but still.  I forgot myself, forgot my surroundings and all awareness of anything but Lucent, and I melted in his arms.  His tight grip on my cheeks never wavered and I relished the feel of his strong hand, like some anchor keeping me from washing away.  I slipped my hands beneath his suit coat and wrapped them around his back, clawing at the fabric of his dress shirt.

I wanted to rip it off, tear it to shreds, and reveal this sculpted, handsome man to me.  Just for me.  I wanted Lucent to adore me and desire me and claim me.  I liked when he was rough.  I liked when he held me tight.  Not just that, but I wanted him to hold me tighter.  I wanted him to squeeze me until I could barely stand it, almost painful, and I wanted to know the feeling that he would never let me go.

These were temporary thoughts, of course.  I understood that, deep down.  He couldn't keep me this way forever, regardless of what either of us wanted.  Maybe that wasn't even why he did it, either.  Maybe he was angry, or he didn't realized how hard and pressing he treated me sometimes.  Maybe there were a lot of reasons why Lucent did a lot of things, but I didn't care about any of them right now.  I just cared about him, how I felt, how I hoped that my desperate emotions could seep into his heart and his soul and we could share some profound connection through mutual yearning and need.