His Challenging Lover (4 page)

Perhaps she should be nicer to him, more considerate. The man saw the bad in so many people; he shouldn’t have to see it in the people he worked with.

Maybe she should move her office to another floor. She didn’t need to be on his floor, she thought as she mentally reviewed the four floors and their layouts. Whenever they’d expanded their presence in the building, it was her job to assign office space to all the lawyers and support personnel. She’d always, for some inexplicable reason, kept her own office on the same floor as Xander.

Well, one time after a particularly frustrating week, she’d shuffled things around and was going to move her office to Ryker’s area. But that move had been vetoed. She didn’t understand all the details, but she hadn’t fought the change at the time.

Maybe it was now time to move to a new area, get away from him a bit more. The man could probably use her office to hire another lawyer. He had more than seventy divorce attorneys under his domain across the country with more than thirty of them here in the Chicago office. It always amazed her how many people were dissolving their marriage but his business was thriving.

She turned off the water, reveling in the silence as the ache in her ribs slowly receded even more. Xander had been right. A hot bath was exactly what she’d needed. And she probably would have ignored the idea if she’d gone home. She most likely would have pulled out her computer and worked on the millions of issues that required her attention every day.

Yes, this was perfect, she thought with a thrill. Autumn had to keep reminding herself that she wasn’t excited because it was Xander’s bathroom. It was simply because she was relaxed for the first time in….months.

Not really relaxed. No, what she was feeling wasn’t in any way relaxed. Rejuvenated. Yes, that was the word. She felt rejuvenated by the water and the bubbles. It was probably the lavender scented bubbles he’d provided for her.

It suddenly occurred to her – why did Xander have lavender scented bath bubbles? He hadn’t even needed to search for them. That feeling of happiness quickly dissipated and something new and angry emerged within her even as the bubbles popped and deflated.

Suddenly, the door to the bathroom opened up and Xander stood there, his indigo blue eyes glared at her. “You kissed me back!” he growled.

Gone were the thoughts about who had brought the bubbles into his place and her mouth went dry at the memory of that kiss. That one, incredible, passionate and mind blowing kiss.

She started to shake her head but he strode over to the edge of the bathroom, his hands fisted on his hips and he barely stopped when he was right next to the bathtub. “Yes, you kissed me right back.”

With that, he reached down and lifted her up, the water streaming down her body, bubbles floating around in non-strategic places. “Why did you respond to me?” he said, but he didn’t wait for an answer.

His kiss made her toes curl. She didn’t have time to be embarrassed that she was completely naked, nor did she have time to caution him that she was dripping wet. It barely even registered that he’d taken off his suit jacket and tie at some point. All she knew was that his strong arms were wrapping around her and he was once again kissing her. Those shocking feelings of desire, which had been suppressed on the short drive from the office to his apartment building fired right back to life and she was shivering in reaction.

She wasn’t aware of her arms wrapping around his neck but she shivered with need when his own hands moved from her arms down her back, cupping her bottom and pulling her hips against his own. She couldn’t seem to get enough of the man, her body pressing closely, her mind not even trying to understand what was happening as everything in her dealt with the surging, pounding, unrelenting need that was centered down low in her belly.

When he tore his mouth away, she cried out in protest but he ignored that and lifted her into his arms, straight up into the air. She looked down and just about melted when his mouth covered her nipple. She didn’t realize that her legs wrapped around his waist or anything else. Time, business, responsibility…they were all suspended as she let her head fall backwards, the ache increasing as his mouth sucked hard on her breast, teasing then gentling before increasing the pressure again. When he moved his mouth to the other breast, she thought she might just melt into a puddle of desire.

He wasn’t giving her any time to process, to even reciprocate. His arms lowered her back down and she kissed him back, her whole body trying to figure out what to do and how to manage what he was making her feel. But it was pointless. His hands were everywhere, finding places on her body she didn’t even know had nerve endings. It seemed that everywhere he touched just made that horrible and wonderful ache intensify.

The cold on her back was her only moment of sanity but that was obliterated when she felt him slide into her heat. She had no memory of her fingers pulling, practically ripping his clothes off or of him grabbing his wallet and sheathing himself with protection. She only knew that, for a fraction of a second when he was finally naked and their bodies could touch without the hindrance of clothing, she felt satisfied. That moment in time disappeared the moment he moved against her, her skin firing in so many places and the need was driving her out of her mind. When his body shifted, she cried out. The ache soothed slightly and she shifted to take in more of him. She didn’t know that her nails were digging into the skin on his shoulders. All she knew was that she wanted this feeling to continue, and she wanted to find something to soothe that ache.

When she felt the slight pain, she ignored it and moved her hands lower against his back to pull him deeper. When he was fully embedded inside of her, she smiled with exhilaration.

But then he started moving and that ache was almost painful. She couldn’t handle this and her head slashed back and forth, her hips moving up to meet his thrust while her hands shifted downwards, her fingers pushing against his hips, encouraging him to move faster.

When her world splintered apart, she gasped and screamed out, clinging to Xander, not exactly sure how to deal with the wave after wave of pleasure his body was creating within her but enjoying the ride regardless.

Xander felt her climax and watched with fascination. He controlled his own release, wanting her to enjoy this to the fullest. But as her body writhed underneath him, he couldn’t hold back any longer and he poured himself out, gritting his teeth with the most intense, most amazing climax he’d ever experienced.

He almost collapsed on top of her, but at the last moment, remembered her tender ribs and he rolled over. The cold tiles underneath his back startled him but then his fingers found her hair and he played with the soft tendrils, reveling for a long moment in the thrill that Autumn was here and he had just made love to the most perfect female he’d ever met.

Autumn gasped when she felt him shift their positions but she couldn’t work up enough energy to protest. So when she found herself draped over his muscular chest instead of underneath him, she could only lay there, trying desperately hard to catch her breath.

She shivered when she felt his hands move down her back and smiled while her own fingers tangled in the light dusting of hair on his chest. But then she felt something lower and her eyes widened. She lifted her head slightly, looking up at him and almost laughed at his tight jaw.

She shifted slightly, feeling him fill her up once again and she gasped, shifting her hips slightly.

“Don’t do that!” he growled and tried to hold her hips still.

Autumn closed her eyes and pushed against his chest. “Why not?” she asked, her body trembling all over again.

Xander’s hands slid up her body, cupping her breasts from this vantage point. “Because if you don’t, we’re going to start all over again,” he said with a husky growl.

She was fascinated. Shifting slightly, she gasped when she felt those quivers all over her body. “Wow,’ she sighed and closed her eyes. Her head fell back slightly and she braced her hands on his stomach, shifting one more time. She definitely liked this position, having heard about it from others and read about it in books. Although she needed a much more detailed analysis of this position versus the last one to fully gauge which one was better.

She inhaled sharply when she felt his hands on her hips, bringing her down hard on his erection. Her mouth formed an “O” of surprise, not sure how anything so invasive could feel so…amazing!

“Do that again,” he growled.

Autumn lifted her hips again, feeling the friction and shuddering at all the tingles that centered right down there on her body and radiated outwards. “Yes,” she sighed.

“Damn it, Autum,” he groaned. “You’ve got to move, honey.”

She bit her lip, continuing the slow pace so she could feel all of him, absorb every sensation. She liked this. A lot! Ignoring him, she moved however she wanted, grabbing his hands away from her hips when he tried to make her move the way he wanted her to. She looked down at him, her eyes dilated, her body undulating against his and Xander laid his head back against the bathroom tiles and let her have her way. He enjoyed the view even though he thought he might die a slow death at the way she was moving, so slowly and her body trembling so beautifully.

With each press of her hips, she took him higher and higher. Xander tried very hard to restrain himself, finding a thrill in watching her discover her body, but after several minutes of this slow torture, he couldn’t take it any longer. Lifting himself up so she was basically sitting in his lap, his mouth latched onto her nipple, sucking hard, then laving it with his tongue before doing it again and moving to the other one. Her cries egged him on and he grabbed her hips with his hands and took control of the pace. Lifting her up and pressing into her, he kissed her breasts at the same time that her climax caused her to scream out, her body both writhing to get away from him and demanding that he continue until she sagged against him. It took him only a few more strokes before he found his own climax and he fell backwards onto the bathroom tiles, once more replete as he held this incredible woman in his arms.

Autumn looked around, stunned by the dim light starting to come through the windows. Xander hadn’t bothered to close the blinds to his bedroom last night but she hadn’t really given him a chance. She sighed and tried to bury her face in the pillow beside her. She might be alone in the bed, but she could still feel his heat all over her body. Even as exhausted as she was right at the moment, she still wanted to find him and kiss him, feel his hands all over her once again. She’d never experienced anything like that before. The way she felt when he touched her was nothing short of….electric.

She heard the shower running and knew she should get out of here. She wasn’t sure what his reaction would be in the daylight, but she was a coward and didn’t want to face him. Not after everything they’d done last night.

She sat up, holding the sheet in front of her. She bit her lip when she looked over and saw her clothes draped against one of the chairs. She’d been so careful to fold them up with her underwear hidden away. But now her lacy underwear and bra were dramatically draped on top of her clothes.

Autumn knew that her face was blushing even though he wasn’t here to see it. She slid out of bed, in a panic now to get out of his bedroom before he finished with his shower. She didn’t really understand why she didn’t want to face him. They probably should talk about what had occurred, but she simply couldn’t do it right now.

She pulled on her clothes in record time, then cursed when she realized that she didn’t have her wallet. She must have lost it in the deli yesterday when the fight had broken out. She was about to burst into tears at the thought of seeing Xander this morning but then she spotted his wallet.

As she carried her shoes, she walked over to the wallet. Good grief, the man carried about three hundred dollars in his wallet. Who did that? Well, obviously the uber-wealthy did that. Xander clearly fell into that category.

She didn’t have time to think about that. She grabbed a ten, wrote him a quick note telling him that she owed him the money, and then scampered out of the gorgeous place. When she stepped out of his apartment and there was only one apartment and the elevator door, she wondered about that, but didn’t have time. She had to get out of there, panic setting in at the idea of seeing Xander this morning. She’d have to face him later, surely he’d be at the office, but that would give her an hour or two to figure things out without him close by, filling her nostrils with his spicy, male scent that was so incredibly tempting.

Damn! She rushed out of the building and raised her hand high, relieved a cab was just letting someone off. Thankfully, Xander lived right in the heart of the city which had a surplus of cabs available.

She jumped into the back of the cab and gave her address, then realized she didn’t have keys or anything so she changed her mind and asked the driver to take her to the office. He didn’t like that as much since it was a much shorter fare, but she didn’t have time to worry about the feelings of the driver.

At the office, she ignored the curious stares of the receptionist and a few other early bird lawyers and hurried to her office. There she grabbed her keys and purse, still not sure where her wallet was. But she didn’t care either. She raced home, fighting tears of confusion, bewilderment. How could she have fallen into bed so easily with Xander? They’d been duking it out about every issue ever since she’d started here.

Actually, that wasn’t true really. The first year she’d been here, she’d taken the receptionist job while in college, thinking it would just be a temporary position until she found something in her field of business administration. Xander had stopped by the front desk on numerous occasions, flirting with her outrageously, giving her small gifts for Christmas or her birthday, making sure she got all the vacation time she requested. He’d been very sweet that first year.

It had been when she’d gotten promoted to administrative assistant to Axel that he’d started to change. Even then, it hadn’t been mean, just a bit more standoffish. She hadn’t understood it at first, but it had hurt. She’d missed his smiles and those funny conversations. They were never about anything in particular but he’d always been very kind and sweet. And when she’d bought her condo, he’d made sure that Axel had taken care of all the legal issues for free.

She didn’t understand it at first, his distance. But she’d slowly pulled back as well. Their flirty friendship had slowly gone from friendship to acquaintances and then to outright battles at times.

As she stepped into her shower, she had to be perfectly honest with herself. It hadn’t always been his fault. She’d been hurt when he’d showed up with his girlfriends at work. So maybe she had been the first one to pull away.

But he had become nasty when she’d stopped by one night with a date to grab her coat after a spontaneous dinner. Ever since then, they’d been battling each other over every issue possible.

With a sigh, she stepped out of the shower and stood in front of her mirror. She’d have to hurry in order to make it to work on time but the sight of her chin, looking definitely purplish blue, was quit hideous! How could he have made love to her when she’d looked like this? How crazy! The lights must have been even dimmer than she’d realized.

She quickly applied a thick coat of makeup, not wanting to draw attention to her bruise. Her ribs were also a bit blue, but they could be covered up by her silk shirt and suit jacket. She’d just wear her jacket all day, not wanting to answer the numerous questions about yesterday’s deli incident.

After skillful application, she was able to hide most of the bruise. If one knew to look, they could see the color but otherwise, it just looked like she was wearing a lot of makeup. That was unusual, but couldn’t be helped. She had enough work to do to stay in her office most of the day and avoid people so that should cut down on the questions and curiosity a bit.

She made it to the office and pretended like nothing earth shattering had just happened the previous night.

“Xander Thorpe is looking for you,” Diane said as soon as she walked through the entrance.

Autumn stopped, frozen in place. “Why?” she asked after a prolonged, odd look.

Diane was startled by Autumn’s question. She struggled for an answer but in the end, she simply said, “I’m not sure. He didn’t say but he’s called me three times in the last half hour to see if you’ve arrived. Should I call and tell him that you’re on your way to his office?” she asked, lifting the phone and looking at Autumn.

“No,” she snapped, then shook her head, putting her hand to her forehead and telling herself to calm down. “No,” she said again, but not in a panicked voice. “I’ll go to his office as soon as I get settled in.”

Diane put the phone down and Autumn raced to her own office. She closed the door, taking deep breaths as she leaned against the wood. She’d have to face him at some point. Better to just get it over with.

She put her purse down and tried to gather her strength. But the knock on the door had her spinning around, her eyes wide with fright.

Sure enough, Xander stood in the doorway looking huge and delicious. At the first sight of him, all she could think about doing was throwing herself into his arms again, asking him to kiss her like he’d done last night, make her feel those strange and amazing feelings once again.

But he looked wary, not exactly in the catching-a-woman mindset.

“You okay?” he asked, his dark blue eyes looking at her from the top of her head to her black, pointed heels. She wasn’t positive, but she thought he might have paused as his eyes moved over her breasts. Please don’t let him be wondering what her current underwear looked like, she thought feverishly.

“I’m fine,” she said but couldn’t hold his gaze.

“You left this morning,” he came back after a long silence.

She bit her lip. “Yes. I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure…what to…what you might think…what might…” she couldn’t finish her statement. She wasn’t really sure what she was thinking anyway.

“You weren’t sure what I might say when I saw you in my bed? Or perhaps if you’d cared to join me in the shower?” he asked, his voice deep and sexy.

She looked into his eyes, unaware of the heat, the longing that was there for him to see. “Well, I wouldn’t have put it that way,” she finally said.

He rubbed his jaw, shaking his head. “Should I just put last night up to the adrenaline in your system after the fight?” he asked.

Her eyes widened and she initially thought about denying it, but then she stopped herself just in time. That was a perfect excuse. And maybe it was true.

No, she thought with honesty, it wasn’t true. But it would do for an explanation.

“I guess that’s probably what it was,” she finally said but didn’t want to state it as the complete truth. She couldn’t outright lie to Xander.

“I’m sorry I took advantage of you last night then,” he said as he stepped around her to look out the window. “I wanted to assure you that it won’t happen again. I know I was out of line. I took you back to my place to take care of you, to make sure that you were okay and I…” he stopped, sighing. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

Turning around, he looked down into her eyes, willing her to tell him that it had nothing to do with the adrenaline. That it had everything to do with wanting him as a man. But those pretty brown eyes couldn’t meet his. And he felt like more of an ass than before.

Damn, why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Why was he so drawn to this one woman? She didn’t feel the same and never had. Now, he’d just compounded their problem by taking advantage of her. He’d acted like a cheap, horrible suit by being all over her last night. Every time she’d moved, he’d been turned on, his mind and control obliterated by the fact that she was finally in his bed, in his arms and kissing him back like she had in so many of his dreams over the past several years.

But even now, being so close to her, smelling her soft shampoo and the strawberry shower gel she used, he wanted to pull her into his arms, sweep everything off of the desk behind her and make love to her until she couldn’t speak any longer.

If only he hadn’t gotten out of bed this morning. But he’d had to. He’d made love to her so many times last night; all he’d wanted to do was bury himself inside her again. He’d woken up with her soft body wrapped around him, her slender arms holding him close and his body had hardened like a teenage boy on his first date.

Only Autumn had this effect on him. He wanted her so painfully and all she wanted from him was distance.

He had no choice now. He’d had his shot last night. He’d have to back off, give her the space she wanted. He wouldn’t even manipulate the office space again when she tried to move off of his floor. Maybe if he didn’t see her every day, didn’t smell her soft, feminine scent or see her in those sexy, high heels she preferred, he would get over her. And maybe, if she wasn’t on his floor, he wouldn’t picture her in those lacy nothings he’d picked up last night.

“Well, I just wanted to make sure we were okay,” he said, trying to fill that awkward silence once again.

She forced a smile. “Thank you very much for your concern. I’m really okay,” she said, looking down, embarrassed by the need she felt when he was this close.

And then he did something completely unexpected. He stepped forward, so close she could just lean forward and they would be touching again, his fingers sliding down her jaw right where the bruise was. His fingers were so light on her skin she could barely feel him. “Does it hurt?” he asked softly.

“No,” she said, because in truth, she wasn’t feeling anything right now. She couldn’t even tell him what day it was or if the sun was out. Her whole world was focused on this one man and his gentle touch. “I thought I’d covered it up well enough.”

He smiled slightly, that half smile that made him look sexier than James Bond. “You did. If I hadn’t seen it develop last night, I wouldn’t know it was there.”

She blushed, thinking he’d definitely seen it all last night, including the ugly bruise on her ribs.

“I’ll take you down to the police station today so you can make a statement.”

She thought about that, about being in his presence more than necessary. She knew it wouldn’t be a good idea for her. “I can do that,” she told him. “Thank you though.”

Xander took the hint and stepped back. “Okay then,” he said and turned towards the doorway. “You look beautiful,” he finally said before walking out of her office.

Autumn stood there for a long time, her mind going over those words again and again. She’d dressed with him in mind for so long and he’d finally seen her. And now everything was so wrong!

She slumped down into her chair, burying her face in her hands and praying that she wouldn’t burst into tears. After several more minutes, she told herself to pull it together. She took a deep breath and lifted herself up. Looking at her computer, she realized that she had over fifty e-mail messages and knew from experience that most of them would be action items. There was nothing slow or plodding about the daily tasks at The Thorpe Group. Everything seemed to happen at warp speed. So no time to feel sorry for the mess she’d just made of her life. She had to get back to work.

She was fine all that day, but had to work hard to avoid Xander. He seemed to be everywhere. She saw him in the copy room, in the office kitchen and even when she was heading to the elevator to leave for lunch. When she saw that, she simply turned around, acting like she was heading for the stairway instead of the elevator. It didn’t matter that she had her purse over her shoulder and her coat on her arm. She might look ridiculous walking down the stairs, and it might even be obvious to him that she was avoiding him. But she didn’t care. There was no way she was getting into that elevator with Xander. The space was too small, he was too big and her need for him to touch her like he’d done last night was too intense. She’d make a fool of herself and she was tired of doing that.