Morning After (A Reynolds Security Novel) (17 page)

Chapter 17

Ethan stood watching Erica sleep. She was curled up on the sofa in his office where she had been since they had come in. He had been busy trying to track down the cause of the power outage that turned out to be confined to the building, and all the ramifications of the power loss. It took longer than he expected but she didn’t complain and maybe more importantly she didn’t leave. She could have just gone home but she waited with him instead and that touched him almost as much as her concern for him in the elevator. He squatted down and gently pushed her hair back from her face.

“Hey sleeping beauty,” he said softly and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled sleepily and his chest tightened. 

“I thought the prince was supposed to wake sleeping beauty with a kiss?”  He didn’t need another invitation. He closed the small gap and kissed her. He ran his tongue across her plump lower lip and sucked it gently. When their lips parted she sighed and smiled.

“You’re such a good kisser.” Her eyes were still sleepy and he grinned wondering what else she might tell him in this state.

“Come on sweetheart, I’ll take you home.”

“Yeah you should definitely take me to bed.” She giggled.

When they left he was surprised to see Diane still in the building.

“You’re still here? I thought everyone had left.” He said locking the outer office door.

“I was just finishing a couple of things for Jace.” He saw Diane’s eyes sweep over Erica and she looked rather disapproving. He could care less what she thought, it was his company, his office,
he could do what he wanted. He put his arm around Erica pulling her tightly to his side.

“Go home.” He said gruffly. “Everything is under control.” Diane’s expression darkened for just a moment but then she smiled,

“Of course. Good night Ethan.” Once again he wished she would go back to calling him Mr. Reynolds. He watched her retrieve her purse from her office and head for the elevator before he led Erica that direction.

“That woman gives me the creeps.” Erica whispered.

“Yeah me too.”

“Why did you hire her?”

“I didn’t, Jace did. She is on a three month contract which is almost up. I don’t think he will be renewing it.”

“Can we go to your house tonight?”

“Sure, is Zoe home?”

“She is, but…” Erica took a deep breath. “Adam has hired her to be his life coach.”

“He what?”

“Yeah apparently he has lost his focus and he thinks Zoe can help him find it.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“He told me he was going to apologize but he didn’t mention that.” He opened the door to his truck and she hopped in.

“I don’t think she should do it but she is determined.”

“I see so you don’t want to go home because…?”

“Because I don’t want to try to talk her out of it again, and I don’t want to take the chance that he will be there.” She scooted a little closer to him. “And I was hoping I could entice you into a bubble bath in that giant tub of yours.”

“A bubble bath huh,” he grinned, “That doesn’t sound very manly.”

“I’ll make it worth your while.” She batted her eyes at him and he grinned.

“Can’t refuse an offer like that.”

Erica figured it was probably too much to hope that Ethan actually had bubble bath. She had never seen any in the bathroom and he rarely used the tub. Really she wasn’t sure he ever had. But she started looking anyway. She looked through all the cabinets and then one by one through each of the drawers. The last drawer was the one where she had been storing her tooth brush and hair products. She was fairly certain that she hadn’t brought over any bubble bath but she pulled open the drawer anyway. What she saw momentarily stunned her.

Lying on top of everything else in the drawer was a pair of black and white zebra striped underwear. For a second she wondered if that was Ethan’s way of giving her panties. But they looked too small for her, and they didn’t look new, she wasn’t even sure they were clean. She didn’t touch them, she yelled for Ethan instead.

“What’s up? Everything okay?” he asked. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her but she pulled one arm away just enough to point.

“Panties?” he asked, lifting them out of the drawer.

“They aren’t mine,” she said tightly.

“Huh?” He seemed to realize what she had said and dropped them to the counter top. “What do you mean they aren’t yours?”

“They aren’t mine,” she said again. “Look at them; they are about three sizes too small for me.” Ethan looked back at the underwear and frowned, he didn’t know anything about panty sizes but he could tell that Erica was upset.

“How did they get in there?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

“What? Why would I put underwear in the bathroom drawer?” His brows rose and his eyes widened.

“Maybe you didn’t. They’re not even clean, they smell like sex.” She gripped her arms tightly, struggling not to give in to the hurt burning in her chest.  His brows dropped and his expression darkened.

“You think I brought a woman here, had sex with her and then she put her underwear in your drawer?” He sounded both angry and incredulous at the same time. She had to admit that it sounded a little ludicrous. She didn’t believe he would be with another woman and if he did he was certainly smart enough to cover his tracks better.

“No.” Her shoulders slumped. “But where did they come from, and why in my…” She stopped abruptly and walked out of the bathroom. Ethan had given her a drawer to keep a change of clothes in his bedroom. His words at the time had been ‘so you don’t have to leave for clean underwear’. She took a deep breath and pulled open the drawer. There was a gray t-shirt folded in the drawer with a dark red stain. She lifted it and gasped. There was a hole in the shirt in the center of the red stain. If she had been wearing the shirt it would look like she had been stabbed through the heart.

“Oh my God.” She didn’t even realize Ethan had entered until he spoke. She turned and looked at him her eyes filling with tears. “Erica put it down and don’t touch anything else.” She dropped the shirt and he pulled her against him and led her from the room. She felt numb, she couldn’t even cry. She heard Ethan call the police.

“I don’t understand
, how did someone get in here? Shouldn’t the alarm have gone off?” She was more speaking out loud than actually asking him, but her words triggered a response. He surged to his feet. He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch. She almost had to run to keep up with him as he towed her to his office. He sat down in front of his computer and began pressing keys.

“What are you doing?”

“The system tracks every arm and disarm and every code used.” He mumbled. He seemed to find what he was looking for because he stopped typing and began scanning. When he slammed his fist down on the desk she jumped.

“What’s the matter?”

“It was my code, at 3:15 this afternoon. Son of a bitch!” He shoved back from his computer and began to pace.

“Is anything missing?”

“I didn’t notice anything missing.”  He strode from the room and she followed unsure what else to do. He walked to the keypad by the door and began pushing buttons. After several sets of beeps she finally asked,

“What are you doing?”

“I am changing my codes.”  Erica wandered back to the living room and sat down. As the adrenaline began to leave her system she started to shake. She pressed her hands between her knees to hold them still but the rest of her body began to shake and shiver.   Then Ethan was there. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

“It’s
gonna be okay, I am not going to let anything happen to you I swear.”  He whispered against her hair and oddly enough, it did make her feel a little better. 

When the police arrived they weren’t very helpful. They dusted for prints and bagged the clothes but they told Ethan that since it appeared that nothing was actually stolen it wouldn’t be a high priority.

“Can I get you some hot chocolate or something?”

“How ‘bout a shot?”

“That can be arranged.” She followed him to the kitchen and he poured her a shot. She sat at the bar and stared into it but didn’t drink it. “Do you want to go home?” She looked up sharply and met his eyes.

“Do you want me to go home?”

“Of course not,” he said quickly, “But I do want you to feel safe.”

“You make me feel safe.” She said the words so softly he barely heard, but it had a profound effect on him. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight. He felt her shudder against him as she began to cry.

“
It’s okay sweetheart, let it all out. I am here for you, no matter what. Always.”

Erica knew he didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Just because he said ‘always’ didn’t mean he was really thinking forever. Guys didn’t think about forever until forever was already happening. No, it was way too soon for either of them to be thinking like that. Needing to distract herself she pushed herself away from him, tilted her chin up and sealed her lips to his in a passionate kiss. She licked along the seam of his lips and he opened immediately. She swiped her tongue against his in at an increasing pace building a sense of urgency in both of them. Making it clear she wanted more than just a kiss. His shoulders were already taught with tension and she felt his hands fist against her back. It was a sign she had come to recognize that meant he was close to the edge. He pulled back and took a ragged breath.

Erica watched the play of emotion fleetingly cross his features. He was trying to control himself and his reactions.

“Why do you do that?” She frowned.

“What?” He looked genuinely confused but she knew what she felt, what she saw.

“Why do you hold yourself back from me? Don’t you trust me?”

“What are you talking about? Of course I trust you.”

“But not enough to show me your true self.”

“Erica, I don’t know what you’re talking about I am not hiding anything.”

“Ethan, I may be inexperienced but I am not naïve. I know that sex isn’t always nice and comfortable. It’s not supposed to be. Sometimes it’s supposed to be wild and passionate, frantic and a little rough. I also know you’re holding back, I can feel the restriction you put on yourself just as surely as I can see your clenched fists.” She felt his hands immediately relax against her back as if he hadn’t even known they were clenched. His expression lightened and she could see he finally understood what she was saying.

“Erica,” he sighed. “I am a big guy, a lot bigger than you, a lot stronger. I don’t want to hurt you, or scare you.”

“Ethan, I am not afraid of you. I don’t believe you would ever hurt me even accidentally, but if you did I would tell you. I am a big girl I know how to say no.” She looked into his eyes and whispered, “I want you; I want all of you. Show me every dark shadow and caveman tendency.”

“Caveman?”
One side of his mouth quirked up in half smile.

“I know you are seventy five percent
caveman and twenty five percent polish, Mister ‘in charge’.”  She barely had the words out of her mouth and he bent and lifted her off her feet and over his shoulder. She squealed involuntarily at the sudden lift.

“What are you doing?” She grabbed a hold of his waist band as he started walking.

“I am taking you back to my cave.”

“Aren’t we already in your cave?” she laughed. He flipped her back over and dropped her on the bed. She bounced and grinned.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”
She was still wearing her work out clothes so he yanked them off her easily. Soon she lay naked before him on the bed, her eyes hooded with arousal.

Erica was looking up into Ethan’s gorgeous blue eyes one minute and found herself flipped to her stomach in the next. She started to roll back automatically so she could see him, but then he was on her; his weight pinning her to the bed.
 She could feel the soft rasp of the suit he still wore against her naked skin and shivered. She felt the slide of his body against hers and heard him inhale at her neck.

“You smell like you were thoroughly fucked in an elevator a few hours ago.” He growled in her ear.

“I couldn’t help myself.” She whispered as if in confession.

“You’re a naughty little girl aren’t you?”

“Only when it feels so good.” He slid his fingers deep into her hair and tugged her head to the side exposing her neck. The small pain sent an erotic thrill straight to her pleasure points. He ran his tongue up her neck and she whimpered. She wanted to squirm from the ache building between her legs but her pelvis was still pinned to the bed. The weight and inability to move added to her arousal.

Ethan bit the back of her shoulder and then sucked hard. She couldn’t hold back a moan as pleasure
spasmed through her. She felt wild and wanton, and she loved it.

Ethan eased his weight off to one side and with a hand on her thigh spread her legs. She felt his fingers graze up her thigh and along the seam of her sex.