Now, Please (13 page)

“So why is she still around? You know, if you aren’t happy…” I was trying to be really blasé about this whole thing, but the thought of him marrying someone else, even if it didn’t mean anything, was squeezing my heart in uncomfortable ways.

“We entered into a contract. It might be easier to marry her and then get the wedding annulled than call it off. I need to have my lawyer look at it.”

“You and your contracts.” I took a sip of my wine as my mind played over the “changing circumstances” comment.

“Yes.” His eyes dipped to my lips. “Did you want to take a dip in the hot tub before dinner?”

“Normally I’d just say yes, but you have people in this house, and I don’t have a suit. Or a solid-colored bra and panties.”

Hunter stood and put his drink down on a dresser. He walked toward the bathroom, disappearing around the corner, before coming back with two robes. He laid them on the bed. “No one will bother us.”

A flurry of butterflies assaulted my stomach as Hunter took my glass. He returned to pull me up to standing. His fingers worked over my buttons quickly, opening my sweater before discarding it. He pulled my tank top over my head and paused at my see-through, lacy black bra. His palms slid down my chest and over the swell of my breasts. With both of us breathing faster, he skipped down to my jeans, ripping open the button and pushing down the zipper in quick movements. He bent down in front of me as he worked them to the floor. I stepped out, only to have my leg directed to a wider stance. He hooked a finger into my panties and pulled them to the side.

I moaned, my head falling back, as a wet tongue probed my lips before circling the top of my slit. He sucked me in, making my knees go week.

“Every time I see you I want you,” he said, rubbing eager fingers along my wetness. A finger worked into me as his thumb circled my clit lazily. His mouth took over for his thumb again.

“Or maybe we could just hang out in here until dinner,” I said as my eyes fluttered closed and my body wound tighter.

He took one last, long suck before backing off and pulling my panties down to my ankles. Cold air brushed my aching wetness. My bra fell away a moment later.

“We’ll have all night in bed, Livy. Let’s spend the evening elsewhere. I’m sorry we have to be confined—I should’ve known what I was likely to come home to. That’s something I’ll need to change.”

He draped the robe over my shoulders as he quickly stripped out of his shirt. I ran my hand up his perfectly sculpted chest while he worked at the buttons on his pants. He shrugged into his robe and gestured me out of the room. We walked down the stairs and toward the back of the house, hearing a murmur of voices coming from the living room. He let me out through the back door and to a covered gazebo. He flicked a switch, and soft lights lit up a hot tub and illuminated a pool beyond. With economic movements, he took the cover off the large, circular tub.

He turned to me, taking off my robe and hanging it on a hook in the gazebo before removing his. I sighed as I sat into the hot water. He stepped in a moment later, on the opposite side of the tub. His gaze held mine. “I wanted to talk to you about…our situation.”

I put my arms along the side of the hot tub. “Okay.”

“I can’t share you, Olivia. If you can’t be with me solely, you need to say that now before we get any more serious.”

I didn’t even have to think about my response. “I only want to be with you.”

“Good.” The edge to his voice eased somewhat. His muscles visibly relaxed. He leaned back. “I have a strange setup, but I’ve always only been with one woman at a time.”

“Yet…you don’t ask that that one woman be monogamous.”

“How could I? I only…sexually engaged with a normal admin once a week or so, and for a short period of time. I gave no other part of myself. Everything I’ve done with you has been…abnormal. I’ve opened myself to you in ways I’ve only done once before. I couldn’t ask a woman to give me more than I was willing to give to her. That’s not what that contract is for.”

My heart surged, warmed with his admission. “So…then…you’re willing to give me more?”

“C’mere, Livy.” He reached out through the water. I took his hand, allowing him to pull me closer. He sat me in his lap and circled me with his arms. “I’m willing to give you all. I’ve tried to deny you, and you worked closer anyway. What’s the point in resisting? You’d just steal my heart in the end anyway.”

I put my face close to his, feeling the fire of love and passion lick the inside of me.

“I’ve never been with Blaire, so you know,” he said quietly. He turned his face so his lips glanced off mine. “I’ve never intended to. She knew that going in.”

“She’s obviously pretty sexual, and I bet she’s really pretty—isn’t she hard to resist sometimes?”

“Not at all. No one has ever been hard to resist, past my sexual awakening. Until now. There is only one like you, Livy. Every man that sees you notices it. I’m lucky enough to have you.”

“Behind all that rudeness is
this
guy. It’s amazing.” I shifted until I was straddling him. I fell into his kiss, passionate but soft. Deep and heartfelt.

I was falling in love. This conversation clinched it. I didn’t ever want this to end.

“Do you want kids, Livy?” he murmured.

I snaked my arms around his neck. “Someday, yes.”

“How many?” His hands came around my back and pulled me tighter to his chest.

I slid my cheek against his. “I don’t know—two or three, depending on how early I start.”

His fingers traced the skin on my back. “I never thought I’d have kids. Not since Denise. I’ve wanted them, though.”

“It’s odd for a guy to go that baby crazy,” I mused aloud. Then, realizing how that sounded, I pulled back so I could look down into his deep brown eyes. “Not saying that’s a bad thing—I just didn’t think teenage boys, all hopped up on hormones, would be that excited about being tied down.”

Hunter’s big shoulders shrugged under my palms. “I wasn’t at first, but I grew up as an only child. My father was a hound. My mother couldn’t stand the sight of him after a while. I thought a family I created with a woman I loved, and who I thought loved me, would make me feel normal.” He pulled me closer again. “I was seventeen, Olivia. My head wasn’t on straight.”

“But you’ve never stopped wanting it.”

“I’ve never stopped wanting normal, no. But the more I’ve chased it, the further away it seems to get. Look at me. For years now I’ve enforced an employee contract that granted morally corrupt privileges. I should’ve been sued many times over. Instead, it’s a highly sought after position. I have a fiancée I don’t like, but who I agreed to so my father would walk away from my life. She tied together two businesses that had nothing to do with me. My father is still very much in my life, like it or not, and the businesses no longer have a relationship. Yet still I’m tied. I’m a workaholic because I have nothing else in my life.

“I’m so far removed from normal I don’t even know the way back. Except through you. You are everything I’ve always wanted to be, including poor after college and looking for a job. And within you is the potential for me to achieve my dreams. You, as a person, by yourself, are perfect. You are a rare and priceless gem that I would chase to the ends of the world just to be near. Just to hope some of your effulgence rubbed off on me. I am incredibly lucky you chose me.”

I kissed Hunter, clinging to him. “You are living in opposite land.” I laughed through my emotion. “And incredibly sweet.”

“I’m not sweet, I’m truthful. It gets me in trouble often.”

“Not with me.”

“Mr. Carlisle?” we heard from the back door.

“Yes, Mrs. Foster,” Hunter called.

“Dinner is fifteen minutes out, and the dining room is set for you. Miss Englewood is…elsewhere. You should be undisturbed.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Foster, we’ll be in shortly.”

“I meant to ask you,” I said to Hunter as we got out of the hot tub, “when do you find time to work out?”

“Out of everything, that is your burning question?” Hunter held out my robe. “I use the company gym, mostly, and if I don’t get a chance, I use the one here. It’s next to the garage.”

“Ah.”

He steered me inside and up to his room. Instead of letting me change into my clothes from the day, though, he handed me a pair of men’s pajama bottoms and one of his T-shirts. He donned his own pair before wrapping me in his arms for a moment before we headed downstairs. “I’ll get you some pajamas to wear.”

“I have some at my house.”

“Your bed is too small. It’s made for elves.”

“In
Lord of the Rings
, Elves are tall, I think. And I meant I can bring them here. I’m not sure if you realize this, but you don’t have to buy an entire wardrobe for each residence. I thought I’d point that out to you. You know, as the voice of
normal.
”

He kissed me on the forehead before leading me downstairs and to the dining room. The long table was set up with two places facing each other at one end. Lit candles flickered, and the light from the crystal chandelier above put off a dim glow.

I sat down to a place set with pricy china dinnerware and real silver utensils. While wearing Hunter’s pajamas.

“No, you don’t do normal all that well.” I laughed as Mrs. Foster entered with a serving tray loaded with savory pot roast glistening in delicious-looking gravy. Potatoes and peas were already on the table in their own serving bowls, with a salad off to the side.

“She usually just makes me a plate,” Hunter said as Mrs. Foster situated the beef.

“You have a pretty guest, Mr. Carlisle. I couldn’t have you eating like a squatter, now could I? What would she think of me!” Mrs. Foster pursed her lips as she turned to me from her position at the head of the table. The chair had been removed to the corner, and serving spoons and forks were lined up for her use. “Now, young lady, would you like some salad?”

“Yes, please,” I answered dutifully.

“And she has manners. What a nice change in this house!” Mrs. Foster took a small plate and loaded me up with salad. Without asking, she took Hunter’s plate and did the same.

After agreeing to the other elements to the dish, Mrs. Foster made up a larger plate with way too much food, then left the room to give us some privacy.

“She must work late hours,” I said as I cut into the roast.

“Not generally. She usually leaves my plate in a warming tray.”

“And she just cooks. That’s it?”

“She cleans, as well. She looks after me, for the most part, so she sees to my laundry or dry cleaning, makes breakfast and dinner, and whatever I need. Blaire has her own staff.”

“Must be nice,” I muttered, closing my eyes as the delicious meat melted in my mouth. “Very nice. She’s a great cook.”

“Yes. I’m well fed.” A moment later, he said, “Bruce asked about you on Friday. I told him you were seeking other employment. He’ll be calling you with a job offer, I have no doubt.”

I opened my mouth to tell him that Bruce already had. He was expecting an answer any day. And while I hadn’t officially decided, if I was really, truly honest with myself, I still longed to say yes. The idea of doing something I loved, of following my dream, called to me. Why wouldn’t it—that was the path to happiness, after all. But as happy as I would be doing that, I’d be happier with Hunter. I’d do something I hated to be close to him, and my situation wasn’t even remotely that bad.

So instead, I played dumb. “A job offer? He’s selling his company!”

Hunter smirked. “He’s gotten a taste for business now—he’s already thinking of the prospects for his computer games.”

“Oh. The hobby. I doubt his wife will be pleased.”

“Are wives ever pleased?” Hunter’s eyes glittered in the soft light. A smile tickled his lips, boosting his handsomeness.

After a moment, his mirth turned into a furrowed brow. I was still staring.

“You’re handsome,” I said in answer to his unspoken question. “I can’t help but look.”

“Ditto,” he responded with that hot smirk of his. His gaze started a slow burn as he lifted a potato to his full lips. In his eyes held a promise, and I was eager to feel him deliver it.

H
unter closed
the door to his bedroom behind him. We’d sat at dinner for a while, eating and chatting, before Mrs. Foster bustled in with cheesecake. I’d tried not to eat too much, knowing that I’d be getting intimate with Hunter soon after, but everything tasted so
good
!
I couldn’t help myself.

I was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Hunter. Being that he was a man of few words at work, a trait that had carried over into lunches and plane rides, I hadn’t expected him to open up so much. As we spoke, though, his sense of humor showed itself in the form of sarcasm, and his ideas and observations enhanced whatever silly thing I threw at him. It was quite possibly the most relaxed and easy I had ever seen him.

“Do you want to watch TV?” he asked as he hovered by the light switch.

I crawled up onto the bed, needing to lie down after that feast. “Which side do you want me?”

“The side furthest from the door. If a burglar comes in, I’ll die first.”

I snorted. “Well thought out.”

“TV?” he asked again.

“Or…just bed and fondling?”

The light clicked off, plunging the room into darkness. I saw Hunter’s body move across the room, black against very dark gray. A dim light switched on near the bathroom, showering the bed in a soft glow.

“Put candles on your list of to-buys,” I said.

“Noted.” He stripped out of his clothes. I marveled at his body, tracing his muscles with my gaze as he moved and shifted. He slid into the covers and scooted up to my body. He tugged my shirt over my head before reaching low to strip me of the pajama bottoms. His hand traveled up my skin, leaving a warm trail in its wake, before cupping a breast. His lips connected with mine, light and sweet. He traced my bottom lip with his tongue while pinching a nipple. Shooting pleasure coursed down to my core.

“Do we need to use protection?” he asked as his hand drifted between my legs. His fingers ran between my swollen sex. I spread my legs, giving him more access.

“We’ve been fine without it so far.”

“Will you miss a pill? I should’ve asked if we needed to stop by your house first.”

“Oh. No, I haven’t gotten out of the habit of carrying them in my purse. In college, you never knew where you might end up.” I felt his fingers stall for a brief moment. “No, not like that! I mean, sometimes like that—I did have boyfriends. But sometimes I would spend the night at Kimberly’s if we were at a party closer to her house. Or a different friend. Very rarely boys. I wasn’t that exciting.”

“You’re plenty exciting.”

I ran my hands over his shoulders before curling them around his neck and bringing his head closer. Hunter plunged two fingers in, getting me nice and slick, before trailing his lips down my chest and sucking in a nipple.

“Hmm,” I said, running my fingers through his hair.

He switched sides as his fingers sped up, his thumb working my nub while his fingers hit the right areas. I arched, applying pressure to the top of his shoulders, needing his mouth on me. Wanting him to finish what he’d started earlier in the night.

He moved that way immediately, pulling back the cover so the light fell on my nude body. His tongue licked up my center before his mouth sucked at the top. His fingers continued to work as his tongue made circles around my clit before then manipulating it from side to side.

“Yes!” I rocked my hips up into his mouth. I arched again, losing control. My hands moved across the mattress and up to my hair, clutching in fistfuls as the pleasure tightened my core. “Oh holy—” I arched and then gyrated, writhing. His mouth was ecstasy, sucking and manipulating, as his fingers worked, rubbing just right.

“Oh yes, Hu—yes. Oh. Oh yes.” I arched again like a woman possessed, squeezing my eyes shut against the tumult. “Almost…almost…”

A climax blasted my body apart, having me yank my own hair as the sweet feeling of orgasm soaked up every fiber of my being. “Ohh, that was good.” I melted into the mattress as his tongue made lazy circles around my sex.

He kissed up my body, each touch of his lips giving me a delightful shiver. When he got to my mouth, I pushed him to his back.
My turn.

I climbed on top of him, threading my thigh between his legs so his rock-hard erection was against skin without hope of finding my opening. That would come later.

I started at his mouth, giving him teasing, light kisses. When he lifted his head, wanting more, I backed off with a smile. His hands slid up my back, trying to capture me. Instead, I grabbed him by the wrists and pushed them above his head.

“Have you ever been tied up?” I asked, licking across his full bottom lip.

“Usually I would ask that of a woman.”

“Have you?”

“No.” Lust infused his voice.

I trailed those teasing kisses down his chin and back, starting to slide down his body slowly. “Something to explore.”

“Or blindfolded.”

I could hear the excitement in his voice. He obviously knew I’d use those items to take my time and have my way with him. Not many men would say no to that.

I certainly wouldn’t.

I circled his nipple with my tongue before sucking it in. I bit lightly, enhancing the feeling. He sucked in a breath before groaning. I switched to the other side, doing the same, before running my tongue down his defined six-pack. I kissed each muscle before running my hands back and forth over him, loving the feeling of a hard, cut man.

I slid lower, lifting my body and adjusting my positioning so the tip of his manhood would slide across my taut, sensitive nipple.

We both moaned.

I stayed there a moment, rubbing back and forth on him, feeling my sex swell even more, and seeing his hips start to lightly thrust upward.

“Do you have any lube?” I asked, still playing with that tip.

He reached to his nightstand, making me get up so he could get into the drawer. He bought out a tube of lube. No frills, no taste, just something to get the job done.

It was clearly for his alone time.

I spread the cold gel over my breasts before tossing it to the side and working my body between his legs. I wrapped my breasts around his cock. Slowly, I moved up and down, stroking him.

I looked up, watching him watch his tip emerge from my breasts, before being swallowed again.

“Maybe no to the blindfold,” he said in a thick voice.

I smiled, working a little faster. I knew I could take him all the way right here. His hands fisted in the sheets. His body strained. Those beautiful pecs turned into mountains.

But I wanted to deep-throat. That would be way more impressive than what I was doing. I hoped.

I tilted my head down, trying not to make it look as awkward as it felt, and pushed down so his tip popped out—right into my awaiting mouth.

“Oooohhhh, Livy,” he gasped. His body went rigid.

Jackpot.

I worked him faster, stroking him with my breasts until I could get him into my mouth, and then sucking hard. His head fell into the pillow.

“Faster,” he breathed.

As awkward as it was, I increased the pace, squeezing him as tightly as I could and sucking as much as I could. I bounced over him, feeling his wild thrusts into me. He was too wild, though. Too desperate. He wasn’t getting enough from this setup.

In a quick decision, I let go of my breasts and sucked him in as far as I could. His tip hit the back of my throat.

“Oh!” Hunter said in a surprised release of breath.

I backed off quickly and immediately sucked him in deep again, stroking with one hand and cupping his balls with the other. I massaged, stroked and sucked, as fast as I could, feeling that smooth skin enter and leave my mouth.

“Livy—”

That was all the warning I got. He gave a long groan, shaking on the bed as an orgasm stole his speech. As he calmed, I couldn’t help myself. I had to break the mood.

“I’ll just run to the bathroom really quick,” I said as I climbed off the bed.

“Mouthwash is in the cabinet on the right, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

It was exactly what I was looking for. I hastened into the large bathroom with double sinks, his toiletries around one, the other bare, and searched the cabinet. I found the green bottle immediately and took a swig before heading back out to the peacefully resting man molded from the gods.

I crawled up next to him and put my head in the indent of his shoulder. He looped his arm around me and hugged me close.

“I would love to do more, but I am so extremely relaxed,” he said, and sighed. “Give me a minute to recover.”

“I’ll just do the work until you’re ready to join in,” I said, rising up and throwing a leg over his groin.

“It’s been so long since I let a woman lead. I forgot how pleasant it is to be a sloth while still reaping the rewards.” His smile made me blink in a daze for a second. The man was so incredibly handsome.

I laid my body on top of him and kissed those soft lips. His arms came around me as he kissed me back. I reached under me to grab his softened phallus. Gently I stroked, feeling life surge into it quickly. I smiled over his lips.

“You have the magic touch,” he said, probably in response to my smile.

I shifted my body so his growing erection fit against my wetness. I moved along his shaft, closing my eyes with the small points of pleasure firing into me. My breath sped up as he hardened further. His hands gripped my hips as I stroked with my body.

Rising to the top, I tilted my hips, and then slowly slid back down. His girth filled me, making me moan as heat worked up from point of contact.

“God you feel good,” Hunter whispered, eyes closed. His fingers gripped my skin tightly.

I rocked forward as I dropped my hand between my spread legs. I manipulated my pleasure center as I moved him in and out with gyrating hips. Pleasure multiplied exponentially. Immediately.

“Hmm.” I licked my lips and worked myself faster. The outside sensations merged with the feeling of him moving inside me.

I felt his palm against my sensitive nipple. I gasped, sitting down harder than I intended. Stabs of ecstasy pierced me. My breathing turned into panting. My movements became less fluid and more hectic. I rocked over him, strumming with my fingers and leaning into his treatment of my nipple. “Yes, Hunter—yes. Yes, baby.” I rocked and sat, rocked and sat. My fingers worked. So did his.

Something tore loose. My control fled. Pleasure took over.

Pulling my feet under me, I rose up and sat even harder, taking him all the way in with hard, rough movements. He groaned, his hand starting to shake on my breast. My fingers worked faster. My body rose and sat, harder and harder. The bed started to rock. Then squeak. Wood groaned. Still I worked harder, the sensations starting to become unbearable.

“Almost, Hunter,” I said in between rough panting. “Almost there.”

My pants turned into moaning grunts. My body tightened. My muscles followed.

“Almost—” I clenched my teeth, needing a final push. Needing something to send me over the edge.

“Come, baby,” Hunter commanded urgently.

Like a release valve, it all came crashing down. Wave after ruthless wave of body-shaking climax hit me. I half yelled, half moaned from it, going completely rigid. I had no idea if he came with me.

I did not care.

The climax tore through me, never ending. It felt so damn good.

When the last of the quakes drained away, I fell on top of him. My limbs splashed around his body. My head rested in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

“Did you orgasm?” I asked in a sleepy voice. Because I would roll over and play dead if not. He’d have to do all the work to finish up. I didn’t even want to lift my head.

“Yes, baby,” he whispered in a tired voice. He held me tight. I felt his heart beating against mine. “Thank you, Livy, for putting up with me. For opening me up and forcing me to feel again. I want to do this right with you. I want to try and give you the man you deserve. Regardless of all else, I want to give you a real relationship. I want to try and make it work.”

My heart warmed and my lips curved into a smile. He was facing his fears and trying to use his heart again. With me. I’d been given a crack and I’d wormed my way in. All I had to do now was hold on and let what was between us grow.

I kissed him, deep and heartfelt, giving my answer physically. I wanted to try, too, because I knew he was capable of deep and profound love, and I wanted him to find that again.

With me.

I sighed in contentment and fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

If only every day could end like this one. It would make everything else in life bearable.