The Mammoth Book of Erotica Presents The Best of Saskia Walker (10 page)

“Untie me,” she pleaded, aching to hold him.

“Maybe.” He smiled, as if to himself. “I like you this way,” he added, and his voice was hoarse with emotion, “because you can’t run away from me again while I’ve got you tied up.”

“I didn’t run away.”

His eyelids lowered but not before she saw it – she’d hurt him. He masked it quickly and reached for the belt. When he unbound her, she touched him, holding him eagerly.

Am I dreaming?
His hard body under her fingers seemed to deny that. Running her hands along his flank, she drew back and looked at him, needing the constant reassurance this had really happened.

He rested alongside her and ran his hand up the length of her arm. “You’re different, leaner.”

“I’ve been working hard.”

“You have. It suits you.” His expression seemed to soften, and yet his fingers lingered around her biceps, stroking her as if he was acquainting himself with the physical changes that had been brought about by hard labour.

“You are different too, more wrinkles.” She touched her finger over his face.

“That’s your fault.” He smiled.

“Oh, right, my fault.” She laughed softly.

They continued to explore the newness they found in each other. Leonie wanted to savour every moment. She didn’t want to ask him if he really meant what he’d said, not yet.

He turned his attention to her chest, and licked her right breast, long and slow, eking out her afterglow, making her even more warm and languid. Her hips stirred against the bed, heavy and yet warming for more action. Her fingers latched over the abandoned belt, anchoring her. “Why the belt?”

“Thought you might not be so willing.” He moved to her left breast. “Thought that I’d have to convince you.”

He had doubted her need for him. But still he came . . .

“Willing?” she teased, on an intake of breath, when he pleasured her sensitive breast with his kisses.

Then his cock began to stir against her and he seemed to make an effort to gather his thoughts. “There is something else I need to say, a few things actually.”

“What?”

“It’s about work.” He drew away, ever so slightly, but she noticed.

If this was about work did that mean he had moved on already – that he had already shelved the intimacies said in the heat of the moment?

His expression grew more serious. “The board of directors suggested a new post for you. They like what you’ve done here. You gave a new franchise confidence. The board wants you to do it again, with a bigger project. They haven’t given all the details yet, just wanted me to run it past you, in theory.” There was a certain sense of misgiving in his tone. “I can tell you it’s in South America. The plantation is big, up to five times the size of this, and the conditions are harsher.”

It sounded like the sort of new challenge she wanted, but he was wary. Maybe he didn’t want her to go. Was this an either/or situation?

“I’ve learned a lot,” she said, cautiously. “I’m willing to think about it.”

His eyelids lowered. “They are offering it to you under one condition.” His mouth twitched, and she sensed he was trying to play it deadpan.

“Condition?”

“Just one. You work with someone else.” He met her stare and the twinkle in his eyes made her heart thud in her chest. Curiosity and hope gripped her.

“Who?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

He shrugged. “Yours truly.”

“But you said you’d never leave London, you said you’d never tie yourself to anyone or anything—”

The words tumbled out, but he put his finger against her lips, hushing her. “I changed my mind. If you agree, we’ll do it together, and you’ll be the expert.” He stroked his hand down her flank, his expression serious. “I’ll just be the newbie who wants to be alongside you.”

She knew that was hard for him, and she knew that he was offering the sort of commitment he’d never been able to offer before. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”

He nodded. “I’ve thought about nothing else for the last twelve months, since the moment you left. I love you, Leonie.” He paused. “I couldn’t be what you wanted, back then. I know that I let you down. But now, it’s different. I had a nasty shock when you went away. I thought I could handle it, but it tore me apart. I realized what an idiot I’d been.”

She almost couldn’t stand it. His confession made her ache.

He drew her hands to his mouth and kissed them both reverently. “You did the right thing. I needed a kick up the arse. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. If you’ll have me, we can go on together. I want new challenges too, and I want to be with you, always.”

She tried to keep the smile from her face, but failed. “Hmm, now let’s see . . . a new assignment.” She latched her hands over his shoulders. “I’d have to give it some serious consideration.”

“Don’t make me wait too long, or I might have to force the issue.” He prized her legs open again, his cock hard against her thigh, his mouth nuzzling her throat hungrily.

A sense of heady, heady bliss saturated her. She lifted her hips and encouraged him back in.

A tentative knock sounded.

Sherri coughed outside the door, in the corridor. “Hey folks, I just wanted to let you know, dinner is just about ready.”

“I’ll be right there,” Mike managed to respond, as he eased his cock inside her. “I’m just freshening up.”

“You’re in
my
room, idiot,” Leonie whispered. She couldn’t help laughing. When she did, his cock buoyed up against her most sensitive place. “Oh, oh, oh,” she murmured.

“OK,” Sherri called out. “No rush, it’ll keep. I figured you guys had some . . . freshening . . . to do. I put your bag outside the door, Mike. You left it in the hallway.” They heard her chuckling as she walked away.

Mike fixed Leonie’s gaze with his, his hips pinning her to bed. “Well?”

“What if I ask for it to be someone else, for the sake of my sanity?”

“I want us to be together.” He pulled back and then thrust inside her, demanding. “Stop toying with me and agree, damn it!”

He was actually fretting about her response. She could see it in his eyes. She could also feel it in his needy thrust. “Oh,” she said, in between gasping for breath. “I suppose it might be better to be with the devil I know . . .”

“Agree. Or we’ll never make it to dinner.”

She gasped as he rolled his hips from side to side, his shaft massaging her. “Looks like you’ve me got over a barrel,” she managed to reply.

“Now that I’d like to see.” He plied her with kisses. He reached down and stroked his one finger back and forth over her clit, brusquely, demandingly. “Agree,” he urged again, taking shallow thrusts.

This time she met his gaze on every move, watching him in wonder as he made every part of her sing. She felt herself fluttering open deep within, each internal kiss like a seal on what had been said. Crying out, she climaxed suddenly and unexpectedly.

“It’s a deal,” she managed to blurt out, and then wrapped her legs around his hips, locking him in place while he poured himself into her and his cock jerked in release.

“I love you, Mike,” she whispered, as he rolled her into his arms.

Even if she could have resisted him for a moment longer, it didn’t matter any more. The devil she knew was right where she wanted him to be – in her heart, in her soul, and in her bed.