The Wilde Side (11 page)

"Where would you like me to be?" she asked, the sultry, brazen vixen of his dreams.

On top of me, beneath me, taking me as hard and deep as I can get
... Throat suddenly dry, he reached for his cold beer and took a long pull of the beverage to quench his parched throat. But even after he'd taken a drink, his lips lingered around the smooth rim, and his tongue dipped and swirled into the opening in an inherently sexual way that made him think of Ashley, her soft folds of feminine flesh so sweet and warm against his hungry mouth, so responsive to his seeking tongue.

He shuddered and groaned and broke out in a sweat, the kind that felt like a fever running through his blood, thick and hot – except this heat was pure sexual hunger, a craving for Ashley in the most elemental, intimate way possible.

God, he was tormenting himself with his carnal thoughts, but that was nothing new since he'd been in physical agony for days now because he hadn't been able to get Ashley out of his head. But tonight he wasn't alone. Tonight she'd given him the opportunity to drive her just as crazy with desire.

"I wish you were here with me," he said, his voice rough around the edges as lust and raw need quickly simmered to the surface. "In my bedroom, on my bed, lying next to me ... all warm and naked and aroused."

"I'm there, right beside you," she whispered, playing along with his seductive game.

"And now that you're here, what am I going to do with you?" he asked, giving her the chance to be in control of where this illicit exchange was heading.

"Well..." The one word trailed off, her tone tentative and a bit shy, which surprised him.

"After everything we've done together, there's no reason to be modest with me, sweetheart," he said, smiling to himself. "Tell me a fantasy of yours, something you've never shared with anyone else."

He could almost feel her blush through the phone line, but much to his satisfaction she accepted his subtle challenge. "There's a part of me that has often thought about being tied up and being forced to submit to a man's sexual whims and other forbidden desires."

Her shameless confession made his eyebrows raise with interest, and his hardening cock twitched with awareness at all the various ways he might take advantage of such an inviting situation. "Are you into kink at all?" he asked curiously.

She gave his question a moment's consideration. "I never have been, but I suppose I could be persuaded to be more adventurous, so long as there's no pain involved."

That was something they both agreed on. "I don't believe in sex or foreplay being painful or sadistic, ever. I'm all for physical pleasure, in every way."

"That's good to know." She exhaled into his ear, her breath quickening as her deepest secret yearnings unfolded between them. "Since I know you'd never hurt me, once you had me restrained, I'd let you do whatever you wanted to me."

He swallowed hard as a mental picture formed of Ashley secured to his bed, her firm breasts quivering and her soft, supple body his to possess and claim, any way he pleased. "Oh, yeah, I like that fantasy."

"I thought you might," she murmured in complete feminine amusement. "But it also excites me to think about being the dominant one, too."

In his opinion, turnabout was definitely fair play, and he'd never complain about being at the mercy of Ashley's tantalizing ministrations – of being stimulated by slow, wicked caresses and explicitly spoken demands. "Care to elaborate on that?"

"Are you sure you can handle it?" she replied with an abundance of sass and daring. "I'd hate to get you all hot and bothered..."

His laughter was as strained as the tension and need coiling tight within him. "Sweetheart, I'm already hot and bothered. Make me a part of your fantasy. Tell me exactly what you'd do to me once you had me tied up."

"Well, first, I'd make sure you were naked from the waist up so your chest was bare," she said, leading him down a path to pure, unadulterated temptation. "And you'd be wearing a pair of loose pants, something light and easy to remove when the time came."

Came
being the operative word, he thought wryly as his cock flexed beneath his boxer shorts. "What would you be wearing?"

"Something silky and transparent, so you can see my breasts and nipples through the material and watch how much touching you turns me on." Her voice lowered a husky pitch. "My panties would be sheer, too, maybe even crotchless so there'd be nothing in my way when I'm ready to take you deep inside. And when I straddle your waist and spread my legs, you'd also be able to see how wet I am for you."

He groaned like a dying man, the sound reverberating deep in his chest. "You're a tease."

"Mmmm, and I like the way that makes me feel. Confident, excited, and very seductive," she purred in the back of her throat. "You're lying there, waiting for me to touch you, aren't you?"

He switched the portable phone to his other ear, the one that didn't feel as though it was on fire. "The anticipation is nearly killing me." And that was the honest-to-God truth. He couldn't wait to see where she took this fantasy of hers.

She laughed softly, knowingly. "Anticipation is a very good thing. And there'll be lots of it before I'm done with you. But for right now, I'm going to caress your face with the tips of my fingers and graze my thumbs along your bottom lip. Your mouth is so sexy, and I love the way you use your tongue and teeth along my fingers. It makes me remember the exquisite feel of your mouth on my breasts, the wet warmth as you sucked my nipples."

"Oh, Lord, Ashley..."

"I'm smoothing my hands along your broad shoulders and down to your chest," she went on resolutely. "You're all strength and muscle and incredibly masculine. Everywhere. And you're breathing hard."

Boy, was he ever! "That's because I want you."

"I know, but I'm not done with
you
yet." She paused just long enough to draw out the increasing sexual energy charging along the phone line. "I like the way you look with your arms secured to the headboard, and I can't stop myself from touching that sensitive curve right where your armpit is, maybe even biting the firm muscle there, then letting my fingers drift down your sides and around to your belly."

Lust burned deep in his groin. Closing his eyes, he ran a hand down his chest, his clenched stomach, and over the raging erection tenting his shorts. He pressed his palm against the insistent, thick ache, which did absolutely nothing to relieve the throbbing pressure.

"I'm stripping away your pants so that you're completely naked," she continued, her voice hushed, almost a whisper. "And my mouth is everywhere my hands have just caressed, kissing and tasting and licking your taut skin in long, slow strokes... It's getting hot in here, Scott. Do you feel the heat as much as I do?"

"God, yes," he rasped. "I'm burning up from the inside out."

"Do you want me to take you all the way?"

An unequivocal, "
Yes
."

"Are you willing to beg for it?"

At the moment, he was willing to sell his soul for the intense, erotic pleasure she promised. "Yes ...
please
."

"Please,
what?
" she prompted, a come-hither smile in her voice.

Barely restrained passion flared deep, a smoldering heat he couldn't deny. He shoved his shorts down to his thighs, wrapped his fingers tight around his stiff shaft, the smooth, taut head already weeping in anticipation. He pretended that it was her hand on him and soon, the sweet, wet warmth of her lips and tongue.

"Take my cock in your mouth and suck me," he demanded.

She did as he asked, seducing his mind and body with her evocative words and the slow, steady glide of her hands stroking his sleek, turgid flesh. She swirled her tongue over the plump, sensitive crown of his cock, licked away the bead of moisture that formed there, then pulled him into her mouth, all the way to the base of his shaft. She sucked him hard and strong, leading him to the brink of ecstasy, then pushing him over the edge into a frenzied rush of satisfaction.

He growled her name into the phone, his entire body shuddering as he came in long, thick streams, his climax so all-consuming and powerful that it left him gasping for breath and totally wasted physically.

He sank back against the pillows, then reached for a tissue on the nightstand. But for as much as his lust had been sated, he realized it wasn't enough for him – not nearly enough. Selfish as it was, he wanted, no,
needed
, more from Ashley than stolen phone calls when it suited her and impersonal orgasms at his own hand.

She'd admittedly created the safety net of being strangers to keep her emotions out of the affair, and while he'd gone along with her ruse their first time together, they'd indulged in more than just hot phone sex tonight. He'd shared a part of himself with her, his family and even a few relationship insecurities of his own, and he wanted all those superficial obstructions between them gone.

No more secrets ... no more of Ashley hiding behind a cloak of anonymity... He deserved honesty and her unconditional trust.

"I want to see you again," he said with gentle sincerity. "Let me take you out on a real date this time."

A quiet hesitation filled the phone line. Then her soft, rueful reply came through. "Unfortunately, that isn't part of the fantasy."

To hell with the goddamn fantasy
, he thought, but managed, just barely, to tamp his aggravation. "What if the fantasy isn't enough?"

"It has to be enough." Undeniable regret infused her tone. "Besides, sometimes fantasy is so much better than reality."

Obviously, she was speaking from personal experience, and he hated that she was having such a difficult time trusting in him. "Why can't we have both?" he persisted.

Again, she went silent, and knowing there was no answer forthcoming, he grew more determined to breach those barriers of hers.

"What is your last name, Ashley? Just give me that much." A small leap of faith was all he needed, something distinct and real that he could grasp and hold on to.

"I can't."

He heard the thread of anguish in her tone, but he couldn't help but feel played with – used – and it was a sensation that was altogether too familiar and unpleasant. "Can't or won't?" he bit out irritably.

"Both. God, Scott, I'm so sorry." Her voice shook with emotion, with an intimate longing that seemed all tangled up in a deeper layer of panic. "I've got to go—"

Abruptly, he sat up on the edge of the bed and barked into the phone, "Dammit, Ashley, don't hang up!"

But it was too late. A soft click sounded in his ear as she severed the connection between them, in every way that mattered. Swearing a blue streak, he vowed next time, if there was even a next time, he'd be the one dictating how their encounter played out.

She'd be his, all on his terms.

Chapter 7

A
shley rubbed at the fierce headache pounding at her temples as she punched the up button to the elevator that would take her to her apartment on the forty-fourth floor of the Chicago St. Claire. Home, finally. She couldn't wait to kick off her heels and strip out of her clothes, take a hot bath, and collapse in her own bed. And maybe, just maybe, she'd manage to forget about her phone call with Scott two nights ago and the jumble of emotions it had stirred inside of her – the wanting and the need that she couldn't seem to sort through or even ignore.

No matter how hard she tried.

She was certainly exhausted enough to drop into a deep, dreamless slumber for the rest of the evening. And after too many sleepless nights spent tossing and turning restlessly since meeting Scott, she hoped her mind and body would comply and give her that much of a break, even if it was only a temporary reprieve, especially after the troubling, and seemingly never-ending day she'd had.

After spending nearly four hours in flight from San Francisco to Chicago, she'd arrived back at the hotel late that Friday afternoon, only to be immediately thrust into the distressing and difficult predicament of having to fire an employee: namely, James, who'd been identified on the surveillance tapes as stealing the expensive Aaron Basha diamond shoe charm that had gone missing. Security had also discovered after hours of scrutinizing and analyzing the tapes that James was also responsible for the other unaccounted-for items – which totaled over three thousand dollars in merchandise.

Stepping inside the waiting elevator, Ashley leaned wearily against the back wall as the doors closed tight, needing that bit of support for the ride up. She'd been relieved to have finally found the thief in their midst, and equally glad that it hadn't been her assistant manager, Joan, as James had insinuated. But Ashley was still upset by the fact that she'd extended a certain amount of credibility to James, as she did all her employees, only to have him take advantage of that trust for his own personal gain.

Confronting James hadn't gone well at all, which she'd done with Evan by her side as a witness to the interrogation. James had gone from being apologetic to pleading to keep his job which he needed to pay off loans – what kind of loans, Ashley had no idea – to threatening her when she'd outright fired him. She'd learned, for the first time, that her employee had a nasty temper, though she supposed he'd been reacting on pure defense and fear, despite the glaring evidence against him.

Since James admitted to hocking the piece of jewelry for cash after seeing the evidence against him, along with the other missing items, she'd asked that he pay back what the merchandise was worth in a month's time, which gave him plenty of time to scrape together the money. She'd also gone against Evan's advisement that she press criminal charges against James for theft right then and there.

Instead, feeling a twinge of sympathy for James's predicament, she'd argued that being terminated from a job James obviously needed was a harsh enough punishment. James had a month to make amends, and if he failed to pay his debt, she'd then hand the matter over to the police and let them handle the issue.

Evan didn't agree with or support Ashley's decision, but she just wanted the whole mess done and over with, without causing her ex-employee any excess hardship. Still, as easy as she'd gone on James, he hadn't appreciated her leniency. His last belligerent words to her before he'd stormed out of the boutique were that she'd regret firing him. Ashley could only hope that in a few days James would calm down, own up to his offense, and handle the situation more rationally.

The elevator opened on her floor, and she walked through the entryway and came to an abrupt stop when she found Madison curled into the corner of her living room couch, her makeup smudged, and her nose and eyes red from crying. She looked so distraught, her features drawn and pale, her gaze filled with a hopelessness that tugged hard at Ashley's heart and reminded her of Madison's appearance and behavior when they'd had lunch together earlier in the week.

"Maddie?" Ashley asked, a wealth of concern surging through her as she hurried over to her sister. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." Madison wiped her nose with the crumpled tissue in her hand and gave Ashley a watery smile she had to force. "I didn't mean to just
be
here when you got home, but I didn't know where else to go."

Other than work and family, Ashley didn't have much of a social life of her own, which meant her sister could pretty much count on her being home in the evenings, and Madison and her parents knew that, too. God, her life was just too monotonous and routine, to the point that everyone knew her schedule, which rarely included any variation or spontaneity. It was pathetic, really, to be so damned predictable.

But it also made her dependable, as well as a constant and unfailing support system, which was why her sister had sought her out.

"Maddie, honey, I told you that you could always come to me for anything, at anytime." And then it dawned on her that her sister was alone, without the baby, which didn't happen often. "Where's Sophie?"

"I dropped her off at Mom's and told her I was having dinner with a girlfriend," Madison said, her hands twisting anxiously in her lap. "She doesn't know I'm here."

Ashley frowned, wondering why Madison felt the need to keep her visit a secret. "And where's Adam?"

"He said he had to work late, again, on a big corporate case that goes to trial in a few weeks."

Unable to miss the suspicion in her sister's tone, or the pain in her eyes, Ashley couldn't help but think about Maddie's behavior lately. Was this a bout of depression? Or something more? Whatever the problem, Ashley was determined to get to the bottom of what was truly troubling Madison.

Reaching for her sister's hand, she gave it a gentle, compassionate squeeze. "I'm worried about you, Maddie. You weren't yourself when we had lunch together, and now this." She paused, choosing her next suggestion carefully so as not to upset her sister further. "I'm thinking maybe you should make an appointment to see your doctor and find out if he can give you something to even out your mood swings."

Madison thrust her chin out defensively. "A doctor can't prescribe something to fix my failing marriage."

Ashley jerked back in surprise, stunned by her sister's admission, which was so far from anything she could have imagined being wrong with Madison.
"What?"
she asked, praying she'd misheard, or even misinterpreted, her sister's comment.

Jumping up from the couch, Madison headed to the floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows overlooking the city and stared out at the skyline. "Adam doesn't want me anymore," she said in such a small voice that Ashley barely heard her.

A lump formed in Ashley's throat, and her heart hurt, though she found it difficult to believe that Adam, who'd always adored her sister and had pursued her so intently before proposing to her, had fallen out of love with Madison so easily. "Did he tell you that?"

Arms crossed protectively over her breasts, Madison turned around to face Ashley again. "No, not verbally. But ever since Sophie's been born, he's hardly touched me."

Uncertain what her sister meant, and not wanting to assume anything, she prompted Madison for more information. "Hardly touched you, as in...?"

"Sex!"
Madison wailed, her eyes filling with tears once again. "We've made love only six times, and granted we've both been exhausted since Sophie's been born, but we used to have sex at least five times a week!"

Wow. Ashley could only imagine how wonderful that must have been, considering she'd never been in a relationship that inspired so much intimacy and physical craving. Still, she could easily see herself with Scott that often – enjoying on a regular basis all the pleasure and passion that was so evident between them.

"I've lost all my pregnancy weight, and my breasts are bigger than they were before I had Sophie," Madison went on, obviously needing to vent months of frustration and insecurities. "I've even been doing those Kegel exercises to help tighten and strengthen my vaginal muscles after having a baby, to make sure I'm back in shape. But the few times we've had sex, it's just not like it used to be. It's like the desire and passion are gone."

Unexpectedly, Madison buried her face in her hands. "Oh, God, Ashley," she sobbed in despair. "What if he's having an affair?"

Ashley bolted from her seat to instantly comfort her sister. She wrapped her in a hug and stroked her hair in a calming gesture. "Whoa, let's not jump to conclusions that may not be true."

Releasing Madison, she set her at arm's length and looked into her tear-stained face, praying there was a logical explanation for Adam's behavior. "Other than not making love to you as often, and it not being the same as it used to be before you had Sophie, has Adam said or done anything to make you believe he's having an affair?"

Madison swiped at the moisture on her cheeks with her fingers and let out a tremulous sigh. "Well, no, but I can't imagine what else it could be."

This was where Ashley's rational side came in handy, and she didn't hesitate to be the voice of reason, if that's what it took to make her sister analyze the situation from a different, more sensible angle.

"Honey, you just told me at lunch the other day that you and Adam are having a hard time adjusting to all the changes in your lives that come with having a baby. And I'd think that's fairly normal. You're both exhausted for different reasons, and it might take some time for everything, including your sex life, to return to normal."

Madison stared up at her with big, imploring eyes. "I just want it to be the way it used to be."

"Then tell Adam," Ashley said, giving her sister the best advice she could. "Talk to him and tell him how you feel."

Her sister nodded, as if trying to take Ashley's practical suggestion to heart, but it was obvious to Ashley that she was still too overwrought with emotion to think with a clear head. Still, there was nothing else that Ashley could say or do to make the situation any better for Madison. As much as it hurt her to see her sister in such misery, it was up to Madison to work out the issues at hand with Adam, in their own way.

In an attempt to alleviate the oppressive atmosphere, Ashley grabbed Madison's hand and pulled her toward the spacious kitchen. "Come on, let's order up something decadent from room service and pig out like we used to. How does a double serving of warm bread pudding sound to you?"

"With extra butter rum sauce?" Madison asked hopefully, her mood brightening a fraction at the mention of her favorite dessert, just as Ashley had intended.

Ashley laughed. "You got it."

Dessert didn't exactly solve her sister's problems, but it made for a delicious distraction. She picked up the house phone to dial the downstairs kitchen. She didn't use room service often, but sometimes it did come in handy.

By the time Madison left an hour later, Ashley was completely overwhelmed and drained by the day's turbulent events. She felt stretched so thin by everyone and everything, from business responsibilities to familial expectations, to being a counselor to her sister's marital problems and offering emotional support, that she was certain she was going to snap from the pressure and demands of it all.

She desperately needed an escape from her life as a St. Claire and all the constraints and obligations it entailed – desperately needed to leave her troubles behind and be someone else, just for a little while – and there was only one person she felt comfortable enough with to be the Ashley St. Claire with vulnerabilities, emotional yearnings, and deep, secret desires.

Before she could change her mind or come to her senses, Ashley headed to her bedroom, stripped out of her business suit and stockings, and let down her pinned-up hair. She put on a soft and faded drawstring denim skirt and a button-up blouse she left untucked. Shoving her feet into a pair of flat sandals, she grabbed her car keys and purse and took the elevator down to the main floor.

She stepped out of the lift just as Evan exited his office at the far end of the same corridor. Their gazes met, his surveying her and her outfit with surprise and interest. It wasn't often that he saw her dressed in something as plain and ordinary as GAP clothing when she normally wore designer apparel.

She kept her poise and summoned a nonchalant smile that gave nothing away. "Late night?" she asked him. It was nearly eight P.M., on a Friday night no less.

"As always," he said as he locked the office door, then turned toward her once again. "You know I practically live here."

True. Evan was always around, always working on paperwork and problems that arose, which was what made him such a valued part of the company. But at the moment, Ashley resented his presence, resented even more that she hadn't been able to even make it to her car without getting caught. She was tired of always being under some kind of scrutiny and hated that there was no privacy to be found, especially when she needed it the most. But that was one of the inconveniences and drawbacks of living in the hotel, in the same city where her family resided.

He started down the corridor toward her, and Ashley knew Evan would be escorting her to the private parking garage – whether she wanted him by her side or not – since Evan's vehicle was parked there, too.

"Are you doing okay after everything that happened with James today?" he asked as he met up with her.