31. Ember

31

EMBER

I rushed to my desk and checked my email once I was out of Orion’s office. I had a message from Moira asking if I could meet her in thirty minutes to talk about a new client she wanted me to meet with later this week. I quickly drafted up a response saying I had to run an errand for Orion and wouldn’t be back for… an hour? Two hours?

I honestly had no idea how long our little secret rendezvous was going to take, so to be safe, I told her our meeting would have to wait until tomorrow. Even the subtle optimism made a pool of heat gather between my legs.

I expect to find you wet and ready when I arrive. Don’t disappoint me.

Orion’s words echoed in my mind, and I realized I didn’t need to worry about them. He definitely wasn’t going to be disappointed. Sure, I was almost certain we were rushing head-first into a huge mistake from a career and an emotional standpoint. But physically? Every fiber of my freaking being wanted this.

And maybe sleeping together would knock some sense into our heads. Maybe something would click to make us realize it was worth all the mess, that we could both wade into the chaos of hidden truths and sort it out together.

I fired off a few more quick emails to cover myself and make sure nobody would come looking for me. As far as anybody who mattered knew, I was going to be on an errand that meant I wouldn’t be available until tomorrow. Considering my now-regular off campus meetings with clients, it wasn’t a hard lie to sell.

I hurried to the bathroom and took a look in the mirror, making some last minute fixes as I anticipated the attention I was going to be getting in mere minutes. Stupidly, I even spent time fixing my shirt and tucking it back into my skirt more perfectly.

Orion is going to practically tear those off you, Ember. You’re wasting your time.

The thought sent a hot chill down my arms. After weeks of our clandestine email exchanges and numerous sessions of touching myself while imagining all the various ways Orion Foster might treat me if he was my lover, to say I felt a little anticipation would be the understatement of the century.

Just thirty minutes ago, I thought the chance of ever having his hands on me was near-zero. And now…

I could barely walk as I left the bathroom and headed for the janitor’s closet.

What if he’s already there, waiting for me? Would he expect me to undress for him before he arrived?

No… Orion liked control. He would want to be the one to take my clothes off. He would want me in there waiting for him, preparing for him.

Once again, I was struck by how comical the idea of me not being wet and ready was. Hell, I was going to need new underwear after this.

I found the old closet where my desk had been and opened the door. To my mild relief and disappointment, Orion wasn’t inside. It was just an empty, carpeted space that was thankfully very clean. I looked at the ground and wondered if he was going to want to go vertical or horizontal. Either way, I was glad there was carpet, not that I would’ve let a little cold tile stop me from doing whatever the hell he wanted once he got in here.

I paced in a nervous circle for what felt like half an hour.

My thoughts froze when I heard footsteps approaching.

I backed up several steps until I bumped into the wall, eyes wide as I waited in the darkness and watched the narrow view of the hallway through the partially opened door.

I saw a suit and tie, immediately recognizing Orion’s broad, powerful shape.

He seemed to hesitate, standing just out of view for nearly a minute before he finally pulled open the door and shut it behind him.

“Ember,” he breathed into the dark.

“Hi,” I said, voice sounding meek. My sweaty palms were plastered against the wall as I tried to shrink into as small a shape as possible.

“Does anyone know you’re here?”

“No.”

“Will they come looking for you?”

“No. I told them I was busy until tomorrow. We… have all day.”

There was a pause. I could almost feel Orion smiling. “That was good, Ember. We won’t need to rush, then.”

“Good,” I said a little too fast and too high-pitched.

I felt Orion moving closer in the small space. His big hands found my waist.

For the first time since we’d met, there was no hesitation or reservation in his touch. His hands were firm and greedy as he gripped me—nearly enveloping me and making me feel small. He slid them up as he sucked in a hard breath.

“I’ve wanted you for a very long time, Ember.”

“Why?” I asked. Echoes of my insecurities came floating back into my brain. I supposed that was the thing with a lifetime of being told you weren’t good enough, pretty enough, or thin enough. Even when a gorgeous man was hungrily groping your body like it was a prize, your brain still found reasons to doubt.

One of his hands slid downward, skipping over the hem of my skirt and finding my ass. He squeezed hard, pulling my body into his. I closed my eyes as I wrapped my own arms around his broad, muscular back and squeezed myself into him.

“Because you were never afraid to stand up to me,” he said. His other hand gave my shirt a tug and untucked it from my skirt. He found the zipper on the back of my skirt and began to pull it downward. Before he even tried to lower my skirt, he slid his hand inside the fabric and across my bare, thong-clad ass. He hissed in with desire again, squeezing even harder as his whole body went rigid. “Because you looked at me like you thought you couldn’t be conquered. Like you were untouchable. Unreachable.”

“Did I?” I asked. All my usual spunk and cleverness seemed to have melted away into a puddle at my feet. I could hardly form a sentence, let alone structure my thoughts.

“But I knew I could make you come,” he continued. His hands were roaming me greedily—as if he was torn between his desire to undress me and his desire to touch each inch of skin the moment he exposed it. “I wanted to see the fight leave your eyes and watch you beg for more—for my cock and my touch.”

“Who says I’m going to beg?” I asked. None of the defiant flirtation I tried to inject into my words landed. I sounded small and delicate.

“Then I’ll learn and improve,” he said. Lowering his mouth to kiss my neck. “Kiss by kiss, your body will tell me what it wants.” Orion’s fingertip trailed a line from the base of my ear, down my neck, and to my exposed shoulder. “With enough information, I’m certain I can make you beg.”

“Confident, aren’t you?” I noted.

“You don’t need to believe me.”

I licked my lips as I savored the soft scrape of his stubble against my tender skin. I drank in the heat of his breath and the slick wetness of his tongue teasing me.

“So fucking beautiful,” he groaned.

“I’m not,” I protested.

Orion froze, pulling back to stare into my eyes. “What?”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it and lowered my eyes. All I could manage was a simple shake of my head. I felt myself trying to retreat inward, one hand raising to cover my exposed belly.

“Listen to me, Ember,” he said, voice very serious. “What I’m about to say implies nothing about any sort of… emotional connection. From a purely physical standpoint, you are fucking spectacular. Like I said, I wanted you the moment I saw you. I haven’t stopped wanting you, even when I know I should. That’s how much I desire you. How much I need you. Tell me you understand.”

His words lit something warm inside me, even if I knew some small part of me could never fully believe them. I didn’t sense any restraint or a hint of fakeness in his words. It seemed like he really meant what he said.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “I don’t know why you think of me like that, but I believe you.”

I gasped when he kissed a place just above my collarbone. He paused, lifting his head in the darkness and grinning. My eyes had begun to adjust and I could just make out the broad details of his face now.

“See?” he said, voice low and husky. He kissed the spot again and I felt my knees go weak with an explosion of pleasure. The kiss seemed to send jolts of molten heat straight down, where they gathered between my legs like potential energy waiting to be released. He punctuated each of his words with exploratory kisses. “One. Secret. At. A. Time.”

Who the hell was this version of Orion? He was playful, devious, and hot as hell. And I knew he wasn’t talking about my Northman Group secret. He meant the secrets of how to please me—how to bring me to the point of being willing to beg for his cock.

I just needed to remember that this was part of the deal we made. Physical relief and nothing else. We were just two adults with bodies and some mutual attraction acting out our needs. Once we left this closet, nothing would change.

I arched my neck and let out a soft moan as he cupped my breast under my shirt, one finger flicking over my nipple playfully.

Absolutely nothing was going to change. No matter how much I enjoyed this.