Pulse 3 (Pulse Series) (22 page)

I moaned the needless instructions. He did what I told him to do and more. He rammed his body into me
so hard that my flesh slapped and echoed against his hilt.

My toes were curling. I dug my nails into the wet skin of his chest. I could feel his muscles tightening underneath my grip.

“Alice…”

“
Inside of me… I want you to cum inside of me…”

I leaned forwa
rd and bent over him. He drove his body up into me at a faster pace. My moans couldn’t keep up with him. My mouth hung open, the pleasure stuck somewhere in my hoarse throat. A part of me was begging for him to stop. It felt good. Too good. I almost felt like I couldn’t handle it. But it was almost over. The amount of work he was putting into my body would be worth it and soon enough, I would feel it: The finish he was working so hard for.

His strokes were hard and fast when he suddenly paused. He held hims
elf inside of me and grunted loud enough for everybody outside to hear. His body shook underneath me as he started to orgasm. He held onto my waist as tight as he could as he ejaculated between my folds.

The feeling of his cock exploding within me was enou
gh to push me over the edge. My body shook and convulsed from my sudden climax. I sealed my eyes tight. My jaw dropped even lower but still no sound came out. My lungs struggled to suck in any air they could find.

The two of us shook together with one anot
her. Our bodies vibrated in an uneven rhythm, each of us victims to the ecstasy of our orgasms. I didn’t want it to end. I wanted him to keep going. The feeling was too good. The pleasure was too much. But eventually, our bodies succumbed to the fatigue that our climaxes were no longer able to hold off.

His cock fell from between my legs. I collapsed onto his chest, my head resting against him. I listened to his heart thump underneath his chest as it rose and fell. The two of us laid naked, drenched in swea
t. The breeze from the window continued to roll in and cool our bodies down.

I looked up at him and kissed him softly on the lips, my eyes half-open as I did so. Then I let out a contented sigh before falling back against his body.

“I didn’t think we’d ever be here again,” I said.

“
I can afford to go anywhere in the world,” Rafael replied. “Why would you think something like that?”

“
I remember saying something to Wesley the first time we were here. He said he couldn’t wait to get back here. It was right after I kissed you. Right in front of everybody.”

“
And you thought you would never be invited back to another business conference again.”

“
And I was right about that.”

“
You were,” he said as he laughed. “We’re here but this isn’t a business conference.”

“
I’m glad it isn’t. But I’m sure Wesley would have found some way to have his fun, whether it was a wedding or a business conference.”

I pushed myself up from the mattress. I looked out of the window and down onto the sandy beaches. There were people on the san
d and in the water. The scene was beautiful. And being here with Rafael made it that much more enjoyable.

“
How’s the view?” he asked me.

“
It’s perfect,” I said. “Exactly how I remember it. Nothing has changed.”

“
Some things have changed.”

“
Us maybe. But not the beach. Not the sand. Not the ocean. Even the people look the same.”

“
You have a vivid memory of it.”

“
How could I not?”

“
And is that why you wanted to get married out here? So you could see all of this again?”

“
It’s not just about me. I figure I owe Wesley and Travis another trip out here.”

“
And your family?”

“
My family? I don’t think my father is much for the sun but I’m sure he appreciates the opportunity to get out here just the same. Thank you. From all of them.”

My fingers fell up
on his hand. I looked down at the ring on his finger then lined it up with my own. The wedding ceremony was everything I could have imagined and more. I already thought Maui was beautiful. But being out here with everybody I cared about made it special.

“
Are you sure they’re not going to miss you?” I asked him.

“
They won’t even know I’m gone,” Rafael said to me. “It was a long process but it’s done. It’s been a long time coming. It’s been a year, Alice.”

“
A year… It doesn’t feel like that?”

“
It doesn’t? The two of us have been working for a year now. Now you can quit your job.”

“
And you…”

“
And I can have Martin Green run all of the board meetings and make the more important decisions.”

“
Yeah…”

It only felt like last night since I saw Rafael that night in the
club. Everything zoomed by after we were engaged. The process of stepping down as CEO of the company took Rafael an entire year. But now that it was done, he finally had time to himself to finally get married. And here we were now.

“
Are you going to miss it?” I asked him. “Working in the office, making those big decisions, speaking to all of those important people…”

“…
I will,” he replied. “But I couldn’t keep going like that. Not if I wanted to keep you in my life. Besides, they’ll still need us. We’re still representatives of the company.”

“
Yeah but now we’re just figureheads. We won’t actually be making any decisions. Mr. and Mrs. Barnett…”

I squeezed his hand in mine as I said the words. It hardly seemed real to me.

“Did you ever think we would get to this point?” I asked him.

He sighed. I stayed staring out of the window as I thought about the first time I met him.

“I knew,” he said. “From the moment I first met you, I knew that you were special.”

“
Special? You banged me in a stairwell and didn’t even ask my name.”

The two of us shared another laugh.

“That wasn’t you. That was
Natasha
.”

“
Right. I remember,
James
.”

“
No,” he sighed. “That wasn’t us that night. I knew we had something when I read the interview Estelle sent me. When you walked into my office, it only confirmed that fact. You were everything I could imagine. Beautiful, intelligent, strong, independent… That’s why I hired you. Because I loved you. I just didn’t realize it.”

Rafael sat up from the be
d and took his position right next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and two of us looked down from our suite.

“
Speaking of the office, is Martin actually moving into it?” I asked.

“
No. They’re letting me keep it. No big decisions but they have to keep a place for me. I’m still a majority shareholder.”

“
Maybe we should have some fun in there. Enjoy the view and reenact some of the old things we did…”

I turned and looked at him. I couldn
’t wipe the smirk off of my face as I remembered the times we had in there. But Rafael shook his head.

“
We’ve had enough fun in my office,” he said. “It feels like I’ve spent my entire life in there. There are a lot more places we can have fun.”

“
Yeah… We should hit the beach when we get the chance.”

“
We will. Just as soon as I get my strength back.”

I giggled then gripped my husband
’s arms in mine. As I looked out into the ocean, I could feel it calling out to the both of us. Not just the beach but everything else. The entire world was waiting for us.

Epilogue

I stepped out of the limo as the driver held the door open for me. I pressed my heel into the concrete to steady myself then took his hand as he helped me out.

“
Thank you.”

I nodded to him as I regained my footing.

It was still the middle of the day. The people were making their way up and down the streets. They all had places to go and people to see. The sight of a limo in front of the tallest building in the city wasn’t enough for them to stop and take a look. Life inside of the city went by like it always did.

I turn
ed back to the limo and looked inside.

“
Come on, sweetie. We’re here.”

The sheepish toddler sat in the backseat of the limo then worked his way toward me. As he stumbled out of the limo, I knelt down and caught him. I lifted him up from the ground and held
him in my arms.

“
Are you okay?” I asked him. “Are you ready?”

I looked into his brown eyes but he didn
’t say anything. He just stared at me for a moment before turning and looking at the people walking by him. His reticence made me smile.

I thanked the dr
iver again before I stepped into the building. As I made my way to the elevator, I was welcomed by men and women along the way. They smiled and nodded politely and I greeted them just the same. A building attendant held the elevator open for me and I stepped inside.

I
’d been in the elevator before. I knew what it felt like to have it ascend all the way to the top floor. But today was different. It wasn’t just me. I smiled at the little boy in my arms. He remained oblivious as he looked around the tiny confines of the elevator.

When I stepped out onto the floor, the sound of footsteps broke the empty silence. The spot where Tina usually resided was empty. The reception desk hadn
’t been used in years. There was only one spot on this floor. And there was only one person here.

I placed the young boy onto his feet then opened the door to the office.

“Come on, sweetie. It’s okay.”

I took his hand and the two of us walked into the offic
e together. The spacious room was nearly empty. The only thing inside was a desk at one end of the room. And the only person was a man standing next to the large window wall. He stood there with his hands behind his back as he looked down into the city.

My
husband didn’t look any different from how he usually did. Even though he no longer had to work as hard as before, he still took the time to dress like a professional. His suit still fit him perfectly. It didn’t take very long to grab his attention. He turned toward us and a big smile appeared on his face.

“
I was wondering when you would get here,” he said.

“
We’re only a little late,” I replied. “Besides, I figured you could use the extra time to get a little work done.”

“
Extra time? The work will get done when it needs to be done. It was just a short meeting with the board. Martin has everything in order.”

“
And you’ve been waiting this entire time for us?”

He nodded, the smile still on his face. He then took one knee as he held his arms out. The little b
oy raced into his arms and the man quickly took him into his embrace. He wrapped his arms tight around the boy and kissed him on the cheek.

“
He missed you,” I said.

“
I know,” Rafael said. “I missed him, too. But it’s only been a few hours.”

I watched as my
husband held our son in his arms. It’s been two years but it was the first time I’d ever brought him up to Rafael’s office. There was never an opportunity. Usually, Rafael would be home from work before the day was even started. Only now did I actually show him where his dad spent his time when he was away from us.

"They asked abou
t you," Rafael said to me. "Some executives."

"Me? What for?"

"You're my wife. And I'm the owner of this company. You're still a representative."

"
Maybe. But that's not official. I'm
just
your wife. And a mother. That's all I am now and that's all I want to be. That's my job. Nothing more."

Rafael smiled at me then turned his attention back to our son.

“How are you?” Rafael said to him. “Are you ready to go?”

Rafael leaned his head forward and kissed him while he bounced him in his arms.

“Ready to go?” I asked. “We can stay here for a little bit.”

“
Stay here?” Rafael replied. “Why would we want to stay here? There’s nothing to do here. It’s just a boring office.”

“
I know. But there is the view…”

“
The view from the suite isn’t good enough?”

“
It’s good. But this… It’s just different.”