A Convenient Arrangement (15 page)

Gwen nodded. “He asked me to lunch.”

“Go! Get out of here. Enjoy. It’ll be vicarious for me.”

“You’re sure?” Gwen hesitated, even though she wanted to run out the door to meet Leo that instant.

“Positive. We’ve gone over everything, you’ve let me cry, I feel one hundred percent better, and besides, Justin is coming home early to keep me company.” Aubrey handed Gwen the iPad.

“Really?” Gwen scooped up her bag and slid it inside.

“Maybe send me a picture when he’s not looking,” Aubrey suggested. “I’d love to see what this man who has you blushing and meeting up for clandestine lunches looks like.”

With a noncommittal smile, Gwen gave her friend a peck on the cheek and walked out the bedroom door. She absolutely would not be sending Aubrey any pictures of her date any time soon.

The suite at The Four Seasons had been prepared just as Leo requested. Champagne chilled in a bucket; rose petals adorned the bed; and chocolate, fruit, cheese and the gourmet lunch he’d ordered for them both rested on the table. Leo had spent two of the last three nights with Gwen, and yet his body still craved her today. He wanted her. The entire morning, as he sat captive in meeting after meeting, he’d tried desperately to banish the thoughts of her warm smooth skin beneath his fingertips, her lush supple curves caressed by his hands, her flaming red hair brushing across his flesh. Leo had tried to push the thoughts from his mind and he’d failed, utterly and completely. He finally surrendered to his desires with a text to Gwen and a phone call to the hotel.

He’d never before experienced this overwhelming obsession for a woman. More than simple desire, this was a thick craving that wound deep within his belly and squeezed. He couldn’t remove the need. Thoughts of her smile, the way she laughed, her words crept into his mind, making him smile, distracting him with want and need. This wasn’t any kind of convenient arrangement. In fact, if he truly considered how intrusive his thoughts of Gwen were, this entire thing between the two of them was damned inconvenient.

The primary benefit of a convenient arrangement was the ability to schedule time with the opposite sex, much like one scheduled a workout or a meeting or a dental exam. That worked if your mind wasn’t consumed by the woman, but it was problematic when you couldn’t convince your mind to stop obsessing about the little curve above her lip. The tiny spot Leo liked to nibble, which caused the loveliest of moans to come from Gwen’s throat.

My God, where was that woman? Just standing in the room waiting for her and fantasizing about her mouth nearly had him undone. No, this was not convenient, not convenient at all. He walked to the window and peered out at Manhattan. The sky was grey and snow threatened. He’d cleared his schedule for the rest of the day and most of tomorrow morning. He hoped that he might convince Gwen to do the same.

A knock sounded at the door.

“It’s open,” he called.

The doorknob turned. Gwen walked in.

His heart thudded and his sex hardened. Her hair was pulled back and her bright blue eyes shone. The high heels, black skirt, and creamy silk blouse showed off the curves of her body. His hands itched to run along her sweet lush curves, to cup her breasts and kiss her long luxe neck.

Her eyes widened and her gaze swept the suite. The place was pretty spectacular. This suite had housed presidents, heads of state, and the business tycoons of the world. The suite also housed the Travati brothers when they so desired.

She raised one eyebrow and tilted her head. A slight smile curved her lips. “This is our lunch spot?”

“You requested discretion.”

“This? A twenty-five-thousand-dollar-a-night penthouse is your version of discretion?”

“I’d much prefer taking you out, but so far you’ve said no to my every request.”

Gwen didn’t respond, but her lips tightened for an instant. Was this secret difficult for her? Was she having a hard time believing he didn’t think of this, what they were doing, as disposable? And yet…he couldn’t promise her permanence either, if she asked for or needed it.

She slid the strap of her bag from her shoulder and dropped it and the coat she carried over her arm onto the couch. She walked across the room and stood at the window, taking in the view. “It’s pretty spectacular.”

“It is.” He walked up behind her, his arms circling around her waist. She relaxed into his embrace.

Lemons. Lemons and lavender. Her copper-red mane was infused with the smell. She’d left her scent on his sheets, his skin, his clothes. She leaned against him, her back to his chest, and his muscles responded. His stiff cock pressed to her lusciously full backside, and his lips grazed her hair.

Damn it, he’d wanted to show restraint, to have lunch with her, maybe a conversation, but her body, her scent, the heat of her pressed to him swept away any discipline he’d wished to impose on his body.

“You ordered lunch.” Her voice was low, rough with desire. Ah, yes, so her own resolve was weak. She too felt this unflagging passion between them. His hand drifted over her belly and gently rubbed the front of her skirt, where that lush vee, the pathway to pleasure, was buried beneath fabric.

“I did,” he whispered into her ear.

Her breath came in jagged bursts. He kissed the ivory skin of her neck and cupped his hand around her breast. Her hips pushed back against his hard sex as his lips worked down the soft curve of her neck. “Are you hungry?” He circled a taut nipple beneath her blouse.

Her hips ground against him in response. His hand clutched the fabric of her skirt and pulled it up until her legs, her hips, and the sweet round curve of her ass were exposed. Now only the lace of her panties separated his fingertips from the pleasure spot between her legs.

“I could eat,” she breathed, barely able to form the words.

“So could I.” He wound the lace string of her panties around his hand, and with a twist of his wrist, the thin thread gave way. He laid her back onto the couch and spread her legs. The sweetness of her pussy, her scent, aroused him, overwhelmed him. He pressed his lips to her, needed to have her, to eat her, to lick her, to make her call his name. My God, he could barely stand to be away from her. She lifted her hips upward, her mound meeting his lips. He pulled her clit deep into his mouth as his fingers slid into her core.

“Leo, my God.” One hand tangled in his hair, while her other hand yanked at the back of his shirt, her nails scraping against the cloth, pulling it up until his back was exposed. Her nails raked across his flesh, and the sweet pain of her possession only fueled his desire.

His tongue swept over her clit and he rolled the sweet flesh, teasing her, every hitch of her hips spurring him on. The desire to see her come, to give her pleasure, was nearly as strong as his own need to be deep inside her body.

“Leo!” Gwen groaned. He stroked over her clit, lapped at her, drawing out every bit of her pleasure. She jerked and spasmed as he took her to the utmost heights of orgasm. Her muscles clenched around his fingers, her body stilling, her breath caught in her chest, quelled by the pleasure of his touch. With one long final moan, her entire body softened. A soft mewing sound like a sweet kitten’s came from her lips, her orgasm having wrung every drop of ecstasy from her. She was soft and limp and completely his.

*

Numb with delight, her senses heightened, blood coursed through her veins. Her sex throbbed, still alive with a furious pleasure, tender and sensitive, so wet and so ready. Her body craved Leo’s. Even after orgasm, she still yearned for the physicality of him, the link created by his touch to her body. She still needed him to fill her, needed to feel the masculine pulse through her.

“I want you,” she whispered, still drunk on the endorphins flooding her bloodstream.

In one effortless sweep he lifted her into his arms and stood. His lips, wet with her scent, her taste, found hers. His tongue parted them and he probed deep within her mouth. A fire of want blazed between them. He walked through the giant suite into the bedroom and set her on her feet beside the bed, stripping her clothes from her. He pulled back the duvet and lay her on the bed.

His dark eyes, black with desire, mesmerized her. He unbuttoned his shirt and slid the fabric over his shoulders. Hard, quilted muscles curved over his shoulders and across his chest and belly. Her eyes followed the trail of dark hair from his chest down his belly, knowing it led to the place that would provide her amazing pleasure. He pulled his pants off and stood beside the bed. Her gaze was open, awakened, aroused. She felt no embarrassment as her eyes consumed his naked flesh.

His shaft rose hard and upright next to his belly. He pulled a condom from his wallet, ripped the wrapper open, and grasped his thick cock. A furious desire, a shameless want, tore through her as she watched him sheathe it. This hunger between them let her expose a part of herself, wanton and wild, that she never felt comfortable exposing to any other man. Leo’s craving for her tapped into a deep sensuality that until now she’d hidden, maybe even repressed.

He pulled back the blanket and moved beside her on the mattress. He covered her with that amazing body. His gaze never left her face, a ravenous look inhabiting his eyes. Had any other man ever looked at her with this much ferocious need, this much hunger? Her entire body thrummed with desire. Electrical pulses trailed over her skin. She wanted him inside so badly she could barely breathe. Their lips met.

Sparks of light, of fire, pummeled behind her eyelids with the sharp intensity of his touch, possessive and yet pure, demanding and yet a caress. His mouth released hers as Leo shifted downward, his body sliding down so he could he kiss her breast, pulling in the pert bud of her nipple. Her hips arched upward beneath him. She’d lost control of her own body, she sought the release only he could provide. She reached between them and grasped his sheathed cock. He braced his body above hers and gently spread her legs. The tip of his cock touched the edge of her flesh.

God, yes, yes please. Her fingers clawed at the sheets. “Leo, please,” she begged, her voice rasping, the desire that he fill her an uncontrollable need..

As though her words tore away his restraint, Leo thrust forward, deep inside her willing, ready body. His thick shaft stretching her, even now, her body accepting and tightening around him.

“My God, Gwen.” He placed a hand on either side of her face, cupping her cheeks, as he stroked out again. “What you do to me.” The sweet need for him to push deeper into her lasted a brilliant millisecond. “I…I can’t stand to be away from you.” His hips pressed forward and her body responded as though made for him. She brought her lips up to his.

He pulled back. “Let me see your eyes.”

Something unsaid and yet terrifyingly intimate passed between them. Vulnerability pinged her heart, and her eyes closed. This went far beyond just physical attraction. She’d fallen for him.

His body stroked in and then out of hers, the rhythm between them sending her close to the edge. He lifted his body and reached his hand between them, his finger touching her clit, making tight circles. So close to climaxing, her breathing came faster. Just as her body tightened, he stopped and pushed into her, then pulled back. His finger resumed the pulse against her sex. Sweet, breathless bliss.

“Come for me, Gwen, come with me.”

Her eyes fluttered open again to meet his. She was lost to sensation. He thrust deep into her and her head arched back into the pillow, her legs wrapped around his body, needing him, wanting him deeper.

“Yes, oh my God, yes, Leo…” Her words trailed away as his face blazed with pleasure.

Her body pulsed, her muscles tightened and together they shot through to the moment of bliss.

*

Lunch turned into dinner, which turned into an overnight, which turned into sleeping with Gwen curled tightly to his side. Deep in the darkness of night, Leo awakened. There beside him was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. A woman who excited him, aroused him, and damn, just simply made him happy. He smiled when she laughed; her jokes were horribly told and yet he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather hear a joke from. Gwen was flowers and ruffles and all things feminine. She reminded him of home, or what home had been and was meant to be. Warmth and good food and kindness and smiles. And that, the very thought that Gwen made him think of all those things he’d never wanted, even renounced—that scared the hell out of him.

She smiled in her sleep. He stroked her thick mane of copper-colored hair. Today had been a brilliant day. A long afternoon leading to a wonderful evening and a luxurious late night. Unscheduled. Unplanned. Unexpected, really. How easily he’d given over his carefully crafted world in a very short time. Had it really been just three weeks since New Year’s?

“Time to get up?” Gwen whispered, her eyelashes fluttering and her sleepy gaze taking in the room.

He pressed his lips to her nose. “Too early. Just can’t sleep.”

“You okay?”

Leo was better than okay. He was great. The best he’d been in perhaps forever. Yes, part of him was frightened by the strength of his feelings, flat-out scared. That part of him wanted to run in terror, but he’d never been a coward and wouldn’t start now. This woman made him think of monogamy, and a relationship, and what permanence between them might look like. He was willing to follow those thoughts wherever they led.

“Just thinking about…us.”

Her smile flickered the tiniest bit. “That’s a lot to think about.”

“Is it?”

She didn’t respond, tipping her head down. Her body tensed for an instant and pulled away from him just the slightest bit. Damn. Had his question, his words, sounded harsh? Uncaring? Cavalier? He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer until the warmth of her skin pressed to his again, nestled snugly against his side.

She sighed. “I mean…” The sentence drifted away unfinished, as though she didn’t know what to say or how to say it. “Is there an ‘us’?”

“Well, I’m not lying here alone in this bed, so I’d definitely say something is going on. Maybe we call it an ‘us.’ Or is that too big of a step for you?” Leo’s tone held a hint of teasing, but seriously, how long did they need to sneak around like two teenagers carrying on? “Maybe it’s time we consider letting the family in on this?”