Betting on Fate (10 page)

She’d initially been reluctant to tell her friend about the club, but Addison took it in stride even if she didn’t understand Penelope’s need to dominate. Really, she couldn’t have asked for a better friend. “Sort of. We’ve been aware of each other for awhile now.”

“Don’t make me have to pull each little piece of information out of you.”

She smiled. “He’s big and blond and is a total and complete control freak.” It was all too easy to picture Will, that icy look on his face melting to one of desire. “He wears a mask, but those moments when it slips are priceless. And it doesn’t hurt that he makes my knees weak and, well, let’s just say that I’m more than satisfied in the bedroom.” And office. And public playroom. She shivered at the thought.

“Wait a minute—you make him sound like he’s a Dom.”

“He is.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve never really said much about it because I’ve never gone to the other side of things, but I’m a switch. I lean Dominant, but I’ll submit to the right person.” Was Will really the right person? There was no question that he called to that part of her like a flame called a moth, but there were the other parts of her life to consider. “This guy…he’s really something.”

“I know that look. You’re smitten.” Addison shook her head. “I never thought I’d see the day when Penelope Carson would lose her head over a man, but I’ve never been so glad to be wrong.”

Something in her chest leaped at the thought, but instantly tried to curl in on itself. No matter whether it was seven days or twenty-seven, this thing with Will
would
have an expiration date. It
had
to—a fact that was becoming more and more clear with each passing hour. If she couldn’t put her company first, then what
had to give was Will. “It’s just a temporary thing. It has to be.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself. You’re all starry eyed and bewildered like you just got hit by a train and don’t know which way is up. It’s the one I’ve been wearing since I met Caine, even if he drove me up the wall at first.”

She started to argue, but made herself stop. The more she protested, the more Addison would think she was right. Instead, she focused on the real problem. “It doesn’t matter if I like him or he makes my stomach tie up in knots or anything else. I completely dropped the ball in a meeting today in a way I never would have if he hadn’t shown up at my office and…” She cut off that
real
fast. “And then I had to fire Curtis because he thought Will showing up meant it was a free-for-all.”

Addison’s jaw dropped. “I knew he was unprofessional, but that’s extreme.”

Maybe. Or maybe she was inviting it by having insanely hot sex in her office on the other side of paper-thin walls from him. “If I keep this up, I’m going to tank a business that my family has spent three generations building.”

And
that
, more than anything else, was enough to scare her right down to the bone.

Chapter Twelve

Will checked the clock for the fifth time in five minutes and then cursed himself for looking again. Penelope hadn’t set a time that she’d be over, and he refused to intrude on her dinner with her friend by commanding her presence. No matter how much he wanted to.

That was the crux of the problem. He wanted to see her again, almost desperately, despite the fact that he’d been inside her less than twelve hours ago. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of—letting his desire for her cloud his mind and drown out everything else. There was too much on the line for him to be distracted now. Securing the Falcon account was a small victory, but it was only the beginning. He had to actually make the bar a success. He needed to be completely focused and in control to accomplish that

If he was smart, he’d text Penelope and tell her that he’d see her tomorrow. The plans he had in place for the evening were guaranteed to settle him, and that was the important thing. He picked up his phone, and frowned at the text message waiting for him. He must have forgotten to take it off silent after his last meeting with the contractor this evening. Another lapse.

He pulled the message up.
On my way
.

Nothing else. Will glanced at the time, and figured he had a moment to take a shower before she got there. He’d just pulled on his pants when the buzzer rang.

He allowed her up, and any plan to take his time went right out the window the second she walked through the door. Her hair was a wild mass around her shoulders, and she looked flushed and windblown and entirely distracting. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

Which was when he realized she was shaking.

He pulled back and searched her face, seeing a flicker of anxiety. “What’s wrong?”

“Not tonight.” She shook her head. “Please, Will. I don’t want to talk about it tonight.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to demand details, but she’d asked for a reprieve and that was something he could give her. They
would
talk about whatever was bothering her, though. So instead of pressing for more, he asked, “What do you need from me?”

“You. Only you.” She took a step back and unbuttoned her coat while he watched, shrugging it off in a smooth move that left her in a pair of black thigh highs, garters, and heels. And nothing else.

He closed the distance between them and kissed her again, tasting wine on her lips. She melted for him, and the feel of her breasts against his chest shorted out his higher functions even as she went for the front of his pants and shoved them off him. He needed to be inside her. Now. But he had to make sure he took care of her first. Will lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

Common sense had him walking to his bedroom instead of taking her right there against the wall. Condoms. They needed condoms. She slid against him, nothing between them. All it would have taken was one sharp thrust and he’d be inside her. She moaned. “I need you.”

Christ, he needed her, too. He didn’t say it, though, wanting to keep something back.
Needing
to. He kissed her again as he sat on the edge of the bed, blindly reaching for the top drawer. As she nipped her way along his jaw, he rolled the condom on. “Now, pet.”

She didn’t waste any time sinking onto him, her eyes sliding shut with something like bliss. He loved seeing that expression on her face and knowing he was the cause of it. And
she’d
come to
him
. Was it possible she felt as out of control as he currently did? He leaned back, giving her full access to his
body. “Take what you need, Penelope. Fuck me. Ride my cock exactly how you want it.”

Her slow grin was a reward all of its own. “I think I can do that, Sir.” Her grin took on a wicked edge that had
his heart leaping. “Find something to hang onto.”

She pushed him onto his back, and he let her, gripping her hips, but not to guide. The vision she created was more than worth it, her body rolling as she took him deeper, her breasts bouncing a little with each movement. He leaned up to taste her nipple, earning a moan from her.

He nipped her. “Do your worst.”

“Oh, I plan on it.”

…

Penelope lost herself in the sensation of Will inside her and the feeling of being on top, even if it was an illusion. This was exactly what she needed after today—to feel like she had control again. All the while, she could feel his gaze on her, touching her neck and breasts, trailing down her stomach to where their bodies connected. He didn’t touch her, though, not beyond his hands gripping her hips.

She rolled her hips, watching him through slitted eyes. His muscles contracted as he fought to keep still. When had Will ever been on his back during a scene? Or, more to the point, in general?

She’d bet the answer was
never
.

But he was, right now, for her. That meant something, whether either of them would admit it aloud or not. She leaned back, the change in angle making her breath catch in her throat. It felt good, too good. All she’d wanted when she walked through the door was an escape from her own thoughts. She’d seen the need to ask her questions all over his face, but instead of pushing her, he’d offered her exactly what she needed. And that kiss? God help her, but she was so close to coming, her body vibrated with it. She needed him with her every step of the way.

Penelope reached back and cupped his balls, never stopping her slow slide up and down his cock. He went rigid, cursing a blue streak. She saw the change in his eyes a second before he flipped her. She barely had time to process the change of position before he had her legs spread wide and her wrists above her head. “I thought I was on top.”

“I changed my mind.”

She sure as hell wasn’t complaining, not with the wild look in his eyes and his body moving over hers with barely restrained ferocity. As if he was marking his territory. The concept should be insulting, but she arched up and licked along his neck, driven to touch him back as much as he’d allow. “Let go of my hands.”

He paused, grinding his pelvis against her clit, drawing little whimpers from her even as she struggled against his hold. She bit the muscle where his shoulder connected to his neck, words pouring out of her, “Please, Sir. I need to touch you.”

For one long moment, she thought he’d ignore her and continue mercilessly driving her to orgasm. But Will cursed again and released her, slipping one arm beneath the small of her back and lifting her hips to take his cock unbelievably deep. It was not enough and too much, all at the same time. She clung to him as wave after wave crashed over her. “
Will
.”

He buried his face in her neck as he finished, holding her just as tightly as she held him. He pressed a kiss to her collarbone and rolled onto his back, taking her with him so she sprawled over his chest. They lay there as the seconds ticked by and their bodies cooled. She kept waiting for him to slip out from under her, to put some distance between them, but he only held her closer and pulled a sheet over them. “How was dinner with your friend?”

She went tense, but forced herself to relax.
Don’t overthink yourself into a panic. There must be some way to find a balance between Will and the company. You’ll find it. You have to.
But that wasn’t what he asked. She took a deep breath. She could talk about Addison until the cows came home. Addison was as safe a topic as she could have hoped for. “It was good. I don’t see Addison nearly as much as I used to.”

“Why not?”

He sounded genuinely interested, so she checked the flippant response on the tip of her tongue and answered honestly, “She moved on to the next stage of life and I didn’t. She met a guy, fell madly in love, and ended up with priorities beyond her matchmaking business. Now they’re talking marriage and children. Those aren’t even on my periphery.” Or they shouldn’t have been. Now she caught herself wondering all sorts of things she hadn’t allowed herself to consider up to this point. There was no time for those—no time to even want them. But this was just the last in a long list of things that had changed since she first offered up this bet with Will.

As usual, he skipped right past the easy and polite questions and went straight for the kill. “Do you want children?” He was so tense beneath her, it was like lying on a rock. Could he be any more obvious that he regretted the question?

She didn’t want to answer that. At all. But part of her was curious to see how he’d respond. “I don’t know. It’s never something I put a lot of thought into. My father never wanted kids, but my mother did, so they had me.” A mistake no matter which way she looked at it, or how much both her parents loved her in their own ways. Things had been good between them before they brought her into the world, at least to hear her mother tell of it. “It almost cost him Carson & Associates, and it
did
cost him his marriage.”

He lifted his head and tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. The rage she saw there made her heart skip a beat. “He told you that?”

Why was he angry? It was ancient history, over and done with. She shook her head, the feeling of his fingers gripping her chin sending a little thrill through her despite the topic of conversation. “He didn’t have to. It’s the truth.”

Will shook his head, his eyes icing over. “Bastard.”

“
What?
” She tried to push off his chest, but he wrapped an arm around her hips and kept her pinned. “Why would you say something like that? He’s my dad.”

“If he thought having children was a mistake, he never should have agreed to it. That’s a life he’s playing God with, an innocent he’s punishing for a decision
he
made.”

Dad hadn’t been the perfect parent, but there was no such thing as perfect. And he
did
love her. Her presence had just shone the light on flaws that already existed in his marriage, but that had nothing to do with him regretting
she was alive. “Will—”

“Maybe it was better that she just left instead of sticking around to talk to me the way your father talks to you.”

She went still, realization hitting. This wasn’t about her father.

No, he was thinking of his mother.

She reached up, hesitant, and ran her fingers through his short blond hair. “Have you ever thought about looking her up?”

Instantly, his face closed. She hadn’t even been aware that it was open until he was, once again, Ice King. “Why would I?”

Once again, she had to fight the urge to threaten the selfish woman for walking away from her children. But this wasn’t about his mother. This was about
him
. “Because there are things you need to say,” she told him.

“No, there aren’t.”

It was like running headfirst into a brick wall. She pushed; he dug in his heels. “It’s not that you
have
to say these things to her, but you
should
say them. It’s not a good idea to keep stuff like that bottled up.” She’d know. Things with her mother had gotten so tense in high school that she’d stopped going down to Georgia for a full six months before her father corralled both of them into the same room and threatened to lock them inside until they talked to each other. It hadn’t magically solved their issues, but it had gotten the lines of communication back up and running. Mostly.

That wasn’t an option with Will, even if she knew the first thing about finding his mother. This wasn’t six months of angsty teen tantrums—it was
ten years
of abandonment. There was nothing the woman could say that would help the situation, and Penelope had every reason to think it might make things worse.

But that didn’t mean Will should keep all his feelings—those connected to his mother and otherwise—locked down. She searched his face and finally sighed. He wasn’t opening up tonight, and she’d be a fool to keep pushing. “Okay. But if you change your mind, I’m here for you.”

“I…” He frowned. “Thank you.”

She kissed him and then sat up. As wonderful as it would be to pretend that they could dance off into the future of being together indefinitely without some serious consequences on both sides, it obviously wasn’t the case. But that wasn’t something that would be solved tonight. Tonight was a reprieve.

She wasn’t ready for it to be over yet. “I need a shower. Join me?”

His expression thawed, fire replacing ice in the space of a heartbeat. “It would be my pleasure.”