Burn Out (5 page)

Evan felt like he
was going to explode, right there in front of his family and friends. He’d
never been big on public displays of affection, but he could barely contain the
urge to slide the drinks off the table and take her right there on the hard
slab of scarred wood.

“We’re leavin’,”
he said, grabbing her hand and hauling her towards the door. The chorus of
catcalls, whistles, and laughter fell away as he coaxed her into the waiting
limousine. In the darkness, he took a second to give the driver instructions
before raising the privacy glass and pulling her on to his lap.

“We shouldn’t be
doing this,” she whispered, her head rolling back as he grazed her neck with
his tongue.

He pushed her leather
blazer off, letting it fall to the floor as he quickly worked the tiny buttons
lining the front of her shirt. He wouldn’t let his conscience make him consider
how many drinks she’d had, not when she was finally back in his arms, kissing
him as passionately as she had every night in his dreams.

“Yes, we should,”
he said, flicking his tongue over her ear. He knew her sensitive spots, the
places that would have her pleading with him to finish what he’d started. He
knew it may not be fair to use his intimate knowledge of her body as a weapon
against her, but he didn’t care as long as she was back in his bed… where she
belonged.

“Oh God,” she
murmured when he pressed the snap to free her breasts from the pink lacy bra.

He filled his
hands with her as he devoured her breasts with his mouth. Swirling his tongue
over one nipple, then the other, he felt her twisting her hips, grinding into
his arousal as she threaded her hands through his hair to hold him in place.

“Evan…”

The sound of his
name on her lips while he pleasured her sounded sweeter than any award-winning
ballad he’d ever heard. “That’s it, baby,” he whispered, lost in her pleasure.
“Give yourself to me. I want all of you.”

She moaned low and
deep in her throat as she rotated her hips, obviously trying to create the
friction she needed to enhance her pleasure.

Evan cursed when
he saw his building come in to view. He was afraid the blast of cold air,
coupled with seeing the place that housed so many of their memories, would
prompt her to re-think her decision to be with him tonight. He was tempted to
tell the driver to keep going when she started to right her clothing and pull
away from him.

“Sweetheart…” He
was caught off guard when he looked up and saw the lust in her eyes. She was as
hot for him as he was for her. Suddenly he couldn’t get upstairs fast enough.
When he was satisfied she was decent, he reached for the door handle before the
driver could do the honors.

“Mr. Spencer,” the
driver said, tipping his hat as he met them on the sidewalk. “I hope the ride
was enjoyable.”

Evan grinned as he
glanced at Erika. He could tell she was trying to suppress the urge to laugh by
the mischievous sparkle in her eye as she bit her lip. “It was great. Thanks,
Tom.” He reached into the pocket of his black jeans and pulled a couple of
hundred dollar bills off the top of the roll. “I’m sure I’ll see you again
soon.”

Titan often used
Tom’s services when they had clients in from out of town.

“I look forward to
it.” The elderly man smiled at Erika and tipped his hat. “Lovely to see you
again, Dr. Carlton.”

“You as well, Tom.
Say hi to your family for me.”

Evan knew Tom and
his wife, Sandy, brought their Dalmatian in to Erika’s clinic. He hoped she
wasn’t embarrassed to be seen by a client with swollen lips and whisker burns
on her neck.

Tom winked at him
before walking around the back of the car, whistling a happy tune.

“I wonder what
that was all about,” Erika said, frowning as he took her hand and led her
inside the glass doors.

Evan didn’t
believe in maintaining the professional distance with their employees that Luc
favored. He wanted Titan to be an extension of his family. In spite of his
father’s objections, he believed that was the only way to inspire loyalty, so
he treated everyone the same, from the top of the ladder to the bottom. He’d
even confessed to Tom a time or two how much he missed Erika, so he was certain
the older man was pleased to see them together again.

“I have no idea,”
he said, swiping his card across the inner door so they could gain access to the
lobby.

She looked around
the opulent lobby of the building that was once her home, and he saw a look he
couldn’t discern pass her face. Before he could question it, it was gone and
she was making her way towards the elevator.

He was relieved
she wasn’t stumbling or swaying, so she hadn’t had enough to drink to impair
her judgement. He loved her too much to take advantage of her, but he wasn’t
above using alcohol to lower her defenses if it meant she would finally
surrender to something he knew they both wanted.

As soon as they
stepped inside the elevator and the doors closed, she backed him in to the
wall, kissing him with the need of a woman who hadn’t been thoroughly satisfied
in a long time. The image of her tangled up in the sheets with her co-worker
forced its way into his head, but he refused to let it dampen his excitement.
It didn’t matter if she’d taken a lover during their separation. The only thing
that mattered was that he would be her last.

He pulled back to
look at her. Her eyes were half-closed and glazed with the lust fueling her
uncharacteristic conduct. She wasn’t normally the one to initiate sex and his
conscience kept telling him she’d had more to drink than he realized. “Are you
sure you want to do this?” he asked, breathing heavily as he pressed his
forehead to hers. He cursed himself for posing the question when the silence
lingered, heightening the tension.

“I need you,” she
whispered. “I don’t want to, but I do.” She ran her hands over his chest. “I
have to feel you inside of me again, Evan. It’s been so long...”

He groaned as the
elevator announced they’d arrived at his penthouse suite. Pulling the keys out
of his pocket, he made quick work of unlocking the door and pulling her inside.
He flattened her against the wall in the entry and hoisted her up so she could
feel the effect she was having on him.

Without
hesitation, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck,
locking her hands behind his head.

She was by far the
smallest woman he’d ever been with. In fact, the first time they made love, he
was afraid of hurting her, but she’d quickly convinced him she was able to give
as good as she got and he learned to love everything about her from her petite
stature, to the honey blond hair that kissed his chest as she rode him in to
oblivion. He lived to see the passion in her eyes as she came apart in his arms
and allowed him to take her to a place he knew only he could.

He’d almost
convinced himself he’d have to be satisfied with the memory of those incredible
nights when the months began to stretch on and on. But she was here, back in
his arms, and soon she would be back in
their
bed. They could finally
begin to re-build their fractured relationship.

Carrying her into
the bedroom, he gripped her waist tightly until he stopped at the foot of the
bed. Kissing her deeply, he savored the moan that escaped her lips. After
setting her down on the bed, he stepped back and began stripping his clothes
off. He wasn’t going to give her a chance to change her mind, not when he had
everything he’d been praying for this past year within his grasp.

Her eyes tracked
his every move as she began following suit, tossing the last garment to the
floor as he crawled up her body, pinning her to the mattress. “This is where
you belong,” he whispered, kissing her tenderly, savoring the feel of her soft
skin brushing against his. “Right here, in
our
bed.”

She closed her
eyes and turned her head to the side, prompting him to draw the tender skin
into his mouth. He knew the exact spot that turned her inside out and used his
experience to do just that.

“Please…”

Intent on
prolonging her pleasure until his own body started making demands he couldn’t
ignore, he moved his lips over her silky skin, kissing every inch of her.

She gripped the
headboard as though she felt powerless to control the sensations rippling
through her body. Moans turned into cries as her breathing became more labored
with each swipe of his tongue.

Kissing her
intimately, he savored her exotic flavor. No one had ever turned him on the way
she did. He’d had his share of lovers, but Erika was the only woman he’d ever
made love to. It was almost a sacred experience as he worshipped her body in a
way he never had before. He was ashamed to admit he’d taken their love for
granted for too long. No more. She was right to leave him, to make him realize
that he’d been a fool to put anything above the love they shared.

Erika struggled to
break free of his hold when her body began to spasm beneath him, but he
wouldn’t let her escape until he’d wrung the last gasp of pleasure from her.
Taking his time to love her the way he should have for years would hopefully
prove to her that he intended to put her needs above all else this time.

Kissing his way
back up her body, he finally reclaimed her mouth in a heated kiss that had him
sliding inside of her without thinking to ask her whether she was still using
protection. It didn’t matter to him. If she got pregnant with his baby now, it
would only solidify a relationship he already knew was destined to last
forever.

He moved slowly,
shocked by how tightly she clenched him in her moist heat. “What’s that about?”
he whispered in her ear, praying she would confirm his hope that he had been
her last lover.

She tried to
ignore him until he ceased the tempo that was giving her so much pleasure.
“What?” she asked, sighing.

“You know what I’m
talkin’ about.”

Their eyes locked
before she said, “I haven’t been with anyone else.”

“I love you so
much,” he rumbled in her ear, barely able to contain the desire to roar in
satisfaction. She was still his in every way.

“Evan,” she said,
pushing against his chest.

“Sssh…” He kissed
her shoulder as he let his body speak for him. He thought he’d loved her
before, but that was nothing compared to what he was experiencing now. He knew
he wouldn’t last as long as he would have liked, but he would have the rest of
his life to show her how much he missed her.

“Oh… don’t… stop…”
She was breathless, almost frantic, and he could tell she was desperate for him
to help her reach another climax.

Tweaking her
breasts, he claimed her mouth in a fiercely possessive kiss that left no doubt
who she belonged to.

“Yes…” she cried,
turning her head into the crook of his neck as her short nails dug into his
back.

Her reaction
robbed him of what little control he’d been able to maintain as he finally
surrendered his body to her silent pleas. Thrusting into her until his legs
trembled, he let his head fall forward, resting on her shoulder as a gradual
smile relaxed his face. “That was even better than I remember.”

She reached up to
stroke his face and his gut clenched when a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Hey, what’s
wrong?” he asked, rolling off of her and pulling her into his arms.

“Nothing.” She
pressed a kiss to his chest as she placed a hand over his pounding heart. “I’m
just tired.”

Now that they had
re-established their connection, Evan felt confident they could sort out the
details in the morning. Kissing the top of her head, he smiled. “Get some
sleep, angel.”

***

Erika sat on the
edge of the bed, torn between crawling back under the covers or running for the
front door. Last night was a colossal mistake. She had finally started to get
over him, after the longest and most painful year of her life, and in just one
night, she was right back at square one, mending her broken heart all over
again.

With a deep sigh, she
tiptoed to the front door with her high-heeled boots in her hand. She had to
get to work. Hopefully the busy day would distract her from thinking about last
night.

Berating herself,
she slipped through the door like a thief in the night, trying not to wake
Evan. She knew she couldn’t avoid him forever, but she needed time to collect
her thoughts before she faced him again. There was no excuse for her reckless
actions, except… she still loved him, and last night she’d felt compelled to
steal just one more night before she forced herself to let him go forever.

She couldn’t deny
last night felt different, almost as magical as it had in the beginning of
their relationship when he couldn’t get enough of her. During their last year,
sex often seemed like a chore he performed because he felt he had to. Just
another item on his never-ending to-do list. Admitting that he stopped craving
her body the way he once had broken her heart. She swore that sometimes he had
looked right at her without realizing she was there. She often asked him the
same questions over and over again, knowing he hadn’t heard a word she’d said
because he was so lost in his own thoughts.