Embraced (4 page)

“Vince is out on bail. Once he goes to
trial, he’ll go to jail,” Ella pointed out.

“For how long?” Marey sneered then. “A
year? Two?”

She sat the glass of wine on the table that
separated their chairs as she rose to her feet. Crossing her arms over her
chest she paced to one of the wide windows on the other side of the room before
turning back to face her friend.

“I’ve grown used to being alone—”

“You’re full of shit,” Ella snapped.
“You’ve grown used to hiding, Marey. Risking nothing and having nothing, and
letting Vince terrify you. I won’t have James talk to Sax.” She lifted her chin
stubbornly. “I think he’s doing the right thing, and I think he’s the right man
for you. So forget it.”

“You’re such a bitch!” Marey snarled.

“Takes one to know one,” Ella snapped back
childishly, frowning back at her mulishly. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and Sax will
spank it out of you. Oh, but you might enjoy that. I’ll tell him to hold off on
it for a while.”

Marey narrowed her eyes warningly. Ella’s
response was a cool little smile as she moved to her feet, facing her
defiantly.

“That’s low,” Marey growled furiously.

“No, dear, low is telling you what a
magical tongue he has,” she sighed mockingly. “And how much he fairly loves to
eat pussy. The man is a connoisseur. He can go at it for hours, and leave you
screaming for more.”

Oh, she didn’t need to hear that. Her pussy
flooded, her juices easing from her vagina to coat the bare, waxed folds beyond
as she remembered just how good his tongue was.

Ella’s expression was mockingly ecstatic,
her eyes gleaming in confrontation, her lips curved into a satisfied little
smile.

“And he has stamina…” She drew the word out
pleasurably as Marey breathed in slowly, reining in her response. “His cock
stretches you, makes you burn, makes you beg…” She closed her eyes dreamily.
“He’s almost as good as James.”

“Glad to know I rate in there somewhere.”

The sound of James’ amused, deep voice had
both of them jumping in startled awareness as they turned to stare at the door.

He lounged against the doorframe,
incredibly handsome, sinfully sexy. Marey well understood why her friend had
been so besotted with him for so many years.

“This is a private conversation.” Despite
her furious blushes, Ella drew herself up haughtily and faced her husband.
Though Marey had no problem seeing the arousal that flared in her eyes.

“So I heard.” His lips curved in a smile,
his eyes gleaming with laughter. “Very interesting one as well,” he mused as he
crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Should I let Sax know you’re up for a
visit?”

“No!” Marey’s furious exclamation joined
Ella’s as they both faced him now.

He chuckled in response.

“Go play or something, James.” Ella waved
her hand at him dismissively. “This is girl talk.”

“So I heard,” he drawled. “But maybe you
would both like to know that Sax is due here in about ten minutes to go over a
new product that’s in design at the moment and to share a beer while he bemoans
a certain woman’s stubbornness. Marey might want to run while she has the
chance. He’s just waiting to catch her out of that fortress she owns, and she
looks pretty primed right now.”

He glanced to her breasts and Marey’s gaze
dropped to the royal blue silk covering the full mounds. Her nipples were
poking against it like a four alarm signal for an all-night fuck.

Her gaze flew to Ella’s in horror.

“This is your fault,” she snapped. “I
didn’t need to hear any of that.”

“But you still love me.” Ella grinned.

“Bitch,” Marey snarled again. “And yes, I
still love you. But I am gone like the wind.”

And she wasted no time in running. Sax was
on a very, very short leash right now, and she knew it. As much as she loved
Ella, there wasn’t a chance in hell she was sticking around to see him. Because
her own desires were on an even shorter leash, and growing fiercer by the day.

She locked her doors when she got home.
Ignored the doorbell, thanking God that Ella hadn’t given Sax the code into the
house as she had the gates. The next morning, she did likewise. Cowardice? Hell
yes, she told herself fiercely. Sax terrified her where her weakness to him was
concerned.

She finally slipped out around noon, unable
to cancel her meeting with Ella at Delacourte to complete the planning for the
annual Christmas party. She slipped in without incident. Getting out wasn’t as
easy.

“When are you going to stop running from
me, Marey?”

Damn.

Caught in the empty outer office where
James’ secretary should have been standing guard, but was absent instead.

“I’m not running from you,” she denied the
charge calmly, despite the fact that she knew she was running. Every chance she
could get for now on. “I was heading home. I’m finished for the day, Sax.”

He stood in front of her, too close, but
she refused to retreat. She had run from her ex-husband for years—that was
humiliating enough. She wasn’t going to back down from another man. Especially
one she knew as well as she knew Sax. One that could make her senses sing with
pleasure. Her body rock in orgasm. Her mind dissolve with no more than a touch.
God, she was hopeless.

He towered over her, tall and broad, his
shaved head gleaming in the light above them. Teak dark flesh was emphasized by
the charcoal gray of his suit and his dark, chocolate eyes. Eyes that warmed as
he watched her, just as his smile did.

How was she supposed to fight him and
herself?

“I’m getting tired of waiting on you,
Marey.” Sax didn’t beat around the bush. “You’re tempting me into that little
kidnap fantasy we discussed before. You might think hiding from me is achieving
whatever objective you’ve set, but I can assure you, baby, the day is going to
come that I’m not going to let you run any longer after yesterday.”

She felt the flush that suddenly washed
over her face.

“You really need to forget about that,” she
muttered, crossing her arms over her breasts as he braced his arm against the
doorway, leaning against it casually.

He was about as completely yummy as a man
could get. Yummy enough that her mouth watered with the thought of tasting him,
her hands itched to touch him. And she knew every muscle under that skillfully
tailored jacket was as hard and tight as that bulge behind the zipper of his slacks.
A bulge well capable of satisfying a woman in any and every way.

She risked a quick glance down. Oh, hell
yes, definitely yummy.

“You can touch if you want.” He was openly
laughing at her as her gaze flew back to his. “After yesterday, there’s really
no sense in being shy, honey.”

Marey cleared her throat, not so much
embarrassed and never shy, as she was aware of the tightrope she was walking.
Fighting herself was hard enough. She didn’t know if she could fight him as
well.

Not considering the years of dreams and the
silly emotional attachment she had developed to him after her divorce. Why she
was running now made no sense to her, and she doubted it would make any sense
to anyone else.

“That’s all right,” she finally replied
calmly, refusing the invitation to touch him. “I do need to leave though, if
you don’t mind.”

“Leave with me.”

The offer left her stunned. Her eyes
widened, her breath stuttering in her chest as he stared back at her somberly,
intently. It was tempting. So very, very tempting.

“That’s not a good idea, Sax,” she finally
whispered. “You know it’s not.”

“You can’t keep running,” he finally
sighed. “And I’ll be damned if I’m going to keep chasing after you. How long
are you going to let Vince run your life like this?”

She glanced away from him, turning back as
he straightened from the doorway and came closer. She stepped back, then
stopped. She wasn’t going to run from him. But God, how could she handle…

Her swift indrawn breath was fully audible
as his hand lifted, smoothing down the silk covering her arm. The caress had
her nerves tingling, but when his hand gripped hers where it rested on her
other arm, she shuddered in response. The back of his hand brushed her hard
nipple, sending shards of awareness whipping through her.

Her clit caught fire, swelling, burning out
of control from no more contact than the back of his hand brushing the hard
point. Her pussy clenched in empty hunger, reminding her that even her
vibrators suddenly lacked the satisfaction she had once found with them.

“Sax, this isn’t smart,” she whispered.
“You know it’s not.”

His head lowered, his lips smoothing over
her forehead as she stared up at him. The warmth, the velvet roughness of the
kiss had her eyes closing and weakness sweeping over her.

“I want you, Marey,” he whispered as his
lips moved along the side of her face to her ear. There, his teeth caught the
sensitive lobe, tugging at it erotically as she shivered, her arms unfolding,
pressing against his hard chest, her fingers curling in the silk of his shirt.
“Yesterday was just a small treat. I want all of you. Hot and wet, moaning
beneath me as I show you just how good we can be together. Wouldn’t you like
that, baby?”

She stood, dazed, pleasure sweeping over
her as he lowered one hand to the curve of her buttock, his fingers shaping the
flesh as his teeth raked her neck.

“Do you remember how good it was? I do.
Buried snug and deep up that sweet ass. I want to bury in your hot little pussy
next. Deep and tight while I feel you milking me, hear your wild little moans
in my ears.”

“You’re not playing fair,” she whispered,
feeling the pleasure streaking through her womb, striking between her thighs
and making her clit swell and throb with arousal.

She was so weak. Too weak.

“I’m not playing,” he whispered a second before
his teeth raked her neck again and his hand clenched the flesh of her rear.
“Not in the least. Remember that, Marey. This isn’t a game, and the next damned
time you refuse to open that door to me, it’s coming down. You can say no if
you don’t want to be touched, but I’ll be damned if I’ll worry if you’re lying
in that house bleeding to death or already dead. Don’t make that mistake
again.”

His voice had her shivering in trepidation.
He was serious. Too serious, and she knew it.

He straightened then, staring down at her
broodingly, his eyes glittering with a sensual hunger and an emotional
intensity that shook her to the tips of her toes.

“Hurry and run,” he said mockingly. “Or you
might not have the chance to get away again. The next time I have you cornered,
I’m going to fuck you until you never dare to run from me again. You won’t be
able to breathe, let alone deny what we both want.”

She blinked in shock. Run.

She moved quickly around him and did just
that. Reluctantly. Straight home, to her room, to her bed, eyes closed and
vibrator running as she fought to ease the craving for Sax’s touch.

Sax breathed out roughly, as she did just
as he suggested—she ran. He was growing tired of this. She was more skittish
now than she had ever been before. And it broke his heart. He could see the
yearning, the pain in her eyes, and wanted nothing more than to ease it. To
love her until the pain vanished and the happiness shone through, as it did
with Ella.

Dammit, he wanted her to choose, and there
lay the bitter truth. He didn’t want to force her to accept him, he didn’t want
to overcome her objections or override her shyness and fears. He wanted her to
come to him. Arrogance? He snorted at that thought. Probably. But she had been
running for so damned long that it was starting to grate on his ego.

“She’ll stop running, Sax.” Ella stepped
from the office she had been meeting Marey in, her voice concerned,
compassionate. “Sometimes she gets stubborn and you just have to let her wear
herself down.”

A smile quirked his lips. Ella had been
defending her friend for months now. That had begun about the same time James
had informed him that Ella had refused to participate in another ménage with
him.

“I’ve waited a long time, Ella,” he
breathed out wearily. “I’m going to get tired of waiting soon. When I do, she
might have more to worry about than Vince. She’s going to have to worry about
me.”

Ella ducked her head, though he caught the
amused curve of her lips.

“It’s something that perhaps you should
consider,” she finally said as she raised her head, her gaze direct then,
somber. “Marey doesn’t always reach out for what she wants, Sax. She’s too used
to having it jerked away, just as she’s within reach of it.”

He wanted her to come to him. She had asked
him, pleaded with him years before to leave her alone, to stop his campaign to
seduce her, to hold her. He had promised himself then that when the time came,
it would be Marey’s decision. Perhaps that was where he had made his mistake.
He hadn’t known then the things he knew now. Her determination to hold herself
aloof, to ensure she never lost anyone, nor was betrayed again.

He pushed his hand into the pocket of his
slacks as he stared back at Ella, seeing the confident, sensual, loving woman
she had become over the past year. She had run from James for nearly a decade,
just as stubborn and determined as her friend was. She was happy now, glowing
with it. Could he fill Marey’s eyes with the same satisfaction, that glow of a
woman confident and well satisfied with what she found in her lover’s arms?

He lowered his head, staring at the rose
carpet of the outer office as he fought to restrain the impulses that had been
rising inside him for weeks now. After Vince’s attack on her, he hadn’t wanted
her to feel as though she was confronting another extreme situation, a man
unable to let go.

Perhaps instead of giving her the space to
find the answers, he was doing as Ella suggested instead. Giving her a chance
to hide. Marey didn’t need to hide anymore. She had been hiding for far too long.