Hammered (8 page)

“Oh, oh, oh,” she cried as he roused her and held her at the
very edge of climax.

She smelled and tasted so good he wondered if he’d made a
mistake coming here. Instead of quieting the hungry beast he might be only
making it more ravenous. But no one said this had to last for just one night,
right?

He shut his mind off and went back to work on the delicious
woman writhing with erotic need. Moving his fingers faster, curling them to
scrape her sweet spot, pulling and tugging on her clit with his teeth, he
pushed her up and up until she splintered and came apart in his hands. She
nearly jackknifed toward him when the explosion came, his name almost like a plea
on her lips, her body shaking with the force of the spasms.

Alex licked her pussy eagerly, drinking in every drop of her
juices, soothing the sensitive flesh, until at last most of the tremors had
died away. Then he moved up beside her again and turned her face so he could
kiss her, sharing her taste with her. He thought that was one of the most
intimate things a couple could do, sharing each other’s tastes. With this woman
it seemed to be even more intense.

He moved up her body to brush the damp curls from her faced
and trail kisses along her neck. He couldn’t believe he wanted her again so
soon, but his dick seemed to have a mind of its own where Olivia D’Angelo was
concerned. He was driven by the need to imprint himself on her so that no
matter what happened she would have an indelible memory of him.

As the last of the aftershocks died away he rolled her to
her back and sheathed himself in a condom. Sliding into her soaked channel with
a slow deliberate movement he took her once more. He rocked his hips, feeling
the tightness of her cunt around him. She opened her eyes and he saw a wealth
of emotion in them.

No, damn it. Don’t go there This is just sex, remember?

He licked her hardened nipples and nipped each one lightly,
moving in and out of her pussy with a steady rhythm. Her little moans and
whimpers ramped up his hunger. When she wound her legs around him and dug her
heels into the small of his back, pulling him in tighter, it did him in. Gone
was the slow rhythm, replaced by a fast, hard pace. He slipped a hand between
them, found her swollen nub and rubbed it with the pad of this thumb.

They came together, tumbling over the edge into that wild
cloud of sexual explosion, bodies shaking, her fingernails digging into his
back. Then, spent, he let her rest. Spooning her into him, he kissed her
forehead. A sigh whispered from her lips and drifted like a soft breeze across
his chest. He held her as she drifted off into a light sleep, myriad thoughts
running wild in his mind.

At some point he dozed off, too, rousing with a start when
Livy shifted slightly against him. He looked at her asleep in his arms and
resisted an urge to wake her. There’d be other nights. Other times. He’d make
sure of that. But now… He glanced at the bedside clock, saw the LED numbers
showing four thirty.

Shit!

Where had the time gone? He’d allowed himself to be lulled
by the great sex and the softness of the woman in his arms. He wanted nothing
more than to go back to sleep and wake up with her in the morning. But he’d
given himself orders before he came to the house. They’d have great sex, just
like the other night, just as she wanted, and then when she was asleep he’d
grab his clothes and split.

He felt things for this woman he’d never felt for any other
and he wanted her in his life. But she’d set up barriers and he had yet to
figure out how to tear them down. So despite the emotions tearing at him, he’d
made up his mind to play by her rules. He needed to leave, get out of her
house. Now.

You’re being childish.

You’re being sensible.

He wanted to tell his head to shut up and stop giving him
grief. Easing Livy’s body away from his he slipped from the bed, taking extra
care not to wake her. Tiptoeing around the room he gathered his clothing and
his shoes and dressed in the dark of the living room. For one brief moment he
considered leaving a note, but the little residual bubble of anger that
wouldn’t go away killed that idea.

Somehow he managed to make it out the front door without any
noise. When he got into his car he let it roll backward down the driveway and
into the street before he started it. No headlights until he was well away from
the house. He thought what a good thing it was that his car seemed to know the
way home almost by itself, because the last thing he could concentrate on was
driving.

He was rock hard again even after that last powerful orgasm,
a fact that stunned him. A cold shower might not even be enough to calm his
body down, not when he kept thinking of Livy, how she felt and tasted and
smelled. The way she climaxed for him. He spent most of the drive trying to
convince himself that he could play by Olivia’s rules and not feel badly, when
what he really wanted to do was tell her to hell with the rules and let her
know how he really felt about her.

Yeah, right. Fat chance.

* * * * *

Livy kept her eyes closed, pretending she hadn’t felt Alex
slide out of bed and move out of the room to dress. She barely let herself
breathe until she heard the very faint click as he let himself out the front
door. Although she strained her ears she didn’t detect the sound of a car
engine starting.

He coasted out into the street so I wouldn’t hear him.

Well, what did she expect? Hadn’t she done the same thing to
him without so much as a second thought? Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted?
No-strings very hot sex and no messy aftermath? Just like always. No anger at
him. No pain at him slipping away like that. Long ago she’d learned that if you
thought something was that good it would turn out not to be. If you let
yourself like someone a little too much, you only got hurt. And if you let them
into your heart, it would only get broken.

She’d stopped being that little girl hungry for crumbs of
affection and remade herself into a woman in control of her own destiny.
Convinced letting people get too close would only cause her more pain, she’d
set up Livy’s Rules. And they worked just fine. Right?

Right. Go ahead, convince yourself.

Then why did she have this empty feeling inside her? This
terrible sense of disappointment, as if she’d let something really, really good
slip through her fingers. But that wasn’t possible. Not possible at all. Was
it?

Livy’d had plenty of sex in her life, but never like this.
She could still feel his warm hands gliding over her body, paying careful
attention to all her erogenous zones. Felt his mouth on her nipples, his teeth
tugging at them until a pleasure so strong it was almost painful burst through
her. Felt his hot mouth on her pussy, licking and sucking as he thrust his
fingers inside her. Felt his long, thick cock as he drove into her, plunging
not just into her body but into her soul.

With other lovers there’d been a physical attraction, they’d
ridden it to the end and that was that. Even in the midst of wild monkey sex
she’d always been in charge. A part of her brain never shut down. Sometimes
they’d run into each other in a convenient location and fall into bed for old
times’ sake. But neither expected more of the other.

But there was a difference with Alex McMann. There was
something about him that reached into her inner self and woke up all those
emotions she’d buried so long ago. She wasn’t prepared for the instant
emotional reaction she had to him. Whatever word she gave to it, it invaded her
system and made her completely lose herself in bed with him. And it scared the
hell out of her.

Livy had done a good job convincing herself that
relationships that grew quickly died just as fast. And she’d learned to protect
herself against that kind of pain. She wasn’t at all prepared for a man like
Alex who came into her life with the impact of a tornado, saw beneath the
surface and offered her what she truly believed was beyond her reach. What she
saw other people reach for and attain. He warmed her heart. She’d once heard a
coworker say that about her husband and hadn’t known what it meant until now.

She kept a tight rein on her emotions, giving everything
instead to Concordia. The business was like a lover to her, the recipient of
all her emotions, her affection. Even love. Concordia appreciated her and
praised her and gave back to her.

But from the moment she shook hands with Alex in the
Concordia reception area something inside her exploded and a hunger she’d never
known before consumed every cell in her body. She thought she had it under
control. Thought she could have the same arrangement with him she’d had with
others. And even though their business relationship was about to be long term,
she could tuck their personal contact into a corner of her brain and keep it
there.

She should be happy, right?

So why was it, then, that when he showed up at her doorstep
tonight ready to agree to her terms she was actually disappointed. Maybe even a
little bit hurt.

Get over yourself. Isn’t that what you want?

She didn’t have an answer to that question.

At five thirty, tired of arguing with herself, she finally
gave up trying to go back to sleep. A shower wiped some of the cobwebs from her
brain but when she looked in the mirror she wondered who the woman was with the
haunted eyes. She’d need to take extra pains with her makeup today before she
headed for the office.

Work. For the first time since she set foot in Concordia she
couldn’t seem to find the enthusiasm for her job that carried her through every
day. That fact disturbed her.
Quit thinking about it! You’ve got what you want.

And she had a long stretch before this new project was
completed when she and Alex would be working together. She’d laid down the
ground rules. Now she had to follow them. But for the first time in her life
she wished for the strength to break them.

“Frank wants you to buzz him the minute you’re at your
desk,” Jo told her as she breezed past the outer desk. “Man, I’ve never seen
him so antsy about a project before.”

“This is the biggest thing this company has undertaken and
we’ve got some high ticket investors on board. He’ll be like a new father
trying to hold a baby until we’re well into it.”

“Well, call him and soothe his nerves, okay?”

Livy gave a dry chuckle. “I’ll do my best.”

But she had to sit at her desk and take a few minutes to
compose herself before she made the call. Frank knew her so well he’d detect
anything out of the ordinary in her voice.

“How’s everything going with McMann?” he asked when she got
him on the phone.

“Great, Frank. Everything’s in good shape.”

“You sure Alex understands what kind of timeline we’re
looking at?” he persisted.

“No problem. He and his brothers are putting together the
contract. As soon as it’s ready they’ll send it over for you and the legal
eagles to look at and we’ll move forward.” She fiddled with a pen on her desk,
her hands restless. “Meanwhile we’ll go ahead with the schedule of appointments
and I’m setting up a date for Josh McMann to bring new drawings for you to look
at.”

“Good, good. I knew I could depend on you. I think I’ll have
the investors come to that meeting. What do you think?”

She knew he was asking on a financial note as well as a
general operating one. She’d worked out the money details and he wanted her
assurance that this was the right time to get the money men actively involved.

“I think based on the preliminary sketches it would be a
good thing. They’ll get a very good idea of the concept.” She swirled the pen
like a top. “Maybe once construction actually starts we might want to fly them
out for a site visit.”

“I’ll let you work it out with the McManns. Just be sure a
copy of the meeting schedule gets forwarded to me.”

“Will do.”

She hung up the phone and leaned her forehead on her hands,
fingers massaging her temples.

“Here, maybe this will help.” Jo set a steaming mug of
coffee on the desk in front of her. “Are you feeling okay?”

Livy sighed. “Yes. Just a little tired, I guess. I didn’t
sleep too well last night.”

“Oh?” Jo gave her a mischievous grin. “Any special reason?”

“Just restless,” she snapped, then forced a smile. “Sorry,
Jo. Didn’t mean to be such a bear. Okay, how about getting my messages and
we’ll go from there.”

* * * * *

“So where do we stand with the project?” Josh asked,
following Alex into his office, Tyler right behind him.

Alex placed his briefcase on the corner of his desk and
shrugged out of his jacket. He didn’t have to ask what project. This was the
biggest thing they’d ever undertaken.

“It went very well.” He made sure his face was arranged in a
calm expression before he turned to look at his brothers. “I have notes on the
schedule of meetings Vincent likes to establish on a project and when he wants
to see the improved sketches. And I have to hammer out the contract and get it
over to him.”

“Is it any different than the standard one we use?” Tyler
wanted to know. “Is there something we won’t like?”

Alex shook his head. “Not at all. But since this is such a
big job we have to prepare for all eventualities. You guys will need to study
my notes again and give me realistic input so we don’t screw up.”

“I’m in the office for the next two days,” Tyler told him.
“I can get to work on my part right away. I’ll pull up our standard contract
and see what changes we need to make regarding the actual construction.”

When they’d left and he was alone again, Alex leaned back in
his chair and rubbed his eyes. He should have been completely satisfied after
the great sex he’d enjoyed last night but all he felt was empty, as if
something was missing. Which it was. Somehow he had to convince her it was okay
to take a chance with him. He just wished he knew how.