Love Bound (5 page)

The slow grin formed again, smoothing
out the worry lines in his forehead.

“You know what else I’d actually
like?”

“What’s that?”

“A hug.” Yes, a very sappy request,
but I wanted to know what it felt like to be in his arms. I stood, breaching
the distance and leaned in to hug him. When his arms wrapped around me, damn,
it felt like coming home and at the same time, I was acutely aware of the extra
weight I gained over the holidays hovering on my hips and ass. I sighed and straightened,
almost at eye level with him, my arms still resting on his broad shoulders. His
hands slid down, giving my ass a squeeze. I felt the hot rush in my cheeks and
I rolled my eyes. Grudgingly, I stepped away, sliding back to my chair.

“I should go,” he said, glancing at
the clock on the wall.

“Yes you should.”

A slight rosy hue crept into his
cheeks accompanied by a crooked playful smile as his eyes went from the clock
to me. “I should go,” he repeated.

“You don’t really want to, do you?”

The shrug and full bloom of blush
confirmed it without the almost imperceptible shake of his head. “You know,
with our luck someone would walk in.”

“Probably.” He was trembling just as
much as I was trying to contain the wild urge for ripping fabric and skin against
skin. My eyes drifted to the nape of his neck and I bit back the need to run my
tongue up the strong line to his ear. If I did that, there would be no stopping
us, cubicle or not.

Instead, I reached for the bottle of
water behind me on the desk, cracked it and took a sip. “So, you really should
go.”
Unless of course, you want to rent a hotel room downtown and I’ll skip
the meeting.
The thought didn’t make it past my lips; they closed around
the words, presenting a hint of a smile as I sipped the water again.

He smiled, picking up his notebook,
but did not move and I started stammering again, something about how much his
friendship meant to me. I was painfully aware of the driveling but helpless to
stop it. The alternative would leave us naked and panting in a 9x9 fabric box.

Shut up!

The command from my mind ignored by my
mouth, just like a little child ignores their parent and he, of course, had all
the perfect response to every benign piece of nonsense that fell from my lips.

God would I ever shut up?

Dimples creased his cheeks and his
lips curved into a suppressed smile. “I know what you mean.” His eyes drifted
to the clock. “I really should go.” This time he stood.

Damn it. Just ask him if he wants to
take this somewhere else! You’re such an idiot!
“Yeah, you probably should.”
BECAUSE
I’m a driveling fucking idiot!

The Cheshire cat grin appeared and I
pointed at it.

“We’re both gonna be smiling like that
for hours and you know the people I’m meeting will be wondering why I’ve got a
shit eating grin on my face.”

His rich laughter filled the room. “Don’t
smile like that.”

“Like I can help it. I’ll catch you on
Monday.”

He nodded and gave me one last look,
his chest rising as he pulled in the air, slowly lowering as he exhaled. “Have
a good weekend.” And he was gone, taking the heat between us with him.

The second the door to the hallway
latched, the cold air chilled me to the point my teeth chattered. I wasn’t sure
if the quakes were from the air conditioning vent, or if they were the reaction
to the sudden release of sexual tension.

On impulse, I reached for the phone,
stopping before I touched the smooth plastic.

I didn’t know if he’d be at his desk. I
didn’t know if he’d agree to a hotel room and I didn’t stay long enough to find
out.

* * * *

Email became our life-line for
conversations we couldn’t broach at work, triple x discussions. The ones that
left me glad I wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity of where Jake was because I’m
not sure common sense would prevail.

Of course, he wasn’t quite as gifted
with words as I am, but he made a valiant attempt, explaining everything he
wanted to do to me with his hands, his mouth, his body, leaving me hot and
wanting even from thirty miles away. And I, I painted the fantasy in words,
just enough to leave him wanting more. He always wanted more and for the life
of me, I couldn’t figure out why.

Why me?

Why did he want me?

I’m nothing special, sure I can write
a romantic scene that leaves the reader breathless, but I’m not beautiful, I’m
not super model quality. I’m more like the frumpy girl next door, the mousy one
with dark hair and glasses, one step away from a lonely librarian with one
exception, my nice solid C-cup rack.

So why?

The answer surprised me.

“You know when you first meet someone —
there’s a spark, a connection there that you can’t ignore,” he said.

“Like an electrical current?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“Like two magnets pulling toward each
other.”

“Yes.”

So he
had
felt the jolt, the
instant da-yem that overcame me when we first met. More directly, when our eyes
first locked and created this irresistible attraction.

* * * *

It was another three months before the
stars aligned again in the empty office space entombed by marble, and again the
meeting was his idea.

We stared at each other, me in
perpetual motion, swinging the chair side to side trying to contain the sexual
tension, and Jake, he certainly wasn’t looking at my face.

“Is it rude to stare?” His eyes locked
on the curve of my cleavage revealed in the low cut dress I wore.

“No.” I laughed and his gaze flicked
to mine and then back at their objective, the dimples in his cheek deepening
along with the blush.

“I’d like to see more.” He met my gaze
with a tilt of his head.

I back peddled, after all, we were still
in the office and it definitely wasn’t after hours like last time. “Not here.”

He swiveled toward the open door and
then back to me. “Think if we closed the door . . .” He trailed off.

I stood and crossed, closing the door
before I returned to the chair, taking the seat again with a half smile. I
exposed my tan line, which didn’t involve moving the fabric of my bra. He
looked at the contrast between the bronze skin and the stark white patch my bra
strap bordered and then cocked his head further. “That’s not quite what I was
thinking.”

“I know. But we’re in the office and
it’ll have to do.”

His eyebrow rose and he stood, I
followed suit, stepping closer to him. His height offered him a better view of
my ample bosom, but it wasn’t quite enough. His fingers traced my skin at the
edge of the fabric and he leaned over, planting his lips on mine.

That sweet peppermint kiss claimed my
breath, my body, my heart, fanning my burning need into a raging fire. When the
kiss broke, I stared into his bright blue eyes and sighed, my hand lightly
tracing his shoulder and arm, feeling the nervous energy jumping in his
muscles.

“We’re in trouble aren’t we?” It
wasn’t so much of a question as an observation and his nod of acknowledgement
did nothing to quell the desire. I pulled my hand away, breaking the physical
contact, breaking the electrical connection before it swept common sense out
the door.

We stepped apart, staring at each
other, remembering where we were.

* * * *

Sleep had been impossible and I
thanked god I was working from home today, the office would have been
excruciating, especially if we ran into each other. I wasn’t ready to see him
yet; afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep the poker face or my hands in place.

The drone of the people on the
teleconference, white noise, my mind still honed in on his kiss, memorable, ha,
that was an understatement. The doorbell rang, interrupting the pleasant
daydream.

I slid off the stool in the kitchen,
carrying the muted phone with me. When I swung open the door, all conversation
was lost on me, their words becoming faint foreign murmurs in the wake of who
stood before me.

Jake smiled at the sheer surprise on
my face. “Hi.”

I froze, staring into his bright,
humor filled eyes as detached voices called my name. I pressed the phone to my
ear. “Um, uh, I’m sorry, but I, I have to go.” I didn’t wait for an
acknowledgement, I just pressed the off button and stepped aside, swinging the
door open so he could enter, my eyes never leaving his.

Taking in the two-story foyer, he stepped
into the house and glanced back at me.

I swung the door shut and finally
found my damn voice. “Jake, what . . .”

That’s as far as I got. He pushed me
against the closed door, crushing the words with his lips and this time the
kiss carried the urgency we felt yesterday in the office. Hard, delicious,
insistent and his hands tugged on my sweater.
Thank God I shaved my legs.
The thought brought a laugh to my lips; my hunger matched his and I reached my
arms around his broad shoulders.

The kiss broke, his lips blazing a
path to my neck. “Surprised?” The whisper of his breath tickled my ear and his
teeth bit down on the soft flesh of my earlobe. I inhaled sharply, wincing from
the sudden sting, so different from the tenderness of his hand sliding up under
my sweater and molding to my breast. He chuckled at my reaction, stripping his
coat, discarding it on the floor and navigating me toward the stairwell, his
lips never leaving my skin for more than a second.

He paused long enough to peel my
sweater off.

“Yes very surprised.” I said, stepping
onto the first stair as he tossed my sweater casually over his shoulder. The
playful man I teased in the office was gone, this one, he had one goal in mind
and I could see it in his eyes. And god, it thrilled me more than any of the
less than innocent office banter.

“Good.” He reached into his pocket and
pulled out a pair of handcuffs, dangling them in front of me with a grin.

Oh my.
I answered with a grin and took
another stair, tracing the dangling metal with my finger before I brought my
gaze back to him. “Are those for me?”

He shrugged and slipped his shoes off
before taking the first step. “Perhaps.”

Before he could move them out of my
reach, I plucked the handcuffs out of his grasp and headed up the stairs. “You
first.” I smiled over my shoulder, meeting his predatory gaze and I led him
into the master bedroom.

He smiled at the four-poster bed.

“Where are the keys?” I tossed the
handcuffs onto the nightstand.

He toyed with me, pulling them out of
his pocked and swinging them slowly in front of my eyes. A small chuckle came
from his chest just before his arm snapped out, clasping my waist and yanking
me to his chest. “Not so fast.” He teased, kissing me again.

I almost sank to the ground; this was
the slow, seductive kiss that took my breath away, and left my legs rubbery
appendages, mesmerizing me to the point where I’d do anything for him. But I
wanted to control this, I wanted to make it last, so I resisted.

“Take off your shirt.” I whispered,
pushing him away. I put my hand out for the keys, putting them on the bureau
after he dropped them into my outstretched palm. He stripped the midnight blue
oxford over his head and dropped it on the ground.

The lines of his chest met my level
and I looked up at him, running my hands over his bare flesh. Skin on skin.

“Anything else?” He asked.

My fingertips throbbed in time with
his heartbeat and I closed my eyes, blowing the air out between my lips,
regaining control and stepping away long enough to yank the bedspread away. “Lie
down.” I flashed him and innocent smile, picking up the handcuffs and dangling
them from my forefinger. “On your back.”

He chuckled and did exactly that.

I knelt over him and snapped the handcuffs
on his right wrist, threading it through the bar connecting the posts before
attaching the other end to his left wrist. “My, oh my,” I ran my fingertips on
the inside of each arm, tickling him lightly. Glee enveloped me, along with the
power I now held over him. I could do anything I wanted. Anything and I
laughed. “I could just leave you here, you know.” I teased, barely grazing his
lips.

He let out a soft laugh, but there was
a moment of doubt, a shadow cast over his sapphire eyes that asked
She
wouldn’t dare, would she?
He was at my mercy and suddenly wasn’t sure about
letting me have this much control.

“What? You don’t trust me?” I sat up
on my heels, still straddling his stomach.

He shrugged. “I let you chain me to
the bed.”

“And now I’ve got all the control.
Lucky me.” I whispered, finding the sweet curve of his lips, before I slipped
off the bed. “I’ll be right back.”