Obession by Design (11 page)

“That
was the most fucking incredible experience I’ve ever had.”

She
tried to smile, but there wasn’t strength to do that much. “Me, too,” she
whispered.

He
pulled her close and held her.
Liane
drifted off to
sleep, knowing her life had just changed forever. She could never go back now,
and she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay right here with Emmett for as long
as he’d allow her to.

Chapter
Eleven

Emmett
woke and was shocked to realize he’d slept nearly seven hours. He never did
that.
Liane
was on her back, one arm thrown over her
chest and the other resting on him. The light he’d left on in the room
yesterday afternoon bathed her skin in a soft glow. He’d never seen any woman
look as beautiful as she did right now. Memories assaulted him, and while he wasn’t
surprised to realize his dick was hard again, it ached with a sweet pain that
reminded him of what he’d done to her.

She
not only had a kinky side to her, but she was an impact play junkie. That
thrilled him, but he knew he’d have to let those bruises on her ass heal before
he did anything like that to her again. He didn’t want to permanently scar her.
He only wanted to help her explore the sides of her personality she’d never
known existed. It was so damn exciting watching a woman get that aroused over a
paddling or sex in a way she’d never experienced it before. It fed his need for
adventure and tackling new horizons.

He
and
Liane
could have this kind of excitement and
discovery every day of their lives if they wanted it. He only hoped she’d wake
without any regrets, because after this day, there was no way he could ever
give her up. She was his, and Emmett Radcliffe always got what he wanted.

Emmett
glanced at the clock again. He could wake her up, but she wasn’t used to his
breakneck lifestyle and likely needed sleep right now. He had done a lot to
her. He could get up and work, but all he really wanted to do was nestle back
against her lush body and stay there. It wouldn’t be dawn for five more hours.
He was hungry but not so hungry that he needed to eat a large meal.

Giving
her a quick kiss, which didn’t even make her stir, he went down to the kitchen
and made himself some toast. Kim and Jeremy had left him notes, letting him
know they’d saved his and
Liane’s
dinner in the
fridge and that they were going shopping in the morning. They’d been a godsend
to find. They never intruded on his time with a woman, and kept this apartment
running like a well-oiled machine.

He
left them a note thanking them for both the dinner and the upcoming shopping,
then
added a few things he needed them to find for his and
Liane’s
pleasure next time. They wouldn’t hesitate to buy
the items, and that was another thing he liked about them. He could trust them
to be discreet as well as efficient.

Liane
was still sleeping in the same
position when he made his way back upstairs, so he curled up next to her and
drifted back to his dreams. Emmett had never been this content to lie side by
side with a woman, and he’d never had such an erotic, satisfying experience.
This girl would be his undoing, and he welcomed it. It was time for him to let
someone else into his life for longer than a few weeks or months. He’d waited a
long time to find a woman like
Liane
, and he wasn’t
going to give her up.

****

Liane
woke to the smell of eggs and coffee,
and her stomach rumbled. Her mouth tasted like cotton, and her entire body
ached. How long had she been asleep? Emmett wasn’t in the room, but she could
smell his cologne and his shampoo. The room also still smelled like sex, and
she grinned as the memories assaulted her.

Then
she remembered it was a workday and had a moment of panic. Their laptop cases
were still on the chair where he’d placed them yesterday afternoon. That meant
he wasn’t working yet either. Well, he was the boss. She supposed if he could
blow off the morning, so could she, but it still felt foreign to do such a
thing.

She
wasn’t sure what to wear and then recalled them bringing over some of her
things, but where were they? She heard Emmett’s voice across the hall, so she
wrapped a sheet around her body and peeked out of the room. She followed his
voice to a room down the hall, but didn’t go inside when she realized that
Jeremy and Kim were also in the room.

Emmett
spotted her and smiled. “There she is. Good morning. Come on in. We were just
arranging your things in here.”

She
stepped across the threshold, her face burning with embarrassment. She couldn’t
look at his staff, but he seemed totally oblivious to her plight. “You can use
this room when you need a space to be alone and to keep your things in. Is it
all right? I thought you’d like it because it has an eastern view, so you can
watch the fake sunrise.”

Liane’s
heart melted at his words, as
much as at the look on his face. He was like a kid who hoped his mother liked
the present he’d made her in school. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“We’ll
leave you now to finish preparing breakfast,” said Kim.

“Thank
you.” She and Jeremy gave her a quick smile, and then as soon as they left the
room, Emmett pulled her into a bear hug.

“Don’t
be shy around them. They’ve seen half-dressed people before.”

“How
long have they worked for you?”

“All my adult life.
You can trust them implicitly.”

He
kissed her, and she nearly forgot how hungry she was as images from last
evening danced through her head. “I can see I didn’t paddle or fuck you hard
enough last night.”

She
laughed. “Excuse me?”

“You’re
still walking.”

“So
are you.”

“Barely,
and I’m starving. Please put on some clothes or I won’t be able to concentrate
on anything including food and coffee.”

“Then
get out of here and let me get dressed because right now all I can think about
is being naked with you again.”

Emmett
groaned and released her, but as he passed her to head for the doorway he gave
her ass a hard smack. She yelped and turned to face him, and his grin nearly
made her come. “See you downstairs, gorgeous. Don’t keep me waiting.”

She
picked up a pair of shorts and a tank top, but before she could put them on,
Emmett had returned. He pulled off her sheet and looked at her ass, whistling.
“I just realized I didn’t assess the damage from last night. Ah … wow. Sorry.
Have you looked at it this morning?”

Liane
shook her head, and then
followed him into the bathroom. This room had its own, and someone had already
filled it with not only the bath products she’d brought over from her place,
but all kinds of expensive bath and body products she’d never buy for herself.

Her
attention wandered from all those bottles and jars to the mirror as she stood
in front of it and turned sideways so she could view her own ass. What little
she could see had bruises and was still quite red. “Nice job, Emmett.”

“I
really am sorry.”

She
laughed and put her arms around him. “No, you’re not. This is exactly what you
wanted to do, remember? I’m proud to wear it. You’ve marked me.”

The
look on his face took her breath away. He was bowled over by her comment.
“Really?”

“Really.
Now get out of here so I can put
on some clothes. I’m about to faint from hunger.”

He
kissed her again, and then he left the room. Downstairs, she enjoyed a huge and
delicious breakfast with him, and then they sat in his office with their
laptops, working side by side. It was difficult to sit for long periods of time,
but
Liane
had never been this sated or happy. She
didn’t want to leave this place.

She’d
embraced so many new experiences last night, and then had that weird but
intense breakthrough or epiphany, or whatever it was that had happened. Her
mind felt uncluttered this morning, as if a heavy fog had lifted and she could
finally see clearly for the first time in years. She wanted to feel this way
every day now, and realized she could. Emmett had done this for her.

Liane
didn’t know what would happen
tomorrow, or next week, or next month. But she knew that this morning, right
here and now, he was the man she wanted to be with.

****

Liane
felt like she was living in a
dream during the next two weeks. She spent so much time at Emmett’s place that
she might as well be living there. She knew he wanted her to move in. He
dropped hints three or four times a day, which she ignored. The feeling that
she wanted to be with him all the time was still as strong as ever, but when
she imagined actually living there … eating breakfast with him every morning
and walking to work together, she suddenly wasn’t sure.

Was
she truly ready for something like this? Each time she took a break when they
worked from his apartment and glanced around at her surroundings, she was
overcome with conflicting emotions. It was so opulent, but that wasn’t the only
thing that had her second guessing her own emotions at every turn.

Everything
in the apartment represented what Emmett needed in his life. He was an
adrenaline junkie who could never be content with a stable, peaceful home life.
Scattered throughout his living space were items he’d literally risked his life
retrieving. She had a tough time imagining him as a father, staying home to
change diapers, or take their kids to the park.

The
things they did in bed, in the shower, on his desk, and in almost every room of
his place now were edgy and even a bit dangerous. There was a reason Emmett had
given her a
safeword
and constantly reminded her to
use it. That’s what he needed. He craved it, and now she did, too.

But
what did that mean? Was this part of her that had always been there and she’d
simply never known it? Had it taken Emmett’s knowledge and expertise to reach
inside and unearth it, or was this simply the result of being in a new
relationship?

Hell
… the only true relationship she’d ever had was with Keith, and they’d both been
so green. But something had happened to her that first night she’d let Emmett
tie her up. Something strange but cathartic had occurred when he’d paddled her
to the point of tears. She couldn’t deny that. She was a changed woman from
that experience.

Despite
all that, could she take such a huge leap and share her day to day life with
this man? As much as she’d learned about him in two weeks, she knew she’d only
scratched the surface. She didn’t need a spreadsheet or a website to tell her
that. The man almost never talked about himself, even when she asked him a
direct question.
Liane
didn’t like that. It made her
wonder if he was hiding something. She felt off center over it.

Her
work on the database kept her busier than she had imagined it would. There were
constant tweaks to it, and to the masking program she was also writing, in
addition to the weekly meetings with the other Weathermen to compare lists of
names and other findings.

Each
man had agreed that they needed to hire separate teams to begin to track down
these users. They had teams working on it at their individual companies, but
those people also had other duties. That was to change and soon. They had so
much information now that they were comparing users on message boards
throughout the enterprises, but they had no one solely dedicated to tracking
down IP addresses or probing deeper to track down specific machines.

Liane
knew several people from school
who still lived in
CentralEast
and other cities who
would kill for a job like that, so at the second weekly meeting she attended,
she gave the list of names to the men. They each promised to put them on the
short list of candidates they would interview for their new teams.

What
she had with Emmett at work and home was the kind of life she’d always pictured
for herself. Instead of being forced to give her body to someone whose help she
needed, she was in control of her own destiny. She was able to use her skills
and her unique talents on a project that might well save the human race from an
eternity of existence underground. It was daunting to think about, but also
very exciting.

She
couldn’t ask for a better man than Emmett. He was perfect. And that might very
well be what had her on edge whenever he dropped hints about breaking her lease
and moving all her things into his place. He was
too
perfect. She couldn’t find one damn fault.

Except
that he wouldn’t talk about his family or his past.

Other
than that tiny little thing, everything he did was incredible. He looked great,
he smelled great, and his clothes were impeccable. He cooked, and even when he
didn’t, Kim kept them well fed with delicious food. If
Liane
needed anything, all she had to was ask.

The
sex was out of this world amazing. She hadn’t known it was possible to have
that much fun in bed. She’d certainly never entertained the thought of having
sex in so many different places or in so many creative
ways,
and nearly always accompanied by play that left her breathless and begging for
more.

He
never went too far or hurt her unless they’d agreed beforehand that he could,
but he still always gave her an out.
Always.
She never
felt pressured to try anything new, and he made her feel like the sexiest woman
on the planet, even if all they did was cuddle and watch a video stream on TV
or listen to music.