Sweet Obsession: Windy City Kink, Book 1 (14 page)

She managed to do it long enough to get her proposal for him together, even though as she looked at the sketches and photographs and color and fabric samples she kept thinking about what he would like. Finally, she changed into a pair of boy shorts and a camisole, washed her face in her little bathroom and slid into bed. The sheets were cool against her heated skin.

In the darkness, she slid her hands over her body, up her stomach, between her breasts, down over a hip. She rubbed her inner thighs together and clenched her butt muscles at the spear of desire she felt in her core. She cupped her breasts over the cami and gently squeezed them, then rubbed over the nipples, which tightened into hard little points. She scraped her fingernails across them, inciting a delicious ache.

Alone in her bed, in the dark, she let herself think of Jack. She let herself picture his dark face, shadowed with beard, those deep-set intense eyes, his beautiful mouth with its full lower lip and defined upper lip. The way his hair fell across his forehead. And yes…his naked torso, the loose white pants he wore hanging so low on his lean hips he was almost exposing himself.

They were standing there in his dojo, him with his shirt in his hands, and he moved closer to her, releasing his grip on the shirt with one hand then putting his arms around her and grabbing it again, encircling her in the fabric almost like a rope. He used it to pull her slowly closer to him, watching her face, trapping her against him. She laid her palms on his chest and tipped her chin to look up at him. His skin was smooth and damp and warm beneath her hands and he wrapped the fabric of his shirt around his wrists to tighten the loop he’d created around her.

The pressure of the fabric on her body excited her, binding her hips to his. His erection prodded her, thick and hard beneath the thin cotton pants. A shiver ran over her skin.

She opened her eyes and stared into the darkness. God, what on earth was she imagining? She rolled to her stomach and kicked off the covers, hot now despite it being a cool March night. She tried to breathe evenly and deeply, tried to let go of everything and let sleep overtake her. And it did.

But it was restless sleep, full of realistic dreams. Jack again, now pinning her to the mat in the dojo.

“I’ll teach you some moves,” he said, his voice low and authoritative. A thrill raced through her. They were naked, skin to skin, the weight of his body heavy on her, his hands holding hers and pinning them above her head. And then he kissed her.

Then they were in his bedroom, sheets tangled around them, both of them naked, her on her stomach, one of his hands twisted in her hair, the other resting on the small of her back holding her down. He tugged on her hair and tingles cascaded from her scalp all down her spine, gathering at the base in a low ache of need. With a sharp tap of his hand on her ass, that ache intensified into an unrelenting throb. She pumped her hips into the mattress, seeking pressure on her straining clit, searching for it, the sensation she needed. There…there…so close…and then she woke up, pulsing into nothingness, her orgasm fading.

She groaned and sat up. It was the middle of the night. Her body ached with emptiness and need. She covered her face, shocked with the nature of the dreams she’d had, Jack taking control of her body so thoroughly.

A wave of longing swept through her so fiercely she whimpered. God, she wanted that. She wanted that so much. Her fingers slipped inside her panties, down between her legs and found the wetness there, and, unable to stop herself, she rubbed her clit in tight little circles.

She’d had sex dreams before, but never so real, and never before had she been so close to orgasming in her sleep. And she was afraid it was because of Jack.

Chapter Ten

Over the next few weeks, Sasha managed to accomplish her work duties despite being in a nearly constant state of sexual arousal and frustration. Over dinner, she’d shown Jack her preliminary designs and together they’d narrowed things down to the point where she could come up with the final design. The project excited her and she worked with passion to come up with something that was truly spectacular.

And yet she wanted it to be a space Jack would enjoy using, not just a showpiece. She pictured him with Adam kicking back drinking beers, with faceless, nameless friends or clients eating appetizers and cocktails, or by himself lounging on a recliner working on his laptop. And somehow, she was in those pictures too.

Which was just stupid.

When he’d approved the final design and the shockingly large estimate, she began to work in earnest, contracting with carpenters and electricians and plumbers, ordering nursery stock and bedding plants from the greenhouses she dealt with. As he’d predicted, he’d been easygoing about the design, only once disagreeing with something she suggested, seemingly delighted with almost everything else.

When the contractors started working, she spent a lot of time at Jack’s home, directing and supervising work. Sometimes Jack was there, sometimes he wasn’t. When he wasn’t, she snooped around. Not in his belongings or anything, just wandering into different rooms and studying them. Especially his bedroom.

She sat on the edge of the bed and inhaled the faint scent of him, the smell of his skin singularly his, mingled with spicy masculine shower gel and aftershave balm. She smoothed a hand over the duvet cover, studied the items on the long, low dresser—some coins, a parking receipt, some business cards and a pen.

Her curiosity led her to the one room in the condo she hadn’t seen, which Jack had dismissed. But when she tried the door, it was locked. Guiltily, she backed away and returned to the outdoor patio where carpenters erected the wooden screens she’d designed to divide the different areas, built the deck floor and benches, the two separate pergolas, and framed in the outdoor kitchen and bar.

When she’d showed Jack the idea for an outdoor bar, he’d been wildly enthusiastic. “That’s insane,” he said. “But I love it.”

She spent hours in home décor stores, looking for the perfect accents as well as outdoor dishes, glasses and serving pieces, and in antique shops she loved to occasionally wander through, the kinds of places you never knew what you’d find. She scored there by finding two large stone Japanese guardian deity sculptures.

And then there were the times she was there when Jack was home. Once they’d launched their new email phone security whatever thingy—she didn’t really understand a lot of what his company did—he seemed to spend quite a bit of time working at home in his office, and of course there were days she was there into the evening, supervising and directing the contractors. Whenever he was there, she was acutely aware of his presence, whether he was inside working in his office, sitting in the living room reading or wandering outside to see what was happening.

One day, Sasha walked in to see a woman sitting with him at the kitchen counter drinking coffee. She paused, her insides going cold. But Jack looked up and called her over. “Hey, Sasha, come say hi to Emma. Emma, you remember Sasha Bandel, right?”

Emma. His sister. Sasha’s muscles loosened and she walked over to them.

Emma tipped her head to one side to look at Sasha. “Um, not really, sorry.” She smiled.

Sasha’s eyes widened at the smile, the same sexy, charming grin as Jack’s, in a smaller, feminine face. Her jaw was also square but softer, her cheekbones high, her coloring the same—shiny black hair that she wore in a short, layered style, dark eyes and full lips.

“I’m sorry,” Emma apologized, sliding off the stool to shake Sasha’s hand.

“No worries.” Sasha smiled back at her. “I think you were about twelve when we met.”

Emma tilted her head as if thinking and then her eyes widened too. “Oh! Sasha!” She glanced at Jack. “You two dated in high school, right?”

“Right.” Jack leaned against the counter and smiled faintly.

Clearly Emma had no idea what had happened between them, and that was good.

“Uh…are you two dating again?” she asked, looking back and forth between them.

“No!” The word burst out of her mouth, but Jack remained silent, the slight tightening of his mouth the only change of his expression.

“Sasha’s designing my rooftop patio,” Jack said. “She’s a landscape designer.”

“Oh.” Emma nodded, eyes still wide. “I see.”

“I guess you’re happy to have your brother back in Chicago,” Sasha said to her, to distract her.

“Thrilled to bits.” Emma rolled her eyes, taking her seat again and picking up her mug. “Just what every girl wants—big brother keeping an eye on her.”

“I totally know what you mean. I have two older brothers who are stupidly overprotective. Not to mention my dad.”

“My brother thinks he
is
my dad,” Emma said.

“I do not,” Jack said mildly.

“Do too.”

“What are you, six?” he said.

Sasha grinned. Despite the bickering, there was obvious affection between the two of them. Clearly Jack wasn’t as much of a jerk about looking out for his sister as her brothers were.

“Are your brothers older than you?” Emma asked Sasha.

“Yep. They’re thirty and thirty-three.”

Emma nodded. “Same. Jack is thirty. But then, I guess you knew that.” Her eyes went shrewd. “So, how’d you end up working together?”

“She’s the best rooftop garden designer in Chicago,” Jack said, and Sasha felt a flush creep up her cheeks. He slid off his stool. “Come see what’s happening.”

They went outside and Sasha explained what was being built and tried to describe how it would look, although she didn’t go into too much detail. She so wanted this to be amazing and stunning when it was done.

“This must be costing you a freaking fortune!” Emma turned to Jack.

“I
have
a freaking fortune,” he reminded her, smiling.

“Oh yeah.” Again a decidedly unimpressed eye roll.

Jack’s cell phone rang and he reached for it. “Sorry, I have to take this.” He gave them an apologetic smile and moved back inside the condo.

Sasha and Emma stood outside. The weather had turned mild, now they were into May, the sun warm on their faces. The breeze was brisk up there, but soon the various screens and walls would shelter the patio from some of the wind. The noises of the carpenters as they hammered and drilled and talked to each other surrounded them.

“So Jack said you went to school in California,” Sasha said. “When did you move back here?”

“A few years ago. I had a great job offer and I wanted to be back with my friends. I never wanted to leave Chicago, but Jack pretty much insisted I come live with him as soon as I finished high school.”

“Oh.” Controlling much?

“It was for the best,” Emma said with a grimace. “I wasn’t doing so great here. Getting in trouble, goofing off. Our uncle…I guess you know he took us in after our parents died?”

Sasha nodded. “Yes.” She made a sympathetic face.

“Well, he tried, but he wasn’t the best parent figure, and I was a mixed-up teenager. Jack said he would have taken me with him but he had absolutely nothing when he left. As soon as he could, he moved me out there with him, even though I know he didn’t have much money.”

“But he’s filthy rich,” Sasha said slowly.

“He wasn’t six years ago. He’d just graduated. He was basically working two jobs, what with starting his company plus his day job. But he was worried about me and wanted me closer. Probably the last thing he wanted was a kid to be responsible for when he was trying to start his career, and at the time it bugged me. I mean, I like to rag on him about being bossy and overprotective, but he was right. I needed some structure and rules. He did that for me.” She paused “Don’t tell him I said that.”

Sasha forced a smile, although her mind was mulling over what she’d just heard.

“Hmmm,” Emma said, eyeing one of the workers. “Check out that guy. Gotta love a hot guy in a tool belt and tight T-shirt.”

Sasha followed Emma’s gaze. Yeah, that guy was pretty good looking, with well-built shoulders and lean hips, low-slung faded jeans and yes, a tight gray T-shirt. She could appreciate the view, but he didn’t do anything for her.

Not like Jack did.

She sighed.

“I know,” Emma agreed, misinterpreting her sigh. “I’m going to talk to him.”

“Don’t interfere with his work,” Sasha said with a smile. “Your brother’s got us on a tight schedule.”

“Of course he does. He’s the lord and master of the universe.” She did another eye roll. “In his own mind,” she muttered under her breath.

Sasha went back into the condo to see if Jack was off the phone so she could check with him on a few things. He stood across the living room, facing out the windows.

“We’ve never looked at security as a stand-alone function,” he said into the phone. “It has to be woven into every aspect of infrastructure and processes. It has to be a critical part of your overall business strategy.” As if he sensed her presence, he turned and met her eyes. The corners of his mouth quirked and he held up a finger, asking her to hold on. She nodded.

“I completely agree. Okay, that sounds good. We’ll hammer out the details at our meeting next week.” He ended the call. “Where’s Emma?”

“Um. Out there.” She grinned. “She liked the hot carpenters.”