The Arrangement (19 page)

The
pressure within the depths of his body broke.

It
was like the bomb doors being opened and the bomb dropping down out
of the sky. Lucas’s hips jolted, like he had been struck by a
bolt of lightning, and a howl like moan went out into the night.
‘Emma!’ He growled her name through clenched teeth, as he
climaxed inside of her.

‘Ah,’
was the only sound she could make.

The
word echoed around the room with each penetrating thrust of his hips.

Lucas
was determined to use every ounce of strength he had left, as all the
energy was being zapped out of his body, but the mind melting
sensation of ultimate bliss was too powerful for him to want to stop.
It had been so long since Lucas last experienced a feeling this
amazing. He wanted it to last forever, but where his mind was strong
his body was weak.

He
could take no more.

His
strength was gone.

His
hips came to a standstill.

The
sound of heavy breathing and erotic moans fought away the silence of
the late night. The two of them lay naked in the centre of his bed
holding each other, as their minds returned down from the clouds and
back into their bodies.

Chapter Five: Home Coming

Scarlett’s
fingers danced across the keyboard. Her novel was coming to life. The
connection, passion, romance and love between the two main characters
had reached a state where dialogue and actions appeared upon the page
as if the book was writing itself. The source of this new found
inspiration was easy to locate.

It
was Brandon.

Her
writing had fallen apart from the constant knock backs and rejections
by Lucas. She had been depressed and upset. Her mind was a mass of
negative thoughts, but in a single night Brandon had washed all of
that negativity away. With a single kiss he had ignited the wildfire
of passion that lived deep down within the depths of her soul. Last
night had been the best night in a long time. In a way she felt
silly, but it was nice to go out to a posh restaurant and dress up
for the occasion. She couldn’t remember the last time she had
got to wear her favourite dress. What made the night even more
special was the way he looked at her. His big beautiful eyes had been
glued to her all night long. He listened intently to everything she
had to say. The more they spoke the more interested he became in her.
After last night he knew her better than anyone else.

She
smiled at the memory of the kiss.

Her
fingers came to a stop.

A
deep sigh escaped her mouth, as she thought about the perfect setting
upon that peaceful beach and the way he held her in his arms, as
their tongues danced a private dance.

‘How
far would he have gone?’ she muttered to the empty house. A
more important and troubling thought came to mind. ‘How far
would I have gone?’ The tingling sensation within her chest
answered that question. If she was not with Lucas then in all
likelihood she would have returned to his house with him and you
didn’t need to be a genius to work out what would have happened
then.

Her
eyes shifted to the phone number on her desk.

She
wanted to see him again, but would it be too weird?

What
happened if he tried to kiss her again?

Did
she have the mental strength to walk away a second time?

She
picked up the phone number and got up from her chair. Scarlett knew
deep down inside that seeing Brandon again was a bad idea. Her
feelings for him had moved far beyond the point of friendship, but
she couldn’t help herself. He made her feel happy.

She
walked into the hallway and picked up the phone.

She
began to dial his number when suddenly the front door opened with a
click. Her heart sank down into the depths of her stomach and a
sickening twisting sensation tightened in her chest. The piece of
paper with Brandon’s phone number was shoved into her sweat
pant pockets.

Lucas
stepped into the house.

He
forced a smile.

‘Hi,
baby.’

***

Lucas
sat at the kitchen table, whilst Scarlett set to work at making him a
nice hot cup of coffee. On the outside he looked relaxed and calm,
but on the inside his heart raced like never before. The demon of
fear was whispering doubts and unwanted thoughts into his
subconscious mind.

Did
she know what he did?

What
if she managed to find out?

Could
she smell Emma’s perfume on him? No. That was impossible. He
had showered three times before leaving the hotel. He had to clench
his fists to stop his hands from visibly shaking. Waves of haunting
tingles rushed up and down his spine. He felt sick to the core of his
being.

‘How
was it?’ asked Scarlett, as she headed to the fridge.

‘How
was what…?’ he replied nervously.

‘How
were the contract negotiations?’

‘Oh,
that.’ He had thought she meant the other thing. ‘It went
well.’

‘Were
there any complications?’ she poured in the milk.

‘No,
there were no real complications.’ Lucas could feel some of the
stress easing up a bit. Scarlett was acting like her usual self. She
couldn’t have known that he made love to his secretary last
night. ‘I think your father built the whole thing up to make it
seem like I had done a bigger deal than I actually did. It was all
pretty straight forward. It was just the details of the contract that
took up more time than anything else.’

‘What
time did you finish?’ she put away the milk carton.

A
frown creased his brow.

There
was a certain tone to the way the question was asked.

‘Why
do you ask?’ his heart began to beat a little harder.

‘I
called you last night.’ Scarlett kept her back to him and wiped
up a bit of split water on the kitchen counter. ‘A woman
answered your cell phone, but she said that you were still in a
meeting.’

‘Oh
right.’ Lucas swallowed down the lump in his throat.

Scarlett
brought the drinks over and placed them on the table.

‘Who
was she?’ Scarlett sat down at the table next to him.

‘That
would have been Emma, my new secretary.’

‘She
went with you?’

‘Of
course, that is standard procedure on things like this. She was there
to gather information from the main office and fax things through to
Craig.’ This time he was actually telling the truth.

‘So,
where were you?’ He could read her like a book. Scarlett was
suspicious.

‘I
was most likely in bed.’ Lucas was quick to lie. ‘I got
fed up with your father calling me every fifteen minutes. The only
time I got some peace was when I was in a meeting. So, I gave her my
cell phone and told her to tell anyone that called that I was in a
meeting so I could finally get some sleep.’

‘Oh.’
Scarlett dropped her eyes.

‘Why?
What were you thinking?’ He allowed himself a brief smile. With
one lie their roles had been reversed.

‘N-nothing,’
she stuttered nervously and got up from the table.

Scarlett
headed for the sink and grabbed a dirty plate to wash.

‘Tell
me what you were thinking.’ He got up and approached her from
behind.

‘It’s
nothing. Just forget about it.’

He
wrapped his arms around her mid-section and hugged her gently from
behind. She was tense to his touch. ‘Did you think I was having
an affair with another woman?’

Scarlett
didn’t say anything in reply.

‘I
would never do that.’ He was getting good at lying.

‘I’m
sorry,’ she muttered in reply. ‘It is this just that for
the last month you and I haven’t made love. Whenever I am
forward, you instantly shoot me down. I don’t know what I was
thinking. It was just when I called you late at night and your
secretary told me such an obvious lie. It started to make sense.’

Lucas
let out a sigh.

‘I
am sorry,’ he apologised. ‘I know waiting for the wedding
night has been hard for you, but there was a good reason. The good
news is that after this contract negotiation I won’t have to
keep to this arrangement.’

‘What
arrangement?’

‘Well…’
it was time to tell her about the deal with her father. That would at
least free him of some small guilt. ‘Why don’t we go and
have a shower and I will tell you all about it.’

‘You
want to shower together?’ She looked back at him and smiled.

‘Yes.
It is the best place to get clean and I am feeling a little dirty.’
His hand stroked down across her stomach. Scarlett bit her bottom lip
in anticipation, as his hand disappeared into her sweat pants. ‘Shall
we go upstairs?’

‘I
would like…’ her face contorted into a mask of pleasure
at the feel of his fingertips. ‘Oh, Lucas,’ she moaned
softly. She gripped the kitchen counter to brace herself, as he
pressed his bodyweight up against her. A delirious smile, like some
sort of drug induced reaction you might see on a crazy person, spread
across her face. It had been far too long since she had felt any part
of him inside of her.

‘Relax,’
he whispered into her ear.

He
began to slide his long hard fingers back and forth.

Scarlett
felt like she was about to have an out of body experience it felt so
good. Every part of her body was tingling. It felt like thousands of
tiny explosions of delight were igniting down her thighs, within her
breasts, up her spine, and within her mind.

This
is what she had longed for.

Suddenly,
the doorbell echoed throughout the house.

‘Ignore
it,’ he told her.

His
fingers moved faster and deeper.

The
doorbell sounded again.

‘I
should answer it,’ she told him. It rang again. ‘It will
be Anne.’

‘Leave
it. I want you.’ He pressed his hips against her ass. Scarlett
could feel the real thing she wanted inside, pressing up against her.

She
dropped her hands onto his. ‘It will only take a minute.’
She looked back at him over her shoulder. ‘Go and get the
shower going. I will come and join you when she is gone.’

‘Be
quick.’ He pulled his fingers out and headed out of the
kitchen.

A
naughty smile split her soft red lips.

Tremors
of pleasure were rippling throughout her body.

She
just had to get rid of Anne and then she was going to unleash all of
her sexual frustrations out on her fiancée.

***

‘I
can only stop by for a minute, but how did it go?’ asked Anne.

Without
saying a word in reply Scarlett ushered her older sister into the
living room and closed the door leading into the hallway. She cocked
her head to one side and listened for movement upstairs. She could
just about make out the sound of the shower hum into life and
footsteps heading across the landing and into their bedroom. From
that far way there was no possible way that Lucas could hear what she
was going to say. Nevertheless, she spoke in a low whisper like some
poorly trained Russian spy.

‘It
was amazing,’ Scarlett giggled excitedly.

Anne
couldn’t help giggle in reply. ‘What happened?’

‘Well.’
Scarlett glanced at the living door just to double check it was
closed. ‘Brandon took me to this really beautiful restaurant.
We had a really nice dinner and just talked non-stop about each
other, our lives, and how we write.’

‘And
then?’ Anne prompted.

‘We
took a drive down to the beach. He has a house down there.’

‘Wow.
That is pretty cool.’ Anne was making mental notes for her next
romance novel.

‘We
didn’t go inside. Instead, he took me for a walk along this
really romantic beach and…’ Scarlett paused. She could
feel the blush working its way up from the feet. It blossomed upon
her cheeks, which only brought a big excited smile out of Anne. ‘I
kissed him.’

Anne’s
jaw hung open.

‘You
didn’t?’

‘I
did,’ Scarlett confirmed.

‘Like
a little peck on the cheek or...’

Scarlett
didn’t let her finish. ‘I used my tongue.’

The
living room fell silent. Anne had never looked more proud of her
sister in all her life. ‘What happened next?’

Scarlett
gave her a stern glance. ‘I went home.’

‘What!’
Anne said louder than she meant to.

Scarlett
waved her quickly into submission. ‘He will hear us.’

‘Why
didn’t you go any further?’

‘I
am engaged to be married.’ She felt this was an important
point.

‘To
a man that is messing you about.’

‘I
can’t cheat on him like that. I do love Lucas.’

Anne
let out a sad sigh. ‘You have better self-control than I have.
I think if it had been me in your shoes last night. I would still be
riding him today.’

‘Anne!’
Scarlett blushed even brighter.

The
elder sister checked her watch. ‘I have to go, but are you
seeing him again?’ Scarlett’s silence said it all. ‘Then
make sure you feed me all the juicy gossip from your next encounter.’

They
both giggled.

***

The
hot water sprayed across his face and muscular torso. The relaxing
feel of its touch seemed to wash away all his fears and thoughts
about last night’s events. Emma had kept him up to the early
hours of the morning. He had lost count how many times they had
actually made love. One orgasm seemed to roll into another. Scarlett
had never blown his mind like Emma had, but it was over. He had told
her this morning that they could not do that again. It was a one off.
He couldn’t do this to his fiancée.

The
bathroom door opened with a faint click.

‘She’s
gone.’ Scarlett left the door open and stepped inside.

In
a slow and deliberate manner she turned her back on Lucas, and bent
over, as she ever so slowly pulled her sweat pants down around her
ankles. His eyes nearly popped out of his head and bounced away
across the bathroom floor at the sight of her naked ass sticking up
in the air.