The Ultimate Merger (3 page)

What was she thinking? Sitting here with an
attractive man paying her attention, and all she could do was
complain about her job. She should be thinking about engaging in
more pleasurable activities with him, because right now the
alternative—going home to an empty apartment and Netflix—did not
appeal at all.

“If you’re unhappy, why don’t you leave?”

“Yeah, I’ll just walk out of there and find
another job just like that.” Sabrina snapped her fingers. “I’ll
suffer through it.”

“Like you’re doing now?” he asked pointedly.
“Spending a Friday night alone at a bar?”

His questions hit home in a way she didn’t
like. “I’m not really alone, though, am I?” She shrugged. “I wanted
to unwind before going home. It’s been a long week and an even
longer day. Actually, I had plans, but my friend cancelled at the
last minute.”

“And this friend…was it a man?”

She eyed him from the corner of her eye,
surprised he’d deduced that so easily. “Yes.”

“Foolish man,” Renaldo said in a low
tone.

“He’s usually dependable. I’m sure he has a
good reason why he couldn’t make it.”

“I’m sure,” Renaldo said, sounding
unconvinced. “Fortunately, he’s not here, but I am.”

Sabrina ran her tongue along the inside of
her upper lip. “What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means I’d like to take his place.”

He watched the play of emotions across her
face.

“Excuse me?” she said.

Although she feigned ignorance of his
intentions, he didn’t believe it for one minute. If they offered
degrees in reading women’s body language, he’d have a Ph.D. There
was no misunderstanding the flirtatious smiles or sidelong glances
as they’d conversed. If her body burned for his as much as his
burned for her, they could both get the release they craved.

“Are we going to pretend we don’t want the
same thing?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but refrained
from doing so. She swallowed and turned her attention back to her
dish. It had to be cold and unappetizing by now, but she placed
another mushroom into her pretty mouth in an obvious effort to keep
herself busy.

His mind conjured an image of her putting him
in her mouth. The vivid thought caused his muscles to seize, and
for a moment he couldn’t move. When he regained his motor skills,
he knew there could only be one outcome. He desperately wanted this
woman. Tonight.

“I’ve spent the last forty-five minutes
thinking about what I would have to say to make you feel
comfortable enough to leave here with me,” he said.

His eyes lowered to the fast-beating pulse at
the vee of her blouse. His own breathing became irregular, as if
he’d exerted himself in some form of physical exercise.

“Nothing you say will convince me to leave
with you,” she said in a husky undertone. She drained the last of
her second glass of wine and reached for her purse.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.”

“Why?”

“Why?” She laughed, and it sounded uneasy.
“Because something’s wrong with me. I should be offended, or
disgusted, or something. But instead—” Her light brown eyes scanned
his face, and then they darted away again. She got down off the
stool.

He stood, too. “Instead what?” he
prompted.

She shook her head vigorously and grabbed the
blazer from the back of the chair. Automatically, he helped her
into it. Once it was on, she clutched the open edges like a safety
jacket.

“Instead what?” he whispered in her ear. She
smelled good. Not the scent of perfume or lotion. It was just the
scent of a woman. Her natural, sweet fragrance.

“Instead…” Color blossomed in her cheeks.
“Instead…I’m considering it.”

The noise from the bar disappeared; the sound
of silverware hitting plates disappeared. The chatter and laughter
of patrons became nonexistent. All his senses became attuned to the
woman standing before him.

“What do you need?” he asked, because he
didn’t know what else to do. He was accustomed to negotiations, but
right now, a compromise was the furthest thing from his mind. He
wanted her to come with him, and he didn’t care what he had to do
or give up to make it happen. He wanted her to feel comfortable
enough to leave a crowded establishment and go back to his room and
let him have his way with her. “My identification, a fingerprint, a
blood sample? Whatever you want, I will give it.”

****

His persistence turned her on. She liked
persistence in a man—a man who knew what he wanted and pursued
until he captured it.

Perhaps it was the wine, or the loneliness
she felt, or the disappointment about her job. Perhaps it was a
combination of all those things. Whatever it was, it prompted
Sabrina to say, “That won’t be necessary.”

A weight seemed to have been lifted. The
tension left over from the stressful day at work oozed from her
shoulders. Now that she’d made the decision, she actually felt
better.

She swallowed down the last remnants of her
unease. “Where are you staying?”

She saw the flash of hunger in his eyes, and
a spark of desire emerged in her belly.

“The Drake.”

She nodded and reached inside her purse to
cover the tab.

“Allow me.” He pulled out his wallet.

“That won’t be—”

“I insist.”

He called over the bartender and handed him
some bills. He didn’t bother waiting for his change, giving more
than enough to cover both checks and leave a generous tip. He moved
quickly, as if he didn’t want to give her the opportunity to change
her mind.

Not that she would. She figured she probably
should, but what she knew to do and what she did were two separate
things. What she knew to do was turn around, walk away, and embrace
her empty life. Like always.

To hell with it.

She placed her hand in his.

She didn’t want to be alone tonight, so she
followed him out into the night.

The door of the suite clicked shut.

“Would you like a drink?” Renaldo asked
behind her.

“No.” Sabrina’s heart was beating so fast she
almost couldn’t speak.

He came closer in the dark, so close the heat
from his body warmed her back. The drapes opened to the night
outside, and she could see the lights from the other buildings. The
large room was filled with shadowy furnishings—lamps, a desk,
sofas, tables. A door to the left led into what she assumed was the
bedroom.

He rested his hands on her shoulders.
“Relax.”

“Maybe this was a bad idea.” The fierce
beating of her heart indicated she might be in over her head.

He massaged the knot at the top of her spine.
“You still do not trust me. You’re second-guessing yourself.” The
whispered words in her ear made her skin come alive with tiny
pinpricks of heat.

“And you’re not? I could be a thief or a
murderer.”

The circular motion of his thumbs continued
to caress through her clothes, turning her limbs to liquid so that
her purse slid from her shoulder to the carpet.

His arms folded around her and he pulled her
tighter to his body. “I’ll take my chances.”

His mouth drifted up the side of her neck,
delivering little kisses that made her shiver and ache. The soft
pressure of his mouth inflamed her skin, and she almost melted into
a puddle at his feet.

“From the minute I saw you,” he said, his
voice gruff, “I knew.”

“How did you know?” she asked in a husky
whisper.

He turned her in his arms and gently tugged
the tail of her blouse from the waistband of her skirt as he gazed
into her eyes. “The same way you did.”

He took his time undoing her top, the silence
troubled by the sound of her uneven breathing. When he’d released
each button, he kissed the crests of her breasts and pressed his
face to her cleavage, inhaling deeply.

His mouth moved to her neck, and he whispered
in a rasping voice, “This is no mistake.”

Squeezing her breasts together, his thick
thumbs teased her nipples with firm, insistent strokes through the
black lace until she gasped and arched into his hands.

No, this was no mistake. Such delicious
pleasure could not be wrong.

With deft fingers, he undid her skirt, and it
fell quietly onto the carpet. Her blouse followed suit. He caressed
the newly exposed skin of her hips in a pair of lace panties,
warming the flesh and making her ache.

The way she responded seemed to start a fire
in him. He pulled her into the power of his body and lowered his
head to take her mouth in a passionately bruising kiss. Prying her
lips apart with his tongue, he stole her breath and demanded more
in a hungry invasion that left her wanting more.

One hand at the back of her head fumbled with
the clip until he’d loosened it to run his fingers through the
short, spiral strands of her hair. His right hand palmed her
buttocks and forced her to acknowledge his hard erection.

Sabrina wrapped her arms around the wide
trunk of his body, feeling his heart pound against her chest. When
he lifted his head, she looked up at him in amazement.

“I think I’m wearing too many clothes,” he
said.

“We both are.”

They stripped in the near-darkness and tossed
their clothing and shoes aside, unconcerned about where each item
landed.

Renaldo slipped on a condom and then bent his
head to her breasts, sucking her nipples and gently biting them
until she cried out, digging her short nails into his broad
shoulders. He smoothed his hand down her buttocks and between her
thighs, letting his fingers slide through the slickness to test her
readiness.

“Turn around.” He took her by the shoulders
and twisted her to face away from him. Her heart raced, unsure of
what to expect next.

“Bend over,” he said, his voice a dark
rumble.

“Wh-what?” Sabrina cast a glance of alarm
over her shoulder at him.

He pressed his lips to her ear. “Relax. Trust
me. You’re going to love it. Place your hands on the floor.”

One muscular arm curved around her waist, and
he grasped the back of her neck. Easing her forward, he forced her
to bend at the hip. His foot shoved her feet apart, spreading her
legs wider for him. Her breath stuttered in her chest and her body
trembled in the vulnerable position in which he’d placed her. With
her hips elevated against his groin, he found the wet entrance to
her body and pushed in all the way—uttering a low groan—lodging
deep inside of her.

Sabrina’s eyes squeezed shut as she savored
the sensation of his deep penetration. He eased out slowly and then
shoved back in again.

“
Oh
,” she moaned, her legs shaking as
pleasure soared through her, her palms pressing down onto the floor
to help maintain her balance.

Holding her in place, he pulled back and
plunged downward repeatedly, skin slapping against skin with each
thrust.

He muttered in Portuguese. She had no idea
what he said, but it didn’t matter. His beautiful voice made her
sex convulse while he drove into her, stirring the flames of
passion into a frenzied flash-fire that burned hotter than she’d
ever experienced.

This was exactly what she needed. This
intensity. This release.

Inside, she tightened, nearing an internal
explosion. A sob fled her lips. Pressure mounted, and his continued
whispers in his own language urged her closer to the edge.

Then she lost control.

Waves of sensation crashed over her. She
cried out, the room spinning as her body convulsed. He held her
upright against him, his fingers pressing into the flesh of her
hips.

Then he lost control.

She heard the broken groan when he could no
longer hold back.

He pushed in with more urgency, tightening
his grip on her. He pumped faster, grunting, and then, just when
she thought she couldn’t take any more, he began to grind his hips
against her. The coarse hair of his genitals chafed the sensitive
skin of her buttocks as he erupted.

Weakened, Sabrina collapsed to her knees, and
he came down behind her. They remained in that position for a while
with a film of sweat on their skin, their breaths coming short and
hard. His naked flesh warmed hers, and his chest hairs tickled her
back.

He rose to his feet, lifted her into his
arms, and carried her to his bed.

Later, lying comfortably beneath the sheets,
Sabrina turned her face into his neck and inhaled deeply of his
manly scent. Her fingers caressed the silken threads of hair on his
head. She was so comfortable she never wanted to leave the circle
of his arms.

As quickly as the thought came, it
disappeared again, pushed away by common sense. She couldn’t let
good sex cloud her thinking, and what she’d just experienced was
better than good. It was amazing.

“Feeling better now?” Renaldo asked, his
breath brushing her forehead. His fingertips stroked down her
spine, leaving tiny shivers in their wake.

“Mhmm.” Sabrina slid her leg along the length
of his calf. “I’m not tense anymore.”

After a little chuckle, he kissed her
forehead. “Glad to hear it.”

Drifting into sleep, Sabrina wondered what
the hell she’d gotten herself into.

Sabrina hadn’t expected to meet the man of
her dreams a month ago, but life had a way of throwing curve balls.
Never in her wildest dreams as a young girl growing up on the mean
streets of Englewood—on the South Side of Chicago—had she ever
thought she’d be lying in a king bed in a posh suite at The Drake
Hotel.

The enormous room was the size of a small
apartment, with a separate living room, dining room, and bedroom.
Decorated in warm colors, fine linens, and heavy drapes, it had
become her home away from home. Nowadays, she spent more time here
than she did in her own apartment.