What the Heart Needs (26 page)

“Em,” Hannah laughed.

“No no. Go. I’m sure he’s been waiting none-too-patiently for you. Don’t worry,” she said, taking the coffee mugs. “I am heading out. I wont be hearing your steamy sexing,” she said as she walked down the hall, oblivious or perhaps unconcerned about being overheard. “The beds squeak a lot, you know,” she said, turning in toward the kitchen and Hannah could hear her giggle. Apparently it was something Emily knew firsthand.

Hannah walked up the steps slowly, giddy from girl talk but getting more anxious by the moment. She had barely landed a second knock when the door flew open.

Elliott stood there still in his slacks but had taken off his jacket and his white shirt had three buttons undone. She stood there silent for a second, thinking how odd it was to see him looking disheveled.

“Hey,” she murmured, shifting her feet.

Elliott’s lips twitched up a bit and he reached out, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her against him, nearly making her lose her balance. His lips came down on hers, hard and fast and demanding. She felt herself sigh against his lips as he nudged them open and pushed his tongue inside her mouth to tease hers. His arm tightened around her back and he pulled her in the room, closing and locking the door with his free hand before pushing her toward the bed. They both tumbled toward it, Elliott’s weight knocking the breath out of her.

He pulled himself up, balancing on one arm next to her, looking down and a big, unexpected smile spread across his face. “Hey yourself,” he said, leaning down and nibbling her earlobe. Hannah was acutely aware of her hand on his back, the heat of his skin through his light shirt.

There was something different this time, she realized. Mabye it was because she was more aware. She knew what she was getting into. They had even discussed it. She didn’t feel that nagging restraint in the back of her mind, making her nervous.

When she felt his lips graze down her neck, she arched her back, her chest pressing against his. She could feel his lips smile against her skin, felt emboldened and reached between them, unbuttoning his shirt slowly, her fingers grazing his warm skin underneath. Once unbuttoned, she ran her hands from his collarbone to the waistband of his slacks, marveling at his muscles of his stomach shaking as her finger slid over them.

He sat up, pulling the shirt off his arms before rearranging himself on top of her, more space between them and his one leg between her thighs. “You know,” he said, his voice deep and playful. “I like you braless,” he said, reaching up and taking her nipple between his fingers and squeezing.

Hannah’s body jumped and an unexpected giggle rose up in her throat. He kept the peak between his fingers, twisting and pinching until it stood at a rigid point beneath her t-shirt. He leaned down, taking her shirt and her nipple into his mouth, nipping just to the point of pain before sucking gently. He moved to the other nipple, toying and licking until the material of her t-shirt was wet and cool against her skin.

He pulled himself upward and Hannah followed, expecting him to peel off her t-shirt. Instead, he pushed her back down, reaching between them and unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans. He kneeled off the edge of the bed, grabbing her jeans and panties and pulling them off in one swift, quick motion. Hannah tensed, pulling her thighs together when he didn’t move to lay next to her again, simply looked down at her body, naked from the hips down.

Elliott’s hands landed on either of her knees, stroking them in slow circles for a second before running up her thighs then back down again. Just as she started to relax against the mattress, his hands grabbed her knees and pulled them apart, exposing her sex completely. His hands stayed on her thighs, holding them so she couldn’t pull them self-consciously shut again. He was staring at her slick heat and Hannah felt her heart thrumming quickly.

Then he suddenly let one knee go, his finger circling her clit once, quickly before sliding fully into her tight wetness. A choked moan escaped her lips and Elliott’s eyes shifted to hers, heavy and full of desire as his finger shifted inside her, turning and pushing at the roof of her desire, seeking the small spot that sent her body into a quick spasm.

His name rushed out of her lips and he smiled, crooking his finger over the spot over and over until her whole body was squirming.

Hannah could feel her climax impossibly close, building and making her body tense as tight as an arrow. Her eyes were closed, soft moans escaping her lips. Just when she was about to orgasm, his finger pulled out for a split second before she felt his hard cock shove deeply into her.

Her eyes shot open. She hadn’t even known he’d removed his pants. But there he was, his feet on the floor and his knees on the edge of the bed, naked. Hannah’s eyes roamed over him quickly, the slight outline of muscles on his stomach, the trail of dark hair leading toward his cock. Her eyes followed the line to where his body disappeared into hers and was suddenly acutely aware of every hard inch inside of her. Her muscles clenched around him and he groaned, grabbing her knees and pulling them toward him, spread at the sides of his hips as he pulled out of her and pushed all the way back in, hard.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, looking into his eyes for a second, seeing he was on the edge just as she was. Her hips rose and he groaned her name, pulling out half way before slamming in again. Over and over, his grunting matching her whimpering as she watched his cock moving impossibly quickly in and out of her.

“Hannah,” he groaned loudly, grabbing her knees in a painful grip as he came.

At her name, her legs wrapped around his hips and she rose to meet him thrust for thrust. Four times before her body reached its catalyst and she flew over the edge, his name on her lips as her heat clenched over and over, making her thighs shake and she grabbed blindly for his hand, holding on as her body took her wave for wave through her orgasm.

Once her body stilled, Elliott’s face buried in her neck as he pulled her body upward on the bed toward the pillows before he laid down, half on top of her, his face resting on her breast and his leg between hers.

Her arm went around him, holding him across his shoulders as she rested her chin on his soft hair.

“See,” his voice said, soft, tired. “wasn’t that better than not doing it?”

Hannah half laughed, half snorted. She could get used to outside-of-work Elliott. There was less rigidity, more humor. His edges softened and she could see the person behind all the business.

His body went lax a few minutes later, asleep. Hannah expected to pass out quickly too, like she had the last two times she had been with him. But she stayed awake instead, oddly exhilarated. She kept still, feeling Elliott’s warm breath on her chest, his weight pressing her into the soft mattress.

This was something she hadn’t realized she missed- intimacy, closeness with another person. It sank into her skin, the comfort, the happiness. The fear that she was going to get used to it and lose it.

Because, if she was honest with herself, she knew this wasn’t going to last. There were danger signs everywhere and she was pretending to ignore them.

Elliott was a famous ladies man. He was never known to spend more than a few weeks with the same woman. He certainly wasn’t the type to settle down. And on that subject, there was Dan. Sure it was an unhappy sham of a marriage, but she was a factor for Hannah. Then there was their professional relationship. She didn’t want to risk her career, though a part of her was sure that Elliott would never fire her unless she screwed up on the job.

And, as much as she hated it, she was worried about the fallout. The absolutely inevitable fallout. Would she be prepared for it? Would it take her by surprise and send her into a downward spiral of sadness and anger? Was she going to fall apart when it ended?

Because it was going to end.

Lastly, she cringed, not wanting to think about it, the crazy stalker person.

She never had worked out a plan for that, she realized with a start. The wisest thing would be to give up or sublet her apartment- move somewhere safer with cameras or a doorman. She would get a security system. She would alternate her routes. Whatever it took. Maybe if she actually put some effort into dealing with the situation instead of pretending to ignore it, she could get on top of it and it would stop.

Shivering, she stretched her foot toward the end of the bed where the comforter had gotten bunched up. Grabbing the edge of it between her toes, she pulled it up to her hands and spread it across the two of them, trying not to wake Elliott. But as soon as the cool fabric touched his skin, he shifted his body off of hers and moved to lay on his back with one arm arched over his head on the pillow.

Hannah took a deep breath, not having noticed her shallow breathing due to his weight. She pulled herself into a seated position, her back against the headboard and looking down at Elliott. She liked being able to look at him like that, without him noticing her inspection.

There was a scar at the base of his neck, the skin slightly raised and white. It was as long as her pointer finger and she couldn’t help but wonder how he had gotten it. She reached down, lightly rubbing her fingertip over the skin finding it strangely smooth and cool.

The phone rang, making her jump back like a guilty teenager.

It was a loud, antique phone, the ring loud and shrill and she reached for it automatically so it wouldn’t wake up Elliott.

“Hello,” she whispered into the receiver.

There was a silence on the other end and she almost hung up. Then the voice spoke, an inhuman voice. The kind of voice you hear on a news interview when the witness wants to remain anonymous, dark and computer. Everyone’s voice was masculine and deep.

“Whore,” the voice hissed.

“Who is this?” she hissed back, looking at Elliott to make sure he was still asleep. He hadn’t stirred.

“You should be more worried about your conduct, slut. Stay in your small town. Quit your job. Never see him again. Or you will regret it.”

Click. Dial tone.

Hannah sat there, holding the receiver to her ear for a second, queaziness swirling in her stomach, making her genuinely wonder if she were going to be sick.

“Who was that?” Elliott’s voice asked, groggy.

Hannah jumped, her heart thudding quickly. She placed the receiver back into the cradle before turning to Elliott, biding time.

His eyes were small and puffy like he was struggling to stay awake.

“Front desk.” The lie came quickly, easily. “they were checking to see if I was staying in the room. There was a message from Emily.”

“Hmm,” Elliott hummed in agreement, his eyes closing. His arm reached out, tugging her back to a laying position and then pulling her onto his chest. She felt his fingers in her hair, stroking for a split second before stilling. And she knew he was asleep again.

It was the first time she heard a voice. Granted it was artificially manipulated, but it was a voice. And that was escalation. Whomever it was, they were getting even more angry.

With her head on Elliott’s chest, she laid awake all night, worrying.

Fourteen

She had finally fallen to sleep sometime after the sun started to break through the dark sky. She woke up a few short hours later to the sound of water running. Sitting up groggily, she scrambled for something to put on. Him seeing her nude post-sex was one thing, seeing her stark naked in the cool, harsh light of morning was a complete other. The water shut off suddenly and she grabbed for the first piece of clothing she saw- Elliott’s white dress shirt.

Hannah didn’t often think about her height. Though she knew she was slightly taller than the average woman, it never seemed to matter much. But the shirt cut her just past her hips, unlike how it did in movies, falling sexy to mid-thigh, but not actually showing any ass.

“Hannah,” she heard Elliott say and turned, her hands fumbling with the button between her breasts. He said her name a lot. It never much occurred to her that in everyday situations with friends and family and even coworkers, no one used your name much. She could go the better part of a week without hearing her name on someone else’s lips. Hearing it sounded intimate. Especially the way Elliott said it in his deep voice.

When she turned, his eyebrow quirked up as he followed the line of her body from where her hands had finally pushed the small button through the impossible hole down to her bare legs and back up again. She found herself doing the same to him. He was wrapped in a towel at his waist, clasped dangerously low on his hips. She could see the cuts of his hipbones and had a sudden urge to tear off the towel. His stomach and chest still had beads of water, one or two broke free and slid down beneath the towel as she looked.

Finally meeting his face, she noticed his hair was dripping. And he was smiling. “Like what you see?” he asked in a flirtatious tone.

“Maybe,” she answered, just as teasing and wondered where it had come from. She had never been good at flirting.

“Maybe huh?” he said, stepping closer to her, reaching out with his long hands and grabbing her ass. Finding no panties and nearly growling. Before she realized what he was doing, he pulled the towel off in one swift motion, revealing his manhood, hard and waiting for her. “Is this better?” he asked, his eyes fixed on hers.

Hannah saw the side of his lips turn upward, an amused quirk she noticed he used a lot. She shrugged one shoulder slowly. “Maybe a little,” she said, her voice sounding wholly unimpressed and girly. She tried to keep her grin from turning into a full smile, but slightly uncomfortable with her own boldness, she felt it stretch across her face.

Elliott chuckled. A quick, rumbling sound in his chest as he put an arm around her hips and dragged her against him. Due to the ridiculous length of the shirt on her, she felt his cock push up under the fabric and settle, a hard throbbing mass against her heat.