Dare to Love (15 page)

R
iley’s first day back at work, she was on edge and not only because she’d have to deal with Ian. When she’d played her answering machine at home, she’d had numerous heavy breathing messages. The caller didn’t say anything, but there was no doubt the messages were deliberate, not mistaken calls and hang-ups. They’d continued after her return, waking her in the middle of the night and early in the morning. As she had an unlisted number, yeah, she was rattled, to say the least.

She passed Angie, Dylan’s secretary, and smiled. “Morning.”

“Good morning. Riley, wait. I have a message for you,” she said.

Riley paused at the other woman’s desk. “I thought my calls went directly to voice mail,” she said.

“Not since your promotion. I’m now your official go-to person.” She grinned and handed her a pink message slip.

“Cool.”

“You’re telling me! I’m fairly new, and Dylan’s my first important boss. Now I have you both.” The young woman smiled.

“Well, thanks. I’ll try not to work you too hard,” she said wryly.

Riley continued on to her office and settled in. She placed her Starbucks cup on the desk and glanced at the message.

You owe me. Dad.

Full-blown shivers took over. Riley hadn’t heard from her father in so many years she’d almost convinced herself he no longer existed. Like a bad dream or memory that surfaced occasionally, she’d banished him to the dark corners of her mind as often as she could. Suddenly, the hang-ups at home made sense.

Her first instinct was to call Alex, but that would only cause an explosion that might not be warranted. She had to think rationally and decide how to handle the man. Not that she wanted to handle him at all. The very thought had her hands shaking uncontrollably.

As for Ian, he’d probably be furious if he knew her own parent was harassing her. He worked himself up enough when he thought about another man even looking at her the wrong way. She still hadn’t told him about her childhood, the fact that her father had abused her mother, or that he’d ever touched her. She rationalized her silence easily. She hated the man and the memories, and given the fact that he hadn’t been in her life for so many years, she’d had no reason to bring him up before. As for these phone calls, she assumed they were probably meant to scare her. A power play of some sort, nothing more.

But her hands still shook, and she hated herself for the weakness. “Breathe,” she reminded herself, pulling air in, forcing air out.

She hadn’t spoken to her father since the day she and Melissa had moved out. The day Alex had nearly choked him to death and threatened him within an inch of his life. He’d been petrified of Alex and his bulk, bulging muscles, and raging fury, and he’d taken Alex’s threat to harm him if he came near Riley again very seriously.

So why was he surfacing now?

Her desk phone rang, and she jumped in her seat. “Oh my God.” She had to calm down. “Hello? Riley Taylor, speaking.”

“Riley, it’s Jeannie from HR. I need you to come sign some forms and confirm a few things about your new position.”

“Of course. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She left the paper on her desk, face down, so she didn’t have to look at the reminder and went on about her day.

A little while later, Riley had a raise she was assured was commensurate with her position, but she’d never made this much money in her life. And she couldn’t help but wonder if Ian was pulling strings again. Another thing to add to their conversation about his meddling, controlling ways, because Riley refused to be under any man’s thumb again, a thought that only served to remind her that Douglas Taylor had resurfaced.

Determined to keep her mind on work while she was here, she pushed her father to the back of her thoughts, and she dug in to the proposal the hotel owners had faxed over this morning, as promised. She met with Dylan, sharing lunch in the conference room as they went through the pros and cons of each hotel in preparation for his meeting with Ian, Olivia, and the general manager. He offered to let her sit in and learn from the exchange of ideas. Once again, Riley realized how much she loved this job and how fortunate she’d been when Ian had taken an interest and handed her the opportunity.

Ian.

As the day drew to a close, she finally let her mind drift to and stay on him. He’d kept his distance, not stopping in to say hello, not instant messaging her. Clearly he’d gotten the point that she was extremely upset with him.

She bit the inside of her cheek, not amused by the irony—she missed him pestering her throughout the day. At this point, she was more than ready to see him.

She approached his office. His secretary had left for the day, so she knocked.

“Come in.”

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, her breath catching at the sight of him after what felt like so long. Shirt unbuttoned, his tan chest peeking through, sleeves rolled up, his muscular forearms all a treat to her deprived senses.

And she couldn’t mistake the relief that flickered in his gaze when he realized she’d come.

“Hi,” she said into the silence.

He rose from his chair. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

She swallowed hard. “Yeah, well, I was upset with you.”

He strode over and pushed the door shut behind her, turning the lock. “Talk to me,” he said.

“Okay. You can’t go around dictating orders to my boss about me. He’ll never see me as someone he can look up to and trust with his accounts if he’s worried about losing his job if he so much as looks at me the wrong way. Or, heaven forbid, touches me!”

“Did he? Touch you?”

“Ian!”

He braced his hands on her forearms and looked into her eyes. “Honestly, I’m kidding. I was out of line making that phone call.”

She blinked, taking in his serious expression in search of signs of dementia. “Say that again?”

“I was out of line. I shouldn’t have called Rhodes.”

“Oh. I…thank you. I didn’t expect that to go so easily.”

He grinned. “Sometimes, I can admit I was wrong.”

“Okay, so while I’m on a roll, about the salary with my new position…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know who gets paid what unless I’ve done the actual hiring.”

She eyed him warily.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s true. Is the salary not enough? Because I can talk to Olivia—”

“No! It’s already a raise from the job I started one week ago. If anything, it’s too much. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t manipulating anything to my benefit.”

An adorable grin lifted his lips. “Finally, you accuse me of something I didn’t do wrong.”

She laughed.

“Because God forbid I give you a raise.”

She rolled her eyes. “I get the point. I do.”

“The salary’s that much more than you were earning?” He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

She nodded.

“Enough for you to move out of your unsafe apartment building?”

“Ian—”

“Consider it a quid pro quo. I’m doing my best to back off and behave for you. You can move into a safe apartment for my peace of mind.”

“And you don’t consider this you manipulating me?”

“I consider this me doing my very best by you.” He spread his hands in front of him, silently asking her to trust him.

“Fine. I’ll consider it. After I do the math. I want to pay off some of my student loans, and with a salary increase, I can start to do that.”

He opened his mouth then immediately snapped it shut.

Whatever he’d been about to say, he’d obviously thought better of it. Which meant he was thinking. About her wants, needs, and feelings.

She grinned.

Without warning, he grasped her around the waist, pulled her toward him, and kissed her. Considering he’d gone against type and given in to what she needed, she forgave him for messing up while she was in Phoenix.

She was happy to be back in his arms and had no problem showing him. She kissed him back, settling her lips against his warm mouth. He stroked with his tongue, and her stomach fluttered in anticipation. Her sex swelled, need building without any care to their location. The desire to connect with him was that strong.

He lifted her, and she hooked her legs behind his waist, holding on as he carried her to his desk, easing her down, disregarding the papers strewn beneath her.

He lifted his head. His heavy-lidded gaze met hers, those deep eyes taking her in.

“I missed you,” she said, threading her fingers through his hair and attempting to pull him back for more deep, lingering kisses.

He didn’t listen. Instead, he looked down, watching as he slid his hands along her bare thighs and up her skirt until his thumbs came into contact with her moist flesh.

She moaned at the intimate touch.

“So fucking sexy,” he said, obviously referring to her barely there thong.

He pushed the skirt around her waist, easing the flimsy material aside and baring her to his hungry gaze. He immediately began to play with her, teasing her feminine folds.

In another lifetime, she’d be embarrassed that her skirt was hiked high, her private parts exposed, but she couldn’t make herself care, not when he was so diligently trying to please her.

He circled her outer lips with his finger, spreading her moisture over her sex, arousing her but never quite reaching the tiny nub that would bring her the most pleasure.

“I need to come.” She bucked against his hand, urging him to move his fingertip closer to her aching center.

He grinned. “You do?”

He slid one finger inside her, still ignoring her clit. But as he pumped in and out, adding a second finger, she felt every erotic stretch and glide. Her nerve endings tingled, her need grew, and she threw her head back, arching into his hand.

“Harder, faster…something!” She yanked at his hair, realizing she could give as good as he did when he drove her this close without offering completion.

He chuckled, his eyes darkening, as he pulled his finger out of her body. Gaze on hers, he licked her juices from his fingers.

She followed the movement, surprised and oddly aroused.

“You know why I call you sweetness, right?” he asked, as he unbuckled his pants.

Throat dry, she shook her head to answer.

“Because you taste so damned sweet,” he said, dropping his slacks to the floor.

His thick erection strained against his stomach, and her sex pulsed with gnawing hunger at the sight.

He grabbed a condom from his desk drawer, jolting her from aroused fog to horrified awareness.

“What the hell?” Just how many women did he take in his office, she wondered, the notion turning her cold.

“I bought them after you took the job,” he said, stroking her cheek with his thumb in a calming gesture that had her turning her face into his hand.

She exhaled a relieved breath.

“Better?” he asked her.

She managed a nod.

“Good. Because I haven’t brought women to my home, and I definitely don’t have them in my office. You seem to be the exception to every damned rule I have.”

Her entire body went lax with the admission.

He stepped forward and slid his cock along her center. The delicious friction had her releasing a sigh of pleasure, and a full shudder wracked her body.

He stepped back, donned the condom, and returned to her, giving her no time to think before he was poised at her entrance and thrust deep.

“Oh God.” She felt him everywhere, and her inner walls clenched tighter around him to keep him in place.

“Baby, you’re so damned tight.”

She moaned, and he slid out then back in, picking up a pace guaranteed to take her up and over quickly.

She leaned back on her arms and braced as he pumped into her, punctuating every thrust into her body with a hot grind of his hips that hit her clit in just the right place. The sensations built, white noise roared in her ears, and her body gripped his, trying to unsuccessfully to hold him in place as he took her soaring.

Without warning, he reached between them and pinched her clit between his fingers. “Come, Riley. Now.”

Her body responded to his command. She screamed and blew apart, pulsating waves of light and sensation taking her over. Her orgasm swept through her, clearly triggering his.

“Oh yeah.” His hips slammed into hers, once, twice, and on the third time, his loud shout echoed in her ears as he came.

Ian’s brain buzzed, overloaded with sensation as awareness returned. Still buried deep inside Riley’s warm body, her pussy clamping tightly around him, he was in heaven and would do anything to keep her in his life.

Especially since his possessive feelings only grew each time she welcomed him inside her slick body. “You okay, sweetness?” He lifted his head and brushed her damp hair off her face.

She forced her beautiful blue eyes open. “That was incredible.”

He laughed. “I was right there with you.” With regret, he eased out of her and went to his private bathroom, returning to see her smooth her skirt down over her sexy legs.

She looked up, a pink flush on her cheeks. “I can’t believe we did it in your office.”

A swell of stupid masculine pride filled him at the reminder. “You can damned well plan to do it here again,” he informed her, in case she was thinking this was a one-shot deal.

“We’ll see.” She raised an eyebrow at his dominant tone then turned to grab her purse.

“Wise guy.” He reached out and smacked her ass.

She spun toward him, lips parted in surprise. But her eyes also dilated, telling him all he needed to know.

“Come home with me tonight,” he said, wanting more time. A quick fuck in his office wasn’t enough. He wanted hours to talk to her, listen to what she had to say, and then devour every inch of her delicious body.

But she shook her head, dispelling his plans. “I don’t want everyone to see us coming to the office together tomorrow and know I’m sleeping with you.”

“I don’t give a damn who knows about us.” This was the first time he’d wanted a relationship, and she was shooting him down.

He was in over his head and wasn’t afraid to admit it. Remembering she needed him to hear her and listen, he forced a mental step back. “Why are you so against us?”