Erotic Encounters (17 page)

The tingle between her legs had turned to a throbbing need. Her pulse raced and her heart pounded. “Then I guess we’ll need to make a slight change in our plans.”

Words were lost, clothes fell away. The image of the caveman room and what the after dinner hours would bring quickly heated up the mood. Two hungry mouths each with tongues twining together in a seductive ritual. Her hips bucking frantically against his hand as he manipulated her swollen clit. Her hand working his shaft with tantalizing strokes. Neither held back, each pushing for the ecstasy that built to a fever pitch.

She shoved him back onto the couch and climbed on top, her throbbing pussy hovering over his mouth as she wrapped her lips around his pulsing cock. He flicked his tongue against her engorged clit, then sucked it into his mouth. Each of them had been so close to the edge that torrid orgasmic waves came quickly. It took several minutes before their breathing returned to normal.

Jonathon leaned back in the corner of the couch, Trish cradled in his arms. “I hate to disturb this moment, Miss Andrews, but I think we need to get back to work. I have several phone calls to make.”

“Of course, Mr. Rutledge. And I have that report to type and distribute to the department managers.”

“Well, then…” He flashed a sexy grin. “Until tonight, Miss Andrews? Dinner followed by dessert?”

“Yes.” She returned his smile. “Until tonight, Mr. Rutledge.”

Steamy Encounter

Chapter One

Afton Pendleton stared out the large oval windows set in the oak double door entrance to the lodge. The last five days had been pure hell and now this—the perfect capper to a miserable week.

The local television newscast referred to the non-stop snowfall that had started night before last as the worst storm in the last fifty years. She slowly shook her head as she emitted a sigh of resignation. Not a thing she could do about it. The local airport closed yesterday afternoon with the snow coming down faster than it could be cleared.

She had busted her butt, making sure everything was in order and ready for the ski resort’s grand opening party. As the event planner, a million details had fallen on her shoulders. It was bad enough the resort’s owner, Gage Brennan, had made it nearly impossible to do her job from the moment he arrived at the resort. And now it looked as if all her efforts had been for nothing.

The remaining workers had gone home yesterday evening before the snow shut down the entire city. Unlike Afton, most of them were local residents. She had ended up stranded in a luxury ski lodge with Gage Brennan, just the two of them, for who knew how long.

Another ripple of anxiety assaulted her senses. Every verbal exchange with Gage had turned into an argument except for those occasions when she gave in to avoid the inevitable disagreement. And they disagreed about almost everything.

His company had hired her and everything had been running smoothly until five days ago when he arrived in town, unexpected and unannounced. She closed her eyes and visualized the handsome man who had been making her life miserable. He looked to be in his late thirties, much younger than she had assumed—tall, with an athletic build and dark hair. There was no denying his physical appeal and sexual magnetism, in spite of his arrogant attitude.

A tingle of excitement swept through her body, confirming how long it had been since she had sex, at least the
scrape me off the ceiling and fuck me again
type of sex that screamed out for more.

“It doesn’t look like it’s ever going to stop.”

A gasp escaped her throat as she whirled around and found herself staring into the bottomless depths of Gage Brennan’s deep blue eyes.

“Oh…Gage. You startled me. I didn’t hear you come into the lobby.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up behind you. It’s all this damned snow. It muffles sound, even inside a building.” He stared out the window for a moment. “The way things look now it could be days before this stops and people can get around enough for the ski slopes to open.”

He flashed what she had come to appreciate as the sexiest smile she had ever seen. In fact, it was that very smile that resulted in her letting him have his way more often than she should have when they disagreed on some facet of the grand opening party. They had been snowed in together since the previous afternoon, and for the entire time she had been fantasizing about him being the one to give her that
scrape me off the ceiling
orgasm she was so in need of. She had even dreamed about it last night.

And for the entire time he had been the perfect gentleman. It was almost as if the circumstances of just the two of them being snowed in at the lodge had put him on his best behavior. He had been overly polite, courteous and so very charming. He had even gone to the lodge’s kitchen and prepared dinner for them. Definitely not the same man who had been giving her nothing but grief.

“Well, I guess things could be worse.” She tried to put an upbeat sound to her voice. “We have plenty of food and the electricity is still on.” She walked across the lobby toward the large fireplace. “And we have lots of firewood in case the power lines go down and we end up without a furnace.”

“I’ve turned the heat way down for most of the lodge. No sense in heating an empty building. The utilities in this part of town are underground, but that doesn’t mean the power lines servicing this area couldn’t go down. Fortunately, we have generator power as back up. That will be enough to keep the necessities going, such as the kitchen refrigerators and freezers along with the inside emergency lights and outside security lights.”

“And there’s always those marvelous natural hot springs that feed directly into the pond. Fresh powder on the ski slopes during the day and the hot springs to get the kinks out of the muscles at night. Isn’t that what your advertising claims?” The words felt forced, as if she were trying too hard to think of something to say to keep the conversation going.

He crossed the lobby to where she stood in front of the fireplace. “I was just thinking about that. Even though I should take advantage of having all this time to catch up on some paper work, the idea of using the hot springs without anyone else around is very appealing. It was those hot springs that were responsible for me deciding to build this ski resort. It was the one thing that no other resort around here could offer.”

Gage moved even closer until their bodies almost touched. He readily admitted that they had certainly engaged in more than their share of disagreements and almost all of them had been instigated by him. There was his vision of how he wanted the grand opening to be, then there was her acknowledged expertise as an event planner. But by no means had all the sparks been irritation, annoyance or anger.

He didn’t know about her, but for his part, a lot of those sparks were a lustful desire to be naked in the steamy hot springs with this incredible woman’s body rubbing up next to his. Her short red hair and green eyes had immediately captured his attention the moment he met her. She looked to be in her early thirties and didn’t wear a wedding ring, not even an engagement ring. That made her available as far as he was concerned.

His plan had been to hit on her after the party when their work relationship had concluded. But also at a time when she was free to leave if she so desired, rather than needing to stay in what she might consider an awkward atmosphere in order to finish her job.

Then the snowstorm hit, and he didn’t know what to do. They were stuck together, just the two of them. She had no means of leaving, regardless of how badly she might want to. He felt decidedly uncomfortable with the idea of pressing that kind of an advantage, yet her physical proximity drove him crazy. Last night, alone in his bed in the owner’s suite and knowing she was in her room on the second floor, he couldn’t think about anything but her.

Just the thought of having his cock buried inside her had resulted in a very hard erection. He wanted to know the taste of her delicious mouth, the texture of her creamy skin and the moist heat of her pussy. But the situation was a tricky line, and he wasn’t sure exactly how to navigate, considering their current circumstances.

He placed his fingertips beneath her chin and lifted until they had eye contact. He saw intelligence, curiosity and a sensuality that made his cock twitch and nearly knocked his socks off. He didn’t see any anxiety or fear. His intention had been to kiss her, but caution prevailed. “Tell me about yourself. I don’t really know anything about you other than you’re an event planner and you’re from Los Angeles.”

The physical contact sent Afton’s pulse racing and her heart pounding. The two of them may have been at odds over the grand opening party, but at that moment, she wanted to know him much better, intimately know all of him. Her pussy tingled. The dampness spread to her panties. She wanted that
scrape me off the ceiling
type of hot sex he exuded.

She couldn’t stop the slightly husky quality that surrounded her words. “What would you like to know?”

His warm breath whispered across her cheek. “Everything.”

For a moment, it seemed as if he had intended to kiss her, but then he apparently changed his mind. Relief or disappointment? She wasn’t sure which one she felt.

Granted, the circumstances surrounding them were unusual. They could even be called awkward. But if he was even half as turned on as she was…well, it might be a few days before they could get out or anyone else could get in. A crackling fire in the fireplace, a bottle of champagne, the steamy waters of the hot springs and a building full of bedrooms. Could there be a more perfect set up for seduction?

A more perfect setting for a steamy encounter?

Her words were barely above a whisper. “I’m thirty-three years old, divorced a year ago from a controlling man who didn’t think I needed an identity other than being his wife.” It took a moment for her to realize exactly what she had said. What she didn’t know was
why
she had said it.

“Ah ha…that explains a lot.”

Her body stiffened. The sensual blanket covering her had been ripped away in the blink of an eye. She took a quick step backward to put some distance between her and the mesmerizing aura that emanated from him. “And just exactly what is that supposed to mean?”

Once again the sparks of conflict flew between them. “I don’t think it
meant
anything. It was merely an observation. You’ve been resistant to even the slightest suggestion—”

“Suggestion?” The shock of his words jolted through her. Her anger flared. “You weren’t making suggestions. You were demanding impulsive changes to carefully constructed plans based on nothing more than your whim. Days of hard work down the tubes just because you like the color green better than blue—”

His mouth came down hard on hers, not only stilling her words but also driving the thoughts out of her mind. He wrapped her in his embrace, holding her tightly to him. She felt the heat of his passion, an intensity that singed every corner of her reality.

She had been on the receiving end of her share of hot kisses, but nothing like this. It was almost as if her arms had a will of their own as they encircled his neck. She returned his kiss. Her entire being trembled with excitement. Never had anyone so thoroughly grabbed her senses with only a kiss. Her pulse raced. Desire quivered inside her pussy.

The sexiest smile she had ever seen had not been misleading. It belonged to the sexiest man she had ever encountered, a man who had her mind swirling in a cloud of confusion and her body vibrantly alive with both longing and need.

Without warning, he broke off the kiss. He placed his hands on her shoulders and stepped back at arm’s length. His gaze almost burned into her as if he were searching for some hidden answer to an even deeper question.

“Before this goes any farther, we need to get something straight.” His voice carried a husky quality, and a hint of uncertainty surrounded his words. “We have a very unusual situation here. Neither one of us has the availability of turning around and walking out the door, getting in a car and driving away. We are both confined to this building until the storm lifts enough to get the roads open. The temptation goes without saying.”

He paused as if trying to collect his thoughts. “I think I’ve already made my desires known. But I don’t want the circumstances to dictate your actions. I have one very definite rule that I never break. Both people agree and want the same thing or it doesn’t happen. And that goes double for now. If you feel in any way that you’re being coerced or are uncomfortable all you have to do is say so and that will be the end of it. It’s your call.”

She tried to collect her thoughts. Until he broke off the kiss, she had been totally mesmerized and ready to go along with anything he wanted. But now that he had given her the opportunity to think, she said the first thought that had come into her mind.

“I admire your directness and appreciate you not trying to press an advantage that could make things very awkward. You’re right. This is an extremely unusual situation. Maybe the thing to do is take it a little slower. We’ve been at odds for five days and you’ve been behaving like an arrogant ass, but since this storm hit you’ve been the epitome of politeness and charm. I think I’d like an opportunity to meet the person who must be somewhere between those two extremes.”

“That’s very level-headed, very logical.” He flashed another devastatingly sexy smile. “It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, but it’s certainly something I can accept. So, when you think you know that person who lives between those extremes well enough, let me know. Until then…” His gaze delved into the depths of her eyes. “Well…I can take no for an answer, but I can’t make any promises about being able to stay one hundred percent on my good behavior.”

“Fair enough. I’ve been warned.” She had never participated in a more bizarre exchange. On one hand, it was the most honest and straight forward conversation about having sex she had ever been involved in. But on the other hand, it almost seemed impersonal, too matter-of-fact. Mechanical rather than physical or emotional. She believed what he told her, if she said no, he would respect it. She also knew her pussy throbbed from the all-too-brief kiss that curled her toes and generated enough heat to melt the snow outside the door.