Just a Number (39 page)

“You,” she pants.

I place a kiss on the column of her throat and then whisper in her ear, “You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that sweetheart.”

She releases the blanket from her death grip and cups my face, bringing it to hers. Her eyes are wild with abandon, her cheeks rosy with desire, and her desperation for release is evident in the tone of her voice. “Take me. Hard.
Now
.”

I remove my hand from between her legs and push my hips forward, slowly easing my cock into her. Her legs wrap around me, her heels digging into my ass in a failed attempt to speed the process up. I’m not ready for this to be over just yet, and I know that once I’m buried deep inside her warmth, I’ll be fighting the need to come.

“Please,” Amelia pleads beneath me, lifting her head so she can kiss me. “It’s bad enough we couldn’t be together last night.”

The second she presses her lips against mine, there’s no more taking it slow. Her hips meet every one of my thrusts eagerly as she chases her orgasm. She begs for more, her fingers curling and clawing at the skin of my back as my tempo increases. The warmth of her touch washes over me, enveloping me and making my skin tingle, as I revel in her repeated cries of encouragement.

My lower abdomen constricts as my release nears, and when her muscles tighten around my shaft, it’s all over, both of us moaning through our mutual orgasms. I collapse on top of her, trying to rest my weight more to the side to keep from suffocating her, and her fingers dance through the short hairs at the nape of my neck as she sighs.

Her heart beats a steady rhythm, soothing me as the ticklish sensation lulls me to sleep. I don’t even realize I’ve dozed off until Amelia giggles and gently nudges me off of her.

“You’re starting to drool,” she teases, swinging her legs over the bed as I move onto the side I’ve claimed as my own to watch her walk to the washroom. I wipe the side of my mouth, feeling mortified when I realize she was right; I was starting to drool. “I’ll be right back, and then we can curl up and go to sleep.”

When she emerges, she passes her bag and grabs her phone, likely to set her alarm for the morning. She turns it on and climbs back into bed, pulling the covers up under her arms and concealing her chest from me while she finishes with her phone. As she lowers her hands to her lap, her eyes go wide, and she slowly turns to me.

Concerned and confused by her expression, I sit up, but I don’t have to wait long for her to explain.

“My dad texted me,” she says.

“Impressive,” I reply, kissing her shoulder. “Looks like he’s getting the hang of his new phone.”

“Yeah…” Her eyes fall back to the screen, shock clearly reflected in her eyes. “He’s coming to the city tomorrow, and he wants to talk to us…
together
.”

I inhale sharply, unsure how I should take that news. This could either be very good, or very,
very
bad.

28. Afternoon Delight

 “
H
ello…?” Liz says, her voice breaking through the daze I’d apparently stumbled into.

The truth is, ever since I got that text message from my dad last night, I’ve hardly been able to focus on anything else. I’m pretty sure I bombed—or at least barely passed—my Psych exam, and poor Liz has been going on about her birthday plans this weekend. Meanwhile my mind has been everywhere else.

Our last class just let out, so Liz and I are killing time in the library before she drops me off at Owen’s house, where we’d agreed to meet Dad that evening. Owen is going to cook Dad’s favorite—beer-battered fish—and hopefully butter him up a little and avoid a Dad-battered Owen.

“Sorry,” I reply, giving her my best puppy dog eyes and begging for forgiveness. “This thing with my dad’s got me freaking out. He wants to talk to Owen and me tonight, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know you’ve got a lot going on right now…” She looks at me imploringly. “But you’ll be there Friday night, right? At my party? Invite Owen if you want…as long as you think he won’t mind hanging out with a bunch of twenty-somethings.”

I laugh. “I’ll run it by him. And yes, of course I’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Good!” Liz exclaims. “I’m so frickin’ excited about this! I heard this club is
the
place to be. Everyone’s going to be there. Matt’s even making the trip from back home.”

“You guys going to rekindle things?”

“Nah, but if the night offers up the opportunity for stellar sex, then I’m not going to shy away from it.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to,” I say, still not sure what she really sees in him.

Liz rattles off the guest list, and this time I try my hardest to pay attention. I’m particularly pumped when I hear our old friend from high school, Justin, is coming. We didn’t get the opportunity to see him often since, after graduation, he decided to go to school in New York. 

“He’s bringing his new boyfriend,” Liz tells me. “Has he told you anything about him?”

I shake my head. “Nope. The last email I got from him was around Christmas…when my life went ape-shit.” The tension in my body builds again and my hands tremble with nervousness. “I’m so scared about tonight, Liz.”

“No kidding,” she says, her eyebrows pulling together with worry. “You’re wound tighter than a spring. Do you plan to spend some time with Owen before your dad shows up?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Not much, I guess. I was going to show up and help with dinner, and Dad is supposed to show up around seven.”

Liz looks at her watch. “So it’s three now, and when is Owen home?”

“He’s done at the office at five.”

A sly smile slowly spreads across Liz’s face. It always means trouble when she looks at me like that. The last time she got that wicked gleam in her eye, I was picking her up from jail for having sex in a public place with her last boyfriend.

“Perfect.”

I raise my eyebrows. “For…?”

Without saying a word, Liz stands up and grabs my hand. “Come on. We’re going to stop by the mall and then you’re going to go surprise your boyfriend at work.”

Yup. I was right a moment ago; it always means trouble when she looks at me like that.

 “Liz, I’m not sure about this,” I say, standing out on the sidewalk in front of Owen’s office building in a stylish knee-length jacket I’d just picked up at the mall…along with a few other things. The body of it is made of light gray wool while the sleeves are black leather. It buttons up the front and has a leather belt that ties around the waist and leather accents on the pockets. It’s a beautiful coat, and I justified the cost because I plan to wear it often.

The wind picks up, toying with the hem of the jacket and worrying me. When the threat of it exposing what little Liz suggested I wear underneath wanes, I shiver as the chill travels up my thigh.

“Trust me. He’ll love it. Now, get your sexy ass in there and get some!” Liz turns me around and smacks my ass, drawing the attention of several strangers.

Even though I’ve always considered myself pretty outgoing sexually, this is new territory for me. And if it’s new territory for me, I can almost guarantee it will be new territory for Owen. This both excites and terrifies me.

“I’d say thanks, but I’m not sure you deserve it yet,” I quip, opening the door.

“Oh, you’ll thank me, all right.” She sounds confident, and I just shake my head and laugh.

My heart pounds rapidly and my palms sweat as I stand in the elevator. Part of me wishes it would hurry up and get to Owen’s floor, but the other part of me is thankful for every stop it makes along the way. When I finally arrive at my destination, I take a deep, albeit shaky, breath and step off the elevator. It looks busy, and I suddenly second guess this plan.

Before I can turn around, however, Elliot spots me.

“Hey!” he says, rushing over to me with a goofy grin on his face.

Even though my jacket is secured pretty snug around me, I adjust the collar so as not to give anyone an uninvited peek of the little number I just picked up from Victoria’s Secret. “Elliot, hey. It, uh… It looks busy around here. Is this a bad time for a visit?”

He only grins. Something tells me he knows exactly why I’m here, but then I decide I’m just being paranoid. “He’s in his office going over paperwork. I’m sure he’d welcome the distraction.”

“Great. Thanks.”

I walk past him, wave to Owen’s assistant before holding a finger to my lips to tell her I’m here to surprise him, and then push open his door.  His blinds are already drawn for privacy, which bodes well for not drawing any attention to what I’m hoping will happen here.

He’s on the phone and his back is to me, so I slip in and close the door behind me quietly. “I don’t care if he thinks it’s unfair. It was stated in the contract, and if he doesn’t like it, then he has to pay the damn fee like everyone else.” There’s a pause as he turns around. He looks angry, but when he sees me, his expression softens and his mouth spreads into a smile. “Relay my message and tell him I’ll be in contact with him.”

After hanging up the phone, he steps out from behind his desk and approaches me. “I thought we were meeting at my place tonight?” he asks.

His hands ensnare my waist and he leans down to kiss me softly. “Yeah, but then I decided to come and surprise you.”

“Office visits two days in a row,” he muses, bending down and nuzzling my neck. “People are going to start talking.”

My fingers thread into his hair as his lips make contact over and over again with my neck. Every kiss sends a ripple of desire through my body, my skin tingling and my legs shaking.

“You feel tense,” I whisper, pulling my head back and forcing his eyes to mine.

“Today has been one shitstorm after another. I was hoping for an easy day in lieu of Alan’s visit tonight,” he confesses. Then he smiles. “But this…this is a very welcome surprise.”

I bite the outer edge of my bottom lip and smile. “Is it?”

His eyes stray from mine briefly, moving down to my chest, eyebrows furrowing. He lifts a hand, using his index finger to tug the lapel away from my skin a little. “New jacket?” he asks. I nod. His finger slides down the cut of the lapel, the tip brushing the skin of my breast and inviting a fresh wave of lust to envelop me. He pops the first button, giving himself a glimpse of the black and red, lacy bra I’m wearing. “Amelia?”

I push on his chest, forcing him to take a step back and keeping him an arm’s length away before I walk forward, forcing him back toward his chair. He falls into it, looking up at me as I slowly open my jacket. “Want to see what I bought with the rest of that gift card you gave me for Christmas?”

He nods, swallowing thickly.

Reveling in the effect I have on him, I open my jacket and toss it on one of the chairs. His eyes move down my body, drinking in the sight before him. Along with the black and red bra I bought, I got a matching set of panties and a garter belt that currently holds up the sheer black thigh-highs I’m wearing. His eyes move down to my feet to find the red heels he bought me for the masquerade ball, and he exhales a shaky breath.

“Jesus, Amelia.” He reaches down and adjusts himself beneath his pants. He’s hard already, and I hold back a moan when a dull throb settles between my legs.

“You like?”

Speechless, he reaches out for me, but I push his hand away. “Just wait,” I instruct, falling to my knees in front of him, behind the desk and hidden from view. I start to pull his belt free, and he lets me, his eyes wild and excited. I’m just about to undo his pants when Owen stops me.

“What’s wrong? Do you not want…?”

Owen smiles. “Oh,
I want
,” he assures me, reaching for his phone and pushing a button. “Laura, I’m in a very important meeting and am not to be disturbed for anything. Hold all my calls.”