Passion Unleashed (Masquerade Part I) (2 page)

He stroked her hard clit and flicked his finger lightly along its tiny shaft, holding her tighter as she began to shake convulsively. Crying out, she gave herself completely to the ravage of her orgasm, before collapsing against him. Her hard nipples pressed against his chest, which inflamed his desire.

Still hard for her, he lifted her chin so
he could look into her clear
green eyes. But, to his dismay, she looked away from him.

“I’m so –
I
’m ….
,
”
  She felt a calmness through her whole body. Yet, the embarrassment of the unexpected orgasm suddenly overwhelmed her. 

He loosened his grip for a moment and she backed away. His male scent engulfed her senses and for a moment she almost thrust herself against him hopelessly.

“I can’t.” She was shaking her head, still slowly backing away.

Heather pulled her lace thong back in place and adjusted the hem of her gown, so she was able to walk. Still behind the mask, she said to the sexy stranger she’d given herself to, “I’m so sorry.” 

She opened the solid library door, stepped into the hall and was gone, leaving him stunned. His cock was still erect and he felt a wrenching pain inside, still wanting her with all his being.

When Ryan was finally able to move, he pulled on his pants and sat in the padded desk chair. At first, he wasn’t sure what went so wrong.

Then, he reproached himself. He’d come on too strong, too soon. Women fall all over Ryan Spencer Blake. He can have what he wants. He takes what he wants. But she’s different.

The next morning, Ryan sat at his desk, staring at his appointm
ent calendar.  He had a meeting
with his agent and an important luncheon.

He cared about none of it.  He could not escape the vision of the beautiful woman that was in his arms last night.  The light aroma of roses and the touch of her creamy smooth skin haunted his every moment.

The quiet of his downtown office only made it worse. There was nothing to distract him from his thoughts. She would surely drive him crazy.

But he couldn’t call because she didn’t even know who he was. The only consolation was the appointment he’d scheduled for late in the day. Patricia, his trusted personal assistant, had booked it at his request. She had to pull some strings but it was all set.  He just had to make it through the day until then.

Heather mirrored his tone as she sat at her own desk in an office not far away
on Wilshire Blvd
. She hadn’t slept much the night before. After the party, she’d gone straight home, stripped naked and buried herself in her soft bed. But it was no comfort. She remained aroused.

The orgasm she experienced while in his arms only served to excite her.
Her clit
remained hard despite the orgasm. She couldn’t put aside the memory of how erotic he looked standing there, black silk mask still in place, with his penis hard and erect as she disappeared from the room.

She looked over at the young girl just outside her office. Jenna Burke had been her secretary for several years now and they’d become friends. She was glad for that today because she didn’t have to put on pretenses.

“Jenna,” she called. The strawberry blond ponytail swished when Jenna swiveled her chair and bounced up to see what Heather required.

The last thing Heather needed today was a new client. She could barely focus on work at all.

“What’s this appointment with a new client downtown? I’m full up. Doing commissioned work is very personal. You know it takes time for each piece. I thought I made it clear that I couldn’t take on more paintings for at least a month.”

“Yes, I‘m aware of that
but Monica still calls the shots around here. I told her you were busy. She says this client can’t wait. And he’s very VIP.” Jenna’s cheerfulness almost rubbed off on Heather, except she was still agitated over this new development.

“They are all VIP.”

Jenna star
ed at Heather for a moment. “Something’s wrong. What is it?”

Heather blushed. “You won’t believe what I did last night. I don’t believe it myself.”

Jenna waited not blinking. But unprepared for what was to come.

“Sit down, Jenna. I need to talk. Please shut the door.”

It didn’t seem like Jenna had moved a muscle through the whole recounting of last night’s event. It was quite a romantic tale, even with some of the more sexual details omitted. She looked at Heather’s pained expression and wasn’t sure if she was as distraught as she described. Or, just in love.

Sadly, that’s the last thing Heather would want to hear. Jenna hadn’t worked for her this long without knowing when to keep her mouth shut.

Heather ended the erotic tale with, “I don’t even know his name
.”

“I could find out,” Jenna offered.
“
After all, how many men look like you describe and were wearing a black silk mask at last night’s party?”

“
Don’t you dare say a wor
d about
it.
I’ll die of embarrassment if
anyone finds out
. The last thing I want is for him to know I’m asking about him.”

“Whatever you say
,
”
Jenna shrugged.

“And don’t give me that look.
”
Heather rolled her eyes.

Jenna decided to say what she really thought. Heather was headstrong but sooner or later she had to listen to reason.

“Heather, we’re friends. I wouldn’t do anything to embarrass you. I just want you to be happy again. Just because you had your heart broken, doesn’t mean you won’t find love again. Really, it won’t do any harm to have a look at the guest list from last night. I could get it from Monica.”

“No
d
efinitely not!
”

Jenna shook her head and walked slowly from the room. “Okay then, that envelope on your desk includes all the details including the address. It’s confirmed for this afternoon.”

Heather briefly considered calling Monica and telling her she couldn’t make it. But Monica Walker managed several commissioned artists. She had all the right connections and wasn’t someone easy to say “No” to.  There was no choice, she’d have to go.

Heather sl
id into the backseat of the Mercede
s
. She needed to relax, so decided to take the company transportation. It
was unseemly to arrive to a client
’s office driving your own car. Monica made sure that a limo was available for any Walker’s Private Painting appointments. Monica Walker knew the value of appearances, if anyone did.

Heather settled into the plush leather seat. It was a beautiful time of year in Los Angeles. The clear blue skies and pleasantly cool temperature of the April afternoon boosted her morale.

The address was printed on the outside of the envelope, a well known downtown office building, so the driver would have no trouble getting her there. The short drive would be just enough time for Heather to look at the details of the project.

She opened the square envelope and extracted the contents. On top was a color photo of the client. Monica always stressed that knowing the client was key to delivering the perfect painting. Heather picked up the photo to look more closely.

Her heart skipped a beat. The gorgeous male face l
ooking back at her was
enough to take anyone’s breath away. And yet, there was something else.

That strong jaw, those male lips with a definite cupid’s bow were all too familiar. And the thick, sexy eyebrows followed the roun
d shape of those piercing
gray-green eyes.

Oh god! It was him. Even without the black silk mask, she couldn’t mistake him. The butterflies in her stomach and her pounding heart told her she was in trouble. Breathe Heather, breathe, she told herself.

She tried to think calmly, but it was useless. She was going in to meet the new client that she already knew intimately. Worse yet, she’d have to pretend she didn’t know he was the man from the party last night.

Possibly, she could get through this meeting without being discovered. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to recognize her from the night before. She looked entirely different today. No red lipstick, just a nice mauve to go with her
Ann Taylor t
weed jacket
. And she had her hair up today. Yes, a totally different look. She reassured herself that he wouldn’t be able to tell. But she wasn’t entirely convinced.

She almost forgot to look at the rest of the details. It’s important to know how the client answers the initial questionnaire and understand what they have in mind.

Across the top of the form were the words Ryan Spencer Blake, confirming what she already knew. She laid her head back against the soft seat and closed her eyes. Maybe if she kept them closed, this would all go away.

The most-loved male star on the big screen has commissioned a painting and asked for her to be the artist.
Great, just great.
Under other circumstances, she would have been thrilled.

These were not normal circumstances. And there was no way
out. As she’d so recently learned,
you don’t refuse Ryan Blake. Plus, he can pay plenty for the painting he wants. In fact, he could pay any price. That fact struck her with impact. Ryan Blake gets what he wants and last night, he wanted her.

She stuffed the rest of the pages back in the envelope. She couldn’t bear to look at them. It’s standard protocol to be familiar with the client’s request before the meeting, but there was nothing about this meeting was protocol.

Ryan was much more comfortable in his
Armani
jeans than he was in the designer suit last night. All the women swooned over his muscled thighs in the tight jeans. But, he just wore what he liked. Being a star did have privileges and wearing what you like is one of them.

He did compromise by wearing
his lambskin leather blazer over a
gray
,
fitted T-shirt. He thought of it as professionally casual. Maybe he could start a new trend.

He turned to look out the window of his office. He was on the top floor, so the view of downtown was impressive.

He heard a soft knock at the door and turned to press a button on his desk to allow entry. Patricia opened the door enough to step inside and announced, “Your 3 o’clock appointment is here, sir.”

Ryan felt
warmth radiate through his body and noticed the beating of his heart. Patricia continued to stand in the doorway.

“Sure, show her in.”

There was that aroma of roses growing in the sun. The scent was as real as if he were holding her in his arms.

“Mr. Blake, this is Heather Ann Lawson.” Heather stepped into the room and up to the polished desk as gracefully as she could muster.

Patricia handed Ryan a glossy
,
gold-embossed business card and promptly turned and left the room. He vaguely heard the cl
ic
k of the heavy door
,
locking after
it closed behind her.

Heather
gave a slightly
embarrassed smile and placed the
noteb
ook she carried on
the
edge of the
desk. She had determined to be professional, nice but professional, to get through this visit.

Ryan looked directly at her and she
leaned
forward, offering
her right hand.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Blake.”

The hunk of a man, now in washed jeans that fit him a little too perfec
tly, came
around
the desk
to greet her
. As he came near
er
, Heather’s pulse speeded up, completely out of her control.

He seemed to stand there endlessly patient and
Heather hoped she wouldn’t pass out
. She could smell the utter maleness of him, pheromones even his sexy cologne couldn’t fully mask. She had the urge to have him pull her into his arms and continue where they left off last night.

Noticing how uncomfortable she was, Ryan had a gleam in his eye. He politely took the hand she
’d
offered and held it briefly. “Please, Ms. Lawson, have a seat.”
He returned
to the other side of the desk and removed his black blazer, which he hung over the back of the chair.

He spoke the usual pleasantries and offered coffee or water, if she’d like. Heather didn’t really hear anything. She was just glad to be sitting before she fainted, for real.
He looked
chiseled in the tight
T-shirt that stretched across his chest and biceps in the most seductive way.