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Authors: Emma Shortt

Tags: #romance, #erotic, #seduction, #alpha

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BOOK: Seven Day Seduction
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William was dressed in his usual shirt and
pants. He looked smart and endearing…but nothing like Jude. Though
it was so wrong of her Louise couldn’t help but compare the two of
them in her mind—something that she seemed able to do now, maybe
because the decision was made?

Where William was smart and tailored, Jude
was all rough edges and masculinity. She still had his sweater, it
was in her bedroom, under her pillow, and pathetic though it might
be, Louise had held it in her arms as she fell asleep last night.
It smelled of him, all musk and testosterone.

She’d never once thought of sleeping with a
piece of William’s clothing.

“Hi, Louise,” William said.

She stood back to allow him to enter, and
felt her heart squeeze as he ruffled her hair.

“I have good news,” he said.

Louise followed him into the living room,
twisting her hands as she did so. “I have some news too,” she said
softly.

“Me first,” William said. He sat down on the
couch and patted the spot next to him. Louise swallowed nervously
and lowered herself. They were right next to one another, not
really any space between, but her heart did not thud like it did
when she was in close proximity to Jude. Her stomach did not flip,
and her breath did not catch in her throat.

“The interview went very well,” he said.
“They’ve offered me a position!”

“A position?” Louise asked.

William nodded. “Starting at the end of the
month. The salary is twice what I earn now, and they’re even
offering a relocation package.”

Confusion flooded her and Louise stumbled
over her words. “The job…the interview…it’s in Texas?”

“It is,” William confirmed. “I know we
thought it was going to be closer to home, at one of their
satellite offices, but they want me at head office.”

“That’s…” She breathed out slowly. “That’s
really good news.”

He grinned. “We need to start packing. The
month is going to go so quickly.”

We

It was time. Louise clenched and unclenched
her fists, tucked her hair behind her ear, and shifted on her
seat—trying to find the right words. In the end there were none, so
she simply reached forward and lifted the jeweler’s box.

“I’m not going to come with you,
William.”

He started, his eyes going from the box and
then to her. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I really
am.”

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Is it
because you don’t want to move? Louise, neither of us has any
family here, and we’ll make new friends. This is a wonderful
opportunity, who knows how long PSO is going to manage to stay
afloat. We have a real chance here.”

“I know,” Louise said. “And it is a great
opportunity for you, just not for me.”


Then we’ll stay
here.”

Her heart squeezed. Louise shook her head
and met his eyes. She didn’t want to, would rather have kept them
lowered, but this was William, and she cared for him. None of this
was his fault. He had been nothing but good to her for all the
months they’d spent together. He deserved a proper explanation.

“I don’t think marriage is the right thing
to do anymore,” she said slowly. “Not for either of us.”

He shook his head, confusion in his gaze.
“But, Louise, I don’t understand, where has this come from?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot this week,” she
said. “About our relationship.” She took a deep breath. “I want to
ask you something, William, and I want you to be honest with
me.”

“Okay.”

“Why have you been happy to wait for us to
have sex?”

He frowned. Silence settled between them for
a moment before he spoke. “Is that was this is about?”

“It’s part of it,” Louise admitted.

“I simply thought it would be more
sensible,” he said carefully. “That it would make it special.”

“But don’t you want me now?” she asked.
“Don’t you think about it? About us together?”

“Of course I want you,” he said. “If this is
the problem then we can fix it right now.”

He reached out and took her hand, and then
gently, tentatively, leaned in to kiss her. She’d kissed him many
times. They might not have made love, but they kissed and cuddled,
heavy petted. As they had been all those times before, William’s
lips were soft on hers.

Undemanding.

He moved gently, as if
trying not to break her. There was nothing at all wrong with the
kiss, it even felt vaguely pleasant, and when Louise considered it
all by itself it was fine. But she had a comparison now, and knew
that it was
not
fine. It was all wrong.

She pulled back. “I can’t do this, William.
I am so sorry.”

“I don’t understand,” he said.

“You’re marrying me because
it’s easy,” she said softly. “Because we rub along well together,
and we have the same interests. But there’s no passion between us,
no real spark. If there was we wouldn’t have
both
been happy to wait.”

He frowned. “Sparks are overrated, Louise.
They fade as quickly as they come. It’s far better to be with
someone you care about, someone who’ll be there for you once all
the passion has faded.”

“I know,” she agreed. “It is more
sensible…but, William, I want both. I want the passion and the
caring.”

“And you’re not going to get it with me,” he
sighed.

“No.”

He leaned back and gave her a rueful smile.
“I care about you deeply.”

“And I you.”

“We would have been happy together.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “Happy and settled.”

He laughed, Louise could hear the hurt
behind it, and felt herself ache in response. She wished she could
have avoided causing him pain, though part of her suspected the
hurt would not last long. Not once he was in his new job, meeting
new people. Maybe he would even find someone who made him burn the
way Jude made her.

“I’ll miss you,” he said. “Can we stay in
contact?”

“Of course we can,” she replied. “I will
always care about you. Always think fondly of you.”

He let out a sigh and picked up the ring
box. “But that’s not enough anymore.”

She thought of Jude. Of his brooding
presence, his hard masculinity. “No,” she whispered. “It’s
not.”

Day Five

“Did you do it?” Jude demanded the moment
Louise walked into his office. The question had been burning him
from the moment he’d woken up. He’d hurried into the office, pacing
back and forth, trying to work on a project, and all the while
wondering where Louise was, how she felt, what she’d done.

She halted in front of him and he was
immensely pleased to note that she was wearing one of her pencil
skirts again. It was the one she’d worn on the first day, the grey
one. It stretched over her hips, outlining them perfectly. More
than that it was a statement. A statement of intent. At least he
hoped it was.

“Louise,” he prompted.

She bit down on her lip and lifted her eyes
to him. What he saw there made his heart give a funny little
stutter. He jumped out of his chair, and moved around the desk so
that he was next to her. “What’s wrong? What happened? Did he hurt
you? I’ll kill him.”

She shook her head and leaned against him.
Jude wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a hug.
He could feel the tension in her curvy little body, the fine
tremble in her limbs.

“Tell me what happened,” he demanded.

“It was…unpleasant,” she said. “William was
hurt.”

“Of course he was,” Jude agreed. “Losing you
would hurt any man.”

“I feel so bad,” she whispered. “I’m an
awful person.”

Jude rested his cheek on her head and rubbed
her back in a soothing motion. “You’re not an awful person. No one
likes ending a relationship, there’s never anything pleasant about
it. But it had to be done, we both know that.” He paused for a
moment before saying the next words, his heart racing. “You’re not
having second thoughts?”

“No,” she said, flooding his body with
relief. “I’m not. I just don’t feel very good right now.”

“I’ll make it better,” Jude promised. “I
want you to be happy. I want to make you happy.”

“Why?” she asked, leaning back to look at
him.

Jude shrugged. “I don’t know. I wish I did.
But making you smile is quickly becoming one of my most important
daily tasks.”


Then…you’re happy?” she
asked. “Happy that I did this. You’re not having second thoughts
now it’s actually happened? Now you’ve won the chase?”

Jude grinned and planted a kiss on her
forehead. “The chase isn’t complete yet, my little siren. We have
such a long way to go, and it all starts tonight.”

“Tonight?”

He nodded. “You’ll be finishing at five, and
you’ll be coming home with me. And Louise, believe me when I say,
that by six you won’t be feeling bad any longer.”

***

Louise moved her coffee mug out of the way
of her laptop, and shut it down. It was the fifth one Jude had
brought her today. Coffee, candy bars, dragging her out for lunch.
His mood was so different to any she’d seen him in before. He
smiled a lot, teased her, was quick to take her hand and give it a
squeeze.

Over lunch he’d questioned her about every
single aspect of her life, answering any questions she had in
return. She learned all about his family, his interest, his
hobbies. He was funny and charming, and he made her ache in so many
ways.

She wanted him so much, and yet she was so
nervous. Would she live up to expectations? Would he like her body
as much when he saw it completely bare?

Would he still want her once he had her?

Oh, Louise wasn’t kidding herself. She knew
that Jude did not have a long term relationship in mind. Why would
he? He was rich, successful, ridiculously good looking. Probably he
wouldn’t settle down for many years. But would once be enough for
him? Was it all about the chase? Would she find herself alone this
time tomorrow? No fiancé, no lover, no nothing?

She did not know.

And yet, still she was willing to take the
plunge. More than willing, Louise was eager. There was no way she
couldn’t. It was if that path had been decided the moment she’d
jumped across the death strip.

“Louise?”

She looked up to see Jude in front of her.
He was dressed in jeans and a tee. His big body radiating tension.
Louise swallowed down her nerves and closed her laptop.

“I’m ready.”

He held out a hand and she flushed as
several members of staff grinned at her. They all knew what was
going on. Jude had been less than subtle in his actions. But none
of them had, in any way, indicated that they disapproved. In fact,
Ginny and Marianne had seemed positively encouraging. They hadn’t
said anything particular, but Louise felt like they were egging her
on.

She slung her satchel over her shoulder.
Jude reached out and took her briefcase, then her hand. Louise
tried to tug it away, embarrassment shivering down her spine, but
Jude simply smiled.

“Too late, princess,” he whispered. “They
all know.”

She closed her eyes and nodded, taking his
hand. The action seemed almost like it had more meaning than it
probably did. Like she was giving the last bit of resistance
away.

“The things I am going to do,” he added.
“Christ…let’s go.”

***

Jude took Louise to his apartment. It
overlooked the bay, was in a beautiful spot, and he was
unbelievably excited to have her there. He’d imagined her in his
space so many times over the last week. Thought about her padding
barefoot around his kitchen, lying supine on his wide couches,
showering in his wet room.

The reality more than lived up to his
fantasies. The moment he had her inside the tension—tension he
hadn’t even known was still there—left his body, and Jude breathed
a sigh of deep relief.

“You’re here,” he
said.
Stating the fucking
obvious
. Maybe he was more nervous than he
realized?

“Yes,” she whispered. She placed her satchel
on the hallway table, and smoothed her hair back.

“It feels like I’ve waited forever for
you.”

“Five days,” she said.

Jude nodded. “Five days too long.”

He’d planned to go slow. To feed her and woo
her, but now that she was in his home, her beautiful face so close
to his, Jude knew that going slow was not an option. He pulled her
against him, glorying in her little squeak of shock, and kissed
her.

It was fast, furious, demanding.

Louise responded in exactly the right way.
She stretched on to her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his
neck. He reached down and cupped her ass, squeezing the plump
globes, loving the feel of them.

A moment later and Jude lifted her up into
his arms. Something tore.

Louise wrenched her lips from him. “My
skirt!”

“I’ll replace it,” he said. “Stay
still.”

He bent forward and found the tear. It ran
from the bottom up the side. Jude grinned, his cock aching, and
took each bit of the fluttering material. The noise of the fabric
ripping was stark, heavy with meaning. He straightened and found
the zipper, pulled it down, and then watched, in a sort of awe—as
her skirt slithered to the floor.

She wore black panties and
stockings.
Fuck!


If I’d known these were
underneath your skirt,” he groaned, “you’d have been fucked over my
desk the first day.”

She flushed. “I don’t usually….” She waved a
hand at the stockings. “I just thought that today I should.”

“To please me?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Satisfaction ran through
him, and Jude hurried to undo the buttons of her shirt. A moment
later and it too joined the skirt on the floor. Louise stood before
him in nothing but her lacy, black underwear. She was every bit as
beautiful as he imagined her to be. Soft tits, curvy hips.
Everything was perfect.
Almost.

BOOK: Seven Day Seduction
2.43Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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