The Sandstone Affair (An Erotic Romance Novel) (26 page)

“Well, no.” Mark concedes as he reaches out
to hold my hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t do it long ago.”

Jealousy abated.

Valerie turns to leave then comes back to
where Mark and I are standing. I’m afraid she’s going to make some snide remark
about him dating another reporter as if I’m some kind of sloppy second to her.
But, it’s me she addresses.

“People talk all the time about the media and
the things we do to get the story. But you and I both know there’s a hell of a
lot of work that goes into making the cover and none if it gets any press
because it’s not the interesting part. You did anything you’ve had to do. Put
it away and move on. There are more stories ahead that need to be told.”

With that, she turns and steps into Mr.
Clank’s car as he invites her out to dinner.

“Now, there’s an odd couple,” I say to Mark
shaking my head.

“Everyone is an odd couple, when you think
about it,” he muses philosophically. “Look at us, a handsome, well-off, highly
respected businessman dating some ragamuffin jailhouse wreck who actually ran
through a courthouse barefoot.”

He crosses in front of me and opens the
passenger door to his car in a grandiose fashion.

“Care for a ride, M’lady?”

“With thanks, kind sir,” I respond. “But what
I really need is a shower, and some food.”

“I know just the place!” He smiles and gently
closes the door behind me.

~~~

An hour later I’m nestled in the lap of
luxury on Mark’s couch. I’ve showered, and we had some of the best salmon I’ve
ever tasted. He pours me a perfect glass of Riesling and takes me into his
arms. We sit in silence a long time, just enjoying the peace of each other’s
company.

Naturally, it’s me who shatters the quiet.

“What’s going to happen now? With Blake, I
mean. Are we really done?”

“Far from it.” Mark sighs. “Now the real
dirty work begins. Word will get around quickly and I’ll be spending long days
and nights explaining to investors that Sandstone is still a viable venture
firm and it was Blake who ran aground, not the whole ship.”

“That’s not hard to prove,” I add.

“Blake will get bond from someone, even if
Robert won’t do it. You’ll have to give depositions, make court appearances,
and answer a lot of questions before the blessed day they haul him to jail.
Financial crimes don’t create high sentences, but he’ll be away long enough for
me to push him out of Sandstone for good.”

“So, it’s really all about you?” I tease.

“Then there is the question of you.” He
smiles, putting his hand on his chin. “I was so proud of you today, Julia. You
kept a cool head even in a chaotic situation. You allowed Robert to help you,
Val to advise you, Paul to speak for you, and me to defend you. You didn’t have
to do everything yourself and you opened up to all of us showing your love and
gratitude.”

“This is a question?” I ask, basking in his
praise.

“Our deal is done. Your month of submission
is over. I have no more arrangements to make for you. But, I think there still
may be some rough edges that need smoothing. Only now you’ll have to do it
simply because you want to, not because you have to.”

“And if I do?”

“The world of dominance and submission is
deep and wide. There is plenty more to learn, see, and do. I’d say it’s time
for you to move to the next level.”

“I’ve been chastised and punished, taken over
a desk, against a wall, and in a pool. I’ve been tied up, bent over, spanked
red, and stretched in my most intimate places. Frankly, Mark, I have to say the
thought of the ‘next level’ scares the living hell out of me!”

“So are you ready?” He stands holding his
hand out to me. I think for a moment, toss the blanket off and set my wine
down. Trembling I reach out and take his hand.

“Quite.”

He guides me toward the hall containing the
bedrooms and I instinctively turn toward the door of his “playroom”, but his
hand pulls me in another direction. We go down the hall to a final room at the
end. Opening the door, I see it is his bedroom, the one he sleeps in every
night. The one place I’ve been dying to go, but could never manage to get
myself into because I had to wait for him to invite me.

The room is elegant in Mark’s simple,
straightforward style. An antique dresser with one of those men’s watch and
cuff drawers built into the top lines one wall and the closet’s sliding door
takes up most of another, revealing a walk-in roughly the size of my living
room. His sheets and window treatments are a beautiful blend of browns, golds,
and highlights that make the room seem to pop with possibilities and
satisfaction all at the same time.

“I like your decorator,” I say
appreciatively.

“I like the decoration,” Mark replies,
leaning down to kiss me deeply. He opens the robe I borrowed after my shower
and lets it drop to the floor. I stand there naked, open, and unguarded as he
wraps his arms around me. I let myself go as he lifts me and places me on top
of the bed.

I feel this moment’s peaceful pulse and do
nothing but watch as Mark unbuttons his shirt and discards his clothing. This
time it’s he who seems in a hurry to get things done. He joins me on the bed
and holds me in his strong arms.

“You’re so beautiful, Julia,” he says again
and again, like a mantra. “So beautiful, so beautiful, so beautiful.”

My mouth silences him as I turn over to kiss
him. It’s a deep kiss so full of longing and desire it seems our very souls are
flowing between our two bodies and I nearly cry when he pulls his mouth away.
I’m appeased when it leaves me and makes its way to my breasts which he fondles
and nuzzles and licks, his hand finding a path to the wanting slit between my
legs.

Our bodies move together in a supernatural
accord. He shifts, I open. He licks and I rise. He lines himself up in the
entrance of my core and I am wet, waiting and wanting his shaft to push
forward–filling and fulfilling me. Our lovemaking takes on a life of its own
with a heartbeat that accelerates as he slides deeper into my body, the folds
of my flesh gripping and flittering against him. He moves slowly but intently
back and forth creating a beat my body follows willingly and easily.

I wrap my legs around his, pulling Mark
further inside me as my hips surge and follow his thrusts. He continues kissing
and whispering to me as I feel his shaft inside me, throbbing and ready to
release. But he holds on, waiting until he can see by the look in my eyes and
the snap of my hips that I am almost there with him. My hands grip his back and
I am lost in the thrusts that rock my body and soul so steadily. I see myself
on that cliff again, my arms open and with no fear, no push, no thought at all,
I lean into Mark and fly.

I gasp as the deep tremors shake my whole
body. Then the gasp grows deeper and more urgent and I realize it’s his
pleasure moan, with mine, making a unified sound that echoes through the golden
room. I feel his seed buried deep in my body just as his heart becomes attached
to my soul. We cling together riding out the wave of our pleasure until he must
withdraw. He kisses and holds me until we both succumb to the power of the
moment and the exhaustion of the day.

We wake up sometime later, too early to be
morning but too late to be night. I continue kissing his chest and snuggling
against him.

“You know what I need?” I ask seductively.

“Hmmm?” he mumbles, clearly still waking.

“I need some chocolate!” That gets his
attention. He sits up directly and reaches for his cell. Within minutes he has
a bakery on its way with treats, and he is getting ready to put some strong
coffee on.

“We’re not getting all the way up, are we?” I
ask. I was hoping for a nice bedtime snacking session.

“No time like the present! Things to
accomplish in our brave new world,” he says cheerfully.

“Oh my god,” I murmur. “You’re a morning
person.”

I manage to wake up enough to be good company
as we drink our coffee and eat sweets. I don’t know what the future holds for
us, but I sure know last night will stand in memory as one of the best nights
in my life.

“I don’t want to drag up old crap,” I say
tentatively. “But, why do you think Blake started talking about my father
yesterday. His death was a blow to me like none other, yet, I can’t imagine
your brother knowing or caring about that.”

“Blake was trying to dredge up your guilt. He
knows guilt is one of the most powerful ways to get inside someone. If you can
activate the guilt button, people will let you bother, control, or harm them
without defense.”

“But that didn’t work.”

“No, instead of pushing your guilt button, he
just succeeded in pushing my anger button.” Mark laughed.

“Well, I don’t feel guilty about dad. I miss
him every day, but I know he would be really happy with the changes I’ve made
in my life and I know his love is always with me.”

“Good. The less guilt you have in your life,
the less people can get you down.”

I pause for a moment, taking a deep breath.
He’s right, of course. Guilt will kill a relationship faster than jealousy, apathy,
or boredom. I let out a deep sigh that clues Mark in to the fact something big
is coming.

“I do have something I feel guilty about,” I
say slowly, playing with my coffee stirrer and refusing to make eye contact. “I
lied to you, Valerie, and pretty much everyone but Janice.”

“About what?” He puts his coffee down and
frowns in my direction.

“There really is a big story at Lynx I’ve
been hiding. It’s a make or break story and I didn’t tell you about it because
I didn’t trust you and I thought you might be working for Blake or to get the
story for Valerie. If Lynx folded, I was going to use it to start over.”

“Well, I knew that bullshit about a ‘source
list’ was a lie, but I couldn’t figure out what you might be hiding and decided
to let it go. What’s the scoop?”

“I hired a college kid who was going to
intern at Tilden-Jennings. I figured that firm works with every other firm on
Wall Street so I might find a story or two. Bosses tell interns everything in
order to impress them, and I hoped I’d get lucky. Well, I hit the jackpot. By
then end of her semester, my source was given information about stock
colliding, where the firms pretend to be rivals but secretly pick a stock to
dump and battle over it. Smaller, less experienced firms see the big ones fighting
and snap up the inflated stock—”

“I know what stock colliding is,” Mark says.
“And I know it’s illegal. I also know the kinds of firms that get ripped off
are the ones who handle retirement funds and small investors who can’t afford
to lose the money.”

“Anyway, I have names, dates, emails, and
proof that Tilden-Jennings and three of the major firms on the street were
engaged. They brought down a number of college endowments, pension funds, and
new businesses. I’ve got it all. I wrote it at home and kept the payments,
source and research out of the office to protect the source. They must have
seen some messages from me about the big story but other than that I’ve been
super careful.”

“Holy hell, Julia. You’re going to piss off
every power player in New York.”

“That’s not the point, Mark. The point is I
have the story and it is written and ready to run. I’m leading off the next
issue of Lynx with it. I’m going to put us back on the map.”

“You think Blake’s opposition was bad? Julia,
even if Valerie had found that story, she wouldn’t run it. It’s a hornet’s
nest!”

“Valerie wouldn’t run it because most of her
friends are in it!” I counter, getting a bit angry. I thought he’d take my side
but I can see the cutting edge is no place for a well-set businessman who cares
more about the bottom line than a teacher in Iowa losing her retirement.

“Think twice before you do this. Blake was a
spark. This is fire.”

“I told you about it because I felt guilty
keeping the secret, not because I wanted your advice,” I snap, getting off the
stool and heading to the bathroom where I hung my clothes to dry.

“I don’t want to fight with you.” I hear his
footsteps follow behind me.

“Then stop talking.”

I leave without so much as a goodbye kiss. He
offers to drive me home but I tell him I’ll hail a cab. I ask him not to reveal
the story to anyone and he promises he won’t. As I walk through his door, I
hear him say one thing under his breath that chills me to the bone.