CHAPTER NINE

SECONDS AFTER ENTERING her bedroom, Riley lowered the blinds. She placed the crystal on her bed and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. After moving to the stand on the other side of the bed she turned on the second lamp, and the room was cast in a warm glow.

Chaz stood in the doorway. Riley pointed toward the beige couch adorned with pillows near the window.

“The best view is from over there,” she told him.

He moved in silence over the beige carpet.

Once he was seated, Riley stepped out of her shoes. She placed them neatly at the end of her bed instead of going into her closet as she normally did. There was nothing normal about this night. She unzipped her skirt and pushed it down her legs, noting the soft scrape of material over her nylon-covered legs. The jacket came next and she folded the garments, draping them over the end of the bed. When she chanced a look at Chaz, his gaze was riveted on her. A warm tendril of desire slipped slowly down her spine. Her bra, nylons, the thin wisp of lace panties were all removed and Riley climbed onto her bed.

Her meditation routine usually included candles and the tracks of crashing waves and trickling springs she had programmed to a special playlist. Tonight there was only Chaz.

Her heart thumped so loud she thought for sure he could hear it from where he sat about twelve feet from the bed. She lay back against the pillows, closing her eyes briefly and then opening them to stare up at the ceiling.

She could do this.

More important, she wanted to do this.

Extending her arm, Riley grabbed the crystal. She closed her eyes and focused on everything from the feel of it against her palms, to its shape and its purpose. Surprisingly, the desired calm came over her even though she was not alone. She could hear the waves in her mind and feel the warmth of the sun against her bare skin. And the crystal began to warm. It started to feel familiar in her hand, but not only because she’d used it so much in the past year. It felt like another phallus she’d held just a week ago.

She needed to clear her mind of everything but her happy place. Search for the good within herself and within the world that surrounded her.

That was what she did whenever she meditated. It was her purpose in taking solitary time to aid in her healing. But tonight she couldn’t find that place. There was a new goal in her mind and right now it felt closer than peace and healing. She didn’t have to search for it because it was there in the room with her. In her hand and across the room.

“When I close my eyes you’re there.” It was a quiet admission spoken just before she took the crystal in one hand and rubbed the tip over one tight nipple.

“I’m here right now.”

She hadn’t expected him to speak, but with the sound of his voice, her pussy throbbed and she spread her legs wide.

“You’re a distraction.” Riley circled the crystal over one nipple while the fingers on her free hand toyed with her other nipple. On one she squeezed tight, pulling and tugging until her breathing came faster. The other was being massaged by the warm crystal. Her breasts felt full, sensation moving from each nipple down to her gut, settling like a pool of hot lava at her center.

A soft moan escaped before Riley could pull back. She wanted to do this but at the same time she didn’t want to share too much, to show him anything deeper than a physical reaction. Her mind and her body fought to control which would be revealed.

“I can’t go.”

Why did she enjoy his voice so much? Her legs moved over the soft material of her champagne-colored comforter. She wanted him inside her, buried deep and thrusting powerfully until she couldn’t breathe, think or care. Riley took a deep breath and exhaled in a slow but shaky whoosh of air. She moved the crystal to the slope between her breasts, trailing it down her torso and stopping at her navel.

“You can’t stay.” The words came out in a whimper. They needed to be said out loud because her body wanted nothing more than for him to join her on this bed, to take her to that sweet place where she’d soared a week ago. She missed that place. Every day this week she’d thought about it and missed it more. Too much. She’d berated herself for the thoughts but tonight it was a simple truth.

“Not after tonight,” she whispered. “Not again.”

She moved the crystal lower until it slid along the shaved skin of her mound. Riley loved the sensation of being shaved—each touch felt a million times stronger, and she experienced each lick on a deeper level. It was amazing. It was also one of the things that gave her a sense of power over her own pleasure. With one hand she parted her folds and with the other she dragged the crystal over the slickness of her clit, down past her opening and back again, letting the coolness of the crystal mingle with the heat from her arousal.

With the crystal in one hand, she slipped two fingers into her aching center, gasping at the stretch and moaning with the pleasure streaking wildly throughout her body. She lifted her legs, flattening her feet on the mattress, and pumped her fingers in and out while circling the crystal over her clit. Her head thrashed on the pillows, teeth clenched tight. He wasn’t speaking but he was there. She could smell him and feel him in the heat that swirled throughout the room.

This wasn’t how her meditation usually happened. It wasn’t the feeling she normally sought. But this was good, too. In fact, it was magnificent. Her heart raced with the thrust of her hands. Her hips moved with the motion and Riley knew her release was near. She could feel it in every jolt of her thighs, the full sensation in her breasts. She heard it in the sound of her fingers moving against her coated walls, her essence dripping down between the crevice of her bottom and onto the bed.

“I’m right there with you.”

His voice was an intrusion. A pleasurable one.

“You look so damn beautiful, Riley. So strong and talented. The way you know exactly how to find your pleasure. You didn’t let me stop you. You’re in your own world bringing every sensation that you need.”

His words rolled around in her mind but they were hard to comprehend through the fog of desire. She was panting now, arching her back as she drove her fingers deeper.

“Damn! You’re so wet. So pretty and wet. I can’t stand it.”

Riley couldn’t, either. She needed this to end. She needed to fall over that cliff and float once again, to let the pleasure take her away. She dropped the crystal, using fingers from one hand to work her clit faster while the other hand continued to pump fiercely inside until her legs shook and a deep guttural moan eased from her throat.

“Riley! What are you doing to me?”

His voice was clearer now, in the few seconds just before her body stilled. Her release was intense, touching every part of her body, keeping her eyes closed tight, her fingers locking where they were, her toes curling into the comforter.

“Chaz!”

She hadn’t meant to say the name that seemed to be etched into her mind. She’d never called out a man’s name during sex, or during meditation.

Coming down from her release was like falling onto a bed of cotton. Riley sighed into the softness, relaxing her mind, body and soul.

Loud moaning caught her attention and she turned her head to see Chaz through pleasure-blurred eyes. He had removed his jacket. His legs were spread wide, the button, belt and zipper of his pants were undone. His dick was in his hand, thick and long and dripping with his release as he made one final jerk and cursed long and loud.

Moments later he was gone and Riley closed her eyes, ready to welcome a deep sleep. It wouldn’t be the first time that a meditation session had lulled her into slumber and she hoped it wouldn’t be the last. But just when she started to slip into dreamland, she felt him touch her.

“What are you doing?” she asked when Chaz’s strong hands and arms moved under her and lifted her from the bed.

“Helping you get cleaned up.”

“No.” She pressed a hand into his chest just in case he didn’t believe she was serious. “I can do it myself. I don’t want your help.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched and Chaz continued walking. He stopped at the bathroom door.

“I wasn’t going to go in with you, Riley. I know you much better than you think.”

He set her down, and when her feet touched the floor, Riley backed away from him.

“I hope you don’t mind but I used one of the washcloths in your closet.”

Because he’d needed to clean up, as well. Her gaze dropped briefly to his now-zipped pants. His shirt was unbuttoned but his chest was covered by a tight black tank. She looked back at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, and Riley stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

Chaz had admitted to Riley that he couldn’t leave. What she didn’t know was that he’d meant more than just physically getting up to leave her bedroom. By that time he’d had his dick in his hand and his desire to see how far they would go to find their pleasure was a top priority. But aside from that, something else held him to her. It was the oddest and most intense feeling he’d ever experienced. He wanted Riley physically but there was also this nagging desire to just be with her.

Chaz didn’t want to “be” with any woman. Committed relationships, live-in girlfriends, long-term associations, none of those were his thing. And not just because he’d made a name for himself as one of the world’s top bachelors—that was a persona he’d facilitated to grow his business. Now that Conversation Media was a global success, he didn’t have to sacrifice so much of himself to sell the brand. The problem was that he’d adopted a lot of the professional persona into his personal life over the years. It worked for him because he’d watched relationships come together and inevitably fall apart. His uncle was on wife number eight and he was only fifty-seven years old. That wasn’t a promising scenario for Chaz.

Riley stirred and he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

It was morning. He’d spent the night in Riley Gold’s bed, in her penthouse, with her wrapped in his arms. They hadn’t had sex. The meditation/masturbation session had been enough to wear them both down. Chaz sensed their very busy workweeks had contributed to that, but he wasn’t about to debate the issue.

Last night he’d watched her come out of the bathroom with a perplexed look on her face. He hated that she’d fully expected him to leave. As if he could share something so intimate and thoroughly enjoyable with her and then walk out without saying a word. It dawned on him later that he’d done that many times before with other women.

He was wearing only his boxers when she returned, and when he extended his hand for her to join him on the bed, Riley had simply walked around to the other side and climbed in. She turned out the light on her side and Chaz lay down and turned down the light on his side. Seconds later he’d pulled her into his arms and there she’d stayed all night.

“I don’t know how to do the morning after,” she whispered.

Chaz rubbed his hand up and down her arm, enjoying the feel of her soft skin. He’d been doing that all night. Touching her, smelling her, taking in every aspect of this woman who he’d thought he knew.

“Neither do I,” he replied. “How about we make it up as we go?”

“How about we just get up?” she said and started to move.

Chaz did not want to let her go. He did not want this mood to be over. It was beyond what he’d imagined having dinner with her would be. That both unnerved and excited him.

She shocked him by dropping a quick kiss on his chest before pushing up and away from him. Her curse came next.

“I’m late. Dammit! I have a meeting with RJ and a conference call with my distributor and I’m late!”

Riley jumped out of the bed. She snatched a peach-colored silk robe from the chair and thrust her arms into it as she moved across the room.

Chaz sat up in bed. “You’re an executive, Riley. You can definitely cancel a meeting.”

She was already across the room, pushing a button on the wall to open the door of a massive walk-in closet. “I’m not canceling. This is important. We’ve got deadlines and he’s trying to say he can’t produce the numbers we’ve already presold. It’s a catastrophe and I have to fix it.”

She was talking while moving up and down the aisles in the closet. From what Chaz could see there were more than a dozen aisles of clothes. He could only see the first row of shoes but figured she’d have just as many shoes as she did clothes. Straight to the back was a wall of accessories. Riley came out with clothes and shoes, a necklace dangling from her fingers and a look of sheer panic on her face.

Chaz eased out of the bed. “No worries. I’ll call for my car. He’ll get you there in no time.”

“But what about you?”

Chaz walked toward her, not giving a damn about the morning hard-on tenting his boxers until he stopped in front of her and watched her gaze dip down.

“I’ll get a cab or I can wait here until my car comes back. You should get your shower. He’ll be here quickly after I place the call.”

She looked back up at him. “Ah. Yes. Shower. I should do that. Thank you.”

Chaz grinned and leaned in to drop a quick but soft kiss on her lips. “Stop thanking me, Riley. If I’m sleeping with you I can certainly make sure you get to work.”

She pressed her hands against his chest. The chilly links of her necklace eased over his bare skin.

“So we’re sleeping together?” Her eyes were wide with concern but Chaz didn’t detect any regret in her tone.

“Yeah. After last night I’d say we are. You cool with that?”

She swallowed and blinked and then squared her shoulders.

“I believe I am. As long as we’re discreet. This cannot get out, Chaz. It has to stay between us for however long it lasts.”

Her tone was adamant, which told him that was the line and he needed to decide if he dared to cross it. Not today.

“I can do a private affair with you, Riley.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him again. “I can do just about anything with you.”

Every part of her relaxed and a smile touched her lips.

“I can do a private affair with you, too, Chaz.”

She came up on the tips of her toes and kissed him, tilting her head as her tongue met his. He was instantly dragged into a heated and sensual moment that was going to change both of them forever. She pulled away first and looked at him for a few muted seconds before going into the bathroom. Chaz stood there, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. Then he grinned.

He was having an affair with Riley Gold.