“Sam?”
Sam looked up to see Adrian’s head poking out of his office door. “Yeah?”
“In my office. Now.”
She swallowed at his low, even tone. It sounded strangely like the one he used to crawl all over Scott when Scott did something stupid.
Worse, he’d been avoiding her all day. He hadn’t even gone to lunch with them.
Had she done something wrong?
Nervous, she got up and took the five steps that separated her cube from his office.
As soon as she was inside, he closed the door.
Sam’s heart pounded. This wasn’t good. Adrian never closed his door unless it was time for a major performance talk.
Eyes dark and features grim, he turned toward her.
Sam expected him to tell her to sit, so when he cupped her face in his hands, and pressed her back against his wall, she was stunned.
His breathing ragged, he lowered his head down and captured her lips with his.
And it wasn’t just any kiss. It was scorching and demanding. Every hormone in her body jumped to attention. Closing her eyes, she relished the warm scent of him. The masterful feel of his tongue dancing with hers as his hands roamed over her shoulders and back, down to her hips. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moaned softly as her desire for him tripled.
He separated her legs with his thigh and cupped her buttocks as he set her down on that taut muscle. Sam groaned at the feeling of him between her legs. Her feet barely touched the floor as he surrounded her with warmth.
Her head light, she throbbed and ached for more of him.
Adrian knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he hadn’t been able to stand it any longer. All day long, he’d been unable to think about anything other than the fact that she was only five feet away.
She was so intelligent, so much fun.
He wanted to devour her.
Adrian pulled back from the kiss to where he could nibble her lips as he buried his hand in her thick, dark hair. He laved a trail from her lips to her neck where he inhaled her.
He skimmed his hand up from her waist to the side of her breast. At the sound of her murmured pleasure, he felt his control slipping.
He ached for her. Burned for her in a way he’d never burned before and all he could think of was being inside her.
“I want you, Sam,” he whispered.
Sam gave him a chiding stare. “I thought I was in trouble.”
Adrian shook his head as he lost himself in those light eyes of hers. “I think I’m the one in trouble. Serious trouble.”
He dipped his head to kiss her again.
His cell phone went off.
Growling, he answered it. “Scott, I’m in the middle of a damn important meeting. Send an e-mail.”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Just a minute,” Adrian snapped, then he brushed her cheek with his fingers, even though what he really wanted to do was lay her down on his desk and alleviate the vicious, throbbing ache in his groin.
Not to mention the one in his heart.
His breathing ragged, he let go of her. “I better let you get back to work.”
She nodded, then kissed him hard on his lips.
The knock sounded again.
She smiled. “Duty calls.”
Sam spent the rest of the day dreaming about that kiss. And as she watched people traipse in and out of Adrian’s office, she felt like cursing. Couldn’t they just leave him in peace?
“Hey!” Randir said as he came around her cube. “It’s snowing really bad outside.”
Sam looked up with a start. “What?”
“Oh, yeah, the roads are freezing.” Randir stuck his head in Adrian’s door. “I’m going home.”
Adrian came out of his office. “Tell everyone to head out.”
Since she lived fifty minutes away, Sam dialed her oldest brother’s cell phone.
“Don’t you dare head home,” Teddy said sternly. “The roads are awful. I had to leave my Blazer at the bottom of the hill and walk home. Is there some place in La Vergne you can bunk for the night?”
“I guess. Thanks.” She hung up.
“Why are you still here?” Adrian asked.
“My brother said the roads are frozen solid. Looks like I’ll be spending the night on the cot in the first-aid room.”
Adrian frowned. “You can’t do that.”
Like she had any choice, she thought wistfully. “Sure I can. I have the vending machines and the security guard for company. I’ll be fine.”
“Why don’t you come home with me?” he asked stoically.
Sam hesitated as her heart pounded. If she did that, she had a really good idea what would happen.
But then, how bad would it be to make love to him all night?
She bit her lip in indecision. “I don’t know.”
At the hurt look on his face, she quickly added, “I bet you get stuck here with me. I’m sure the Corvette isn’t any better in this weather than my Honda.”
“I’m not in the Vette. I drove my Bronco in.”
She arched a brow. “I didn’t know you had another car.”
“Yeah. I love the Vette, but she’s temperamental and she hates snow.” He took her jacket off the peg inside her cube and held it open for her. “C’mon. I promise I’ll behave.”
Her stomach knotted in excitement and fear, she shrugged her coat on. “Okay.”
Adrian led her out of the building, across the virtually empty parking lot to an older-model black Bronco and opened the door for her.
After he got in and started the car, Sam sat beside Adrian with her heart in her throat. She was so nervous, she was actually trembling. It’d been a long time since she’d been with a guy. A long time since she’d gone to a guy’s place.
And she’d never loved a man as much as she did Adrian.
Should I make a move on him? Or should I wait for him to do something?
What if he thinks I’m fat? He was so well toned and she was . . . well, fleshy. What if it turned him off?
Good grief, her doubts and fears plagued her silly.
Adrian tried to think of something to say as he drove the ten-minute commute to his apartment.
But he couldn’t.
His hands were actually sweating inside his gloves. He hadn’t taken a girl home with him since college.
Should I make a move on her? Or should I wait for her to do something?
Is it too soon?
He didn’t want to scare her off. He really liked her. And the last thing he wanted was for her to bolt for the door.
But he couldn’t stand the thought of not having her.
By the time he pulled up next to his Corvette, his stomach was absolutely knotted.
“Do you have a roommate?” she asked as he walked her to his door.
“With the hours I keep? No one would put up with me.” He unlocked the door and let her in.
Sam entered the living room, then froze. She’d never seen anything like it in her life.
“Good Lord, it looks like a Circuit City showroom,” she said as her gaze darted over the big-screen TV, three leather recliners, DVD player, double-decker VCR, two computers, and a stereo bigger than her car.
His walls were stark white and completely bare. But at least the whole apartment was amazingly clean and well kept.
“Jeez. Adrian, you live like a bear in an electronic cave.”
He laughed as he locked the door, then set his keys, security badge, and wallet in a bowl on the breakfast counter.
He shrugged his coat off and hung it up in a closet to her left. Sam took hers off and handed it to him.
“Should I ask about the three recliners?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes the guys come over to watch a game.”
“So, why don’t you have a couch?”
He looked offended by the very idea. “I’m not sitting my ass down next to another guy. Jeez, Sam, I thought you were raised with five brothers.”
“Oh, yeah, how could I forget?” she said as she rolled her eyes at him. “The male and his territory.”
He laughed as he gave her a brief tour of his place.
“Do you really need a PlayStation 2, Dreamcast, and Nintendo 64?” she asked. But what really amused her was the small TV next to the big one. She arched a questioning brow.
“Sometimes I play games while I’m watching the big TV,” he said as if there were nothing unusual about it.
Sam smiled, until she glanced down at one of the chairs. Then she sobered. “You know, Adrian, you’re quite a guy.”
He gave her a puzzled frown.
“There’s not many men who let their underwear watch TV while they’re at work,” she said, glancing to the pair in the seat of the chair closest to the window.
“Oh, jeez,” he moaned as he grabbed them and rushed to the laundry room in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she followed after him. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I think it’s funny. Besides, I used to have to do my brothers’ laundry, and all I have to say is—”
He turned around at the same time she took a step forward. They collided.
Adrian’s breath left his chest as soon as her breasts touched his arm. She looked up at him with her lips parted and before he could stop himself, he took advantage of it.
Sam wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him with all the passion and love flowing through her. And in that moment, she knew what was about to happen between them.
This was the moment she’d spent the last year dreaming of.
Scared and excited, she couldn’t wait.
Adrian deepened his kiss as his hands roamed freely over her back, pressing her closer to him. Growling low in his throat, he pulled back from her lips and buried his mouth against her neck.
Sam hissed in pleasure as his hot tongue, lips, and teeth nibbled and suckled her. Chills swept through her entire body as her breasts tingled in response to his expert, masculine touch. Heat pooled itself into an aching throb between her legs.
The scent of leather and Old Spice tormented her unmercifully. Gracious, how she wanted this man.
No one had ever made her feel the way he did. Desirable. Beautiful.
And best of all, needed.
Tonight, she would show her love to him. Tonight, she would hold nothing back and she would hope for a time when perhaps he might love her in return.
Adrian’s vision dulled as he inhaled the warm, sweet scent of her skin. And he wanted more of her.
That need foremost on his mind, he ran his hand over her breast, and squeezed it gently. He moaned at the softness, and at the feel of her hardened nipple through her Santa sweater.
To his amazement, Sam answered the caress with one of her own as she reached down between their bodies and cupped him in her hand, through his jeans. Adrian growled as she stroked him, teased him, making his entire body quiver and burn for her.
She was bold with her caresses, and more than generous with her lips.
His body on fire, Adrian returned to her mouth as she unbuttoned his jeans, then slid her hand beneath the elastic band of his briefs to take him into her hand.
He sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth as he hardened to the point of pain.
“You are a big man,” she whispered against his lips as she gently stroked his shaft.
“You’re the only one who does that to me,” he whispered. He ran his hands under her sweater, over her smooth, soft skin, to the back of her bra where he released the catch.
His breath caught as her breasts spilled out of the satin bra and into his hands. He reveled in the feel of those taut nipples in his palms and he couldn’t wait to taste them. To run his tongue over the tiny ridges as he breathed her scent in.
Her soft flesh filled his hands past capacity and he loved it.
Then, she untucked his shirt and ran her hands over his chest and back, clutching at him in a way that made him dizzy.
The damned phone rang.
“Do you need to answer it?” she said breathlessly.
“To hell with it.”
“What if it’s work?”
“To hell with it.”
She laughed.
He heard his answering machine pick up.
“Adrian?”
He flinched as he heard his mother’s nasal, Southern drawl.
“Adrian, this is Mom. Are you there? If you are, pick up, honey. I need to talk to you.”
His hormones instantly iced by the sound of his mother’s voice, he pulled back. “I better answer it or she’ll call every ten minutes from now on and start beeping me.”
Devastated by the interruption, Sam licked her lips and tried to pull herself together as Adrian left her and picked up the cordless phone from the counter. He tucked his shirt back in and buttoned his pants.
“Hi, Mom,” he said coolly as he left the kitchen, then went to his bedroom, and closed the door while Sam straightened her own clothes.
“Adrian, where have you been? I’ve been calling for an hour.”
Sam went over to his answering machine to turn it off so that she wouldn’t overhear their conversation, but it had so many unmarked buttons, she didn’t know which one to press.
“I was at work.”
“I wish you’d give me your work number. I need to be able to get a hold of you when something comes up.”
“What do you need now, Mom?”
“I need you to come over and salt my driveway, so that I won’t get stuck here tomorrow.”
“Jesus, Mom, it’s a forty-minute drive and the roads are iced over.”
“I know, that’s why I need you to come over, right now.”
Sam frowned at his mother’s insistence.
“Mom, I can’t. I’m busy.”
His mother gave a dramatic sigh. “Busy doing what? Playing with your stupid computers again? All I ask is a little, tiny favor and this is the thanks I get. Do you know, I was in labor for thirty-six hours with you? I almost died giving birth.”
“Yes, Mom, I know.”
“Don’t you take that tone with me, young man. I gave my life to you kids, and the least you can do is take care of me in my old age.”
“You’re only forty-seven.”
“Don’t you dare get smart with me. It’s not like you have anything better to do. God forbid you should actually date and marry someone, and give me a grandchild.”
“Would you please lay off me, Mom? I’m not in the mood.”
“Fine,” she said in a sarcastic tone that made Sam want to choke her. “You just stay there, and let me fend for myself. You’re just like your worthless father.”
“Would you leave Dad out of this?”
“You’re just like him, you know. Selfish and worthless. It’s a good thing you don’t have a girlfriend. You’d probably just knock her up, and leave her, too.”
Sam’s heart lurched. Poor Adrian. It was a good thing he didn’t have another phone or she’d pick it up and give his mother a piece of her mind.
“Just my luck,” his mother continued. “To get stuck with an ungrateful son. I knew you should have been a girl. That’s fine, though. I’ll just call Heather and get her to do it.”
“Jeez, Mom, Heather can hardly drive when the weather’s clear and she lives farther away than I do.”
“What do you care? At least I can depend on her.”
“All right,” Adrian snapped. “I’m coming, okay? Don’t get her killed because you need your driveway salted.”
“Oh, good.”
Sam gaped at the sudden change in the woman’s voice. Now that she was getting her way, she actually sounded nice.
“Love you, sweetie.”
“Me, too.” By his tone, Sam knew he had his teeth gritted.
The answering machine clicked off. Sam shook her head. She’d never heard anything like that in her life.
Adrian came out of the bedroom with his jaw ticking. “I have to go out for a little bit.”
“Adrian, you can’t do that. What if you have a wreck and get killed?”
“Trust me, I’m not that lucky.”
“You’re not funny.”
He shrugged his heavy ski jacket on. Sam zipped it while he fixed the collar. “You be careful,” she said, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
Adrian nibbled her lips as warmth spread through him. Only Sam had ever said that to him. “I will. Lock the door behind me.”
As soon as he was gone, Sam sighed. Adrian reminded her of a tolerant lion with cubs hanging off him while they nipped his skin. How could he stand it?
Shaking her head, Sam went to get herself a Coke. She opened the fridge and stared in disbelief. It was bare except for an almost-empty gallon of soured milk and a six-pack of beer.
Frowning, she opened his kitchen cabinets, taking inventory. One plate, two mismatched bowls, a cookie sheet, one medium-sized pot, three glasses, two coffee cups, coffee, and two half-empty boxes of cereal. That was it.
Unbelievable. She’d had no idea he lived like this. And now that she thought about it, she realized he didn’t even have a Christmas tree in his apartment.
The phone rang again.
Sam ignored it until the answering machine picked up.
“Adrian?” Heather said. “Hey, I need you to call me back as soon as you hear this, okay? Um, I need you, big brother. And please don’t yell at me. I had to write a check out for tuition today or else they’d cancel my classes. And I don’t have the money to cover it. I’m also two weeks overdue on my rent again. I really need twelve hundred dollars by tomorrow. I swear, I won’t ever again ask you for money. I know I said that last time, but I mean it this time. Anyway, please call me tonight. Love you.”
Sam ached for him. When he had told her he watched out for his sister and mother, she’d had no idea just what a challenge the two of them were.
“That’s it,” she muttered as she grabbed her coat out of the closet. “It’s time someone did something for you.”
It was almost three hours later when Adrian finally got home. His head throbbed from his mother’s incessant criticism. And the woman wondered why no man would ever stay with her for more than a few months.
If he had any sense, he’d take off, too. But he refused to do that to Heather. His sister could barely look after herself, let alone watch after their mother.
Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, he opened the door. He frowned as he caught a whiff of something really good.
Must be his neighbor’s dinner again, he thought as he closed and locked the door. He hung up his coat.
“Sam?” he called, not seeing her in the living room.
“I’m right here,” she said from the kitchen.
Adrian turned, then froze as his breath left his body. Sam was standing at the sink wearing nothing but one of his flannel shirts. It was huge on her, reaching all the way to her knees.
The sight floored him.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said as she pulled at the collar. “I fell on my way back and got mud all over my clothes.”
“Fell?” It was then he realized the warm, delicious aroma was coming from his stove. Damn, the thing actually worked!
He frowned. “What did you do?”
She moved toward him with a coffee cup in her hands. “Here,” she said, handing him hot chocolate. “I’m sure you’re frozen.”
He had been until he saw her half-dressed. Now, he felt as if he were on fire. “Where did this come from?”
She smiled. “I walked down to the market on the corner.”
He was stunned. He’d never in his life come home to such a warm welcome.
And in that moment, he knew he loved her.
Setting the cup down on his breakfast counter, he pulled her into his arms and held her close.
Sam trembled at the contact. He ran his hands down her back, then to her bare hips.
“Oh, God,” he breathed. “You’re naked under there.”
Sam laughed. “I know.”
Adrian’s thoughts scattered as he touched her bare buttocks. Her skin was so incredibly soft while he was harder than he’d ever been before.
Bending down, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
Sam wrapped her arms around his neck, amazed he was able to carry her so easily. And when he laid her on the bed, she smiled, knowing this was what she’d wanted since the first time she’d seen him greeting her in the lobby for her interview last year.
She got up on her knees and pulled his shirt over his head. Her gaze feasted on the sight of all that strong, tawny skin as she ran her hands over his delectable flesh.
Good gracious, the man had a gorgeous body, and she couldn’t wait to taste every inch of it.
The way he watched her with his eyes dark and hungry, his breathing ragged, made her burn even more for him. How could a man like this want her?
Sam hesitated as she placed her hands on the top button of his jeans. “I want you to know that I’m not easy,” she whispered.
“It never crossed my mind,” he said as he cupped her face in his hands. He moved to kiss her, but she pulled back.
She met his confused gaze. “I’ve only been with one other guy. My college boyfriend.”
“Okay,” he said, dipping his head toward hers.
She laughed as she dodged his lips again. “Would you listen for a second?”
He arched a brow at her.
“I wanted to let you know that I’m not on the pill or anything.”
Adrian went rigid. Cursing, he took a step back from the bed. “Well, since we’re confessing things, I have to tell you, I haven’t been with a woman since college, either. And I threw out my condoms last year after it occurred to me that they were older than I was.” Adrian retrieved his shirt from the floor.
Damn it, he was so hard it hurt. And all he could think of was taking her, consequences be damned.
But he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t about to take a chance on getting her pregnant. In spite of what his mother thought, he wasn’t his father.
It figures. Whatever made you think you could have a woman like her, anyway?
Sam frowned as he stalked out of the room. She started to call him back, then reconsidered. He needed to eat first.
She went after him. “You hungry?”
Adrian nodded, but by his face she could tell food was the last thing he wanted.
Sam served him a bowl of chili.
Adrian stood at the counter while he ate it.
Bemused, Sam watched as he refused to look at her. And the only words he uttered were a very brief compliment on how good her chili tasted and a simple thank-you.
As soon as he was finished, Adrian placed the bowl in the sink, then went to sit in his recliner.
Picking up his remote for the stereo, he clicked on his CD player. He had to do something to distract himself from those luscious legs peeking out from under her shirt. He rotated the discs to Matchbox 20.
Suddenly, he felt Sam beside his chair. He glanced at her, then did a double-take as he saw her shirt unbuttoned all the way to her navel. Even worse, the swell of one breast was so obvious that it sent a wave of heat straight through his groin.
“Don’t tease me, Sam,” he said hoarsely.
With a tight-lipped smile, she lifted up the hem of the shirt to gift him with a glimpse of the dark curls at the juncture of her thighs before she climbed into his lap.
“Sam,” he groaned as she reached to unbutton his pants. His entire body burned and, worse, her feminine, floral scent was making him insane. If she didn’t get up, he was going to have her regardless of his common sense. “Please don’t.”
She took his hands in hers and led them to her breasts.
Adrian leaned his head back and moaned at the softness of her bare breasts in his hands.
Sam kissed him then, and he felt something strange in her mouth.
Adrian pulled back to see her with a wrapped condom between her teeth.
The smile on her face was devilish as she removed the package. “I bought them at the store, just in case.”
Growling low in his throat, he kissed her fiercely.
Sam gasped as he rose to his feet with her still in his lap. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he carried her back to his bed with his hands firmly gripping her bare bottom.
He set her on the bed, then pulled his shirt over his head again as she finished unfastening his jeans. She removed his clothes from him.
Sam gaped at the sight of his lean muscles as she saw him naked for the first time. Every single inch of his lean, hard body was toned and perfect. Never had she seen anything like it.
Her face burned as she saw the size of his erection.
She ran her hands over the veins on his forearms, over the strength of a body she’d never dared hope to touch. His skin was so soft, his muscles so hard. It reminded her of velvet stretched over steel.
She’d never imagined her programming genius would have the body of a Greek god. But he truly did.
Adrian hesitated as he stared at her in his bed, wearing his shirt. She was beautiful there. So soft, warm, and giving.
His desire surged through him like lava as he joined her in the bed and laid her back against the mattress. He rained kisses over her face and neck as he did his best to control himself.
His body demanded he get down to business with her, but his heart wanted to savor her for as long as he could. Even if it killed him.
Adrian groaned as she rolled him over onto his back and straddled his waist. He liked her feistiness. But most of all, he liked her on top of him.
She leaned over his chest and ran her tongue along the edge of his jaw, sending a thousand needlelike chills over his body as she rubbed herself against his stomach.
It shook him all the way to his soul.
“I’m so glad you got rid of that goatee,” she whispered in his ear a second before she ran her tongue around the curve of his jaw.
Adrian held her against him. “If I’d known you would do this, I’d have shaved it off the first week you came to work.”
She laughed.
He buried his lips in the curve of her shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin. His head swam from the moistness of her on his stomach.
Needing her in a way that terrified him, he unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it from her shoulders. “You are so beautiful,” he breathed as he saw her naked.
Her curves were every bit as full and lush as he had imagined. And her breasts . . .
He could stare at those luscious breasts all night long.
His breathing ragged, he reached up and cupped them in his hands. She trembled in response, delighting him even more.
He dropped his gaze down to the moist curls that were driving him crazy, the moist curls that covered the part of her he couldn’t wait to have.
Sitting up, he kissed her furiously as he skimmed his hand from her breast, down her smooth, soft stomach to the tangled curls and into the sleek, wet cleft.
Sam hissed at the pleasure of his long, lean fingers stroking her intimately. She’d never felt anything better, until he slid them inside her. In and out, and around, those fingers tormented her with a fiery pleasure she feared might actually consume her.
Shamelessly, she rubbed herself against him, wanting him in a way that went beyond the physical.
Her body on fire, she pushed him back against the bed, then moved to kiss a trail down his chest.
Adrian hissed as Sam brushed her lips against his taut nipple and when she drew it into her mouth he thought he would die from the pleasure of her tongue on his skin.
He buried his hands in her hair, cupping her face gently as he let the love he felt for her wash over him. She was so giving, so kind. Never in his life had anyone taken care of him. Never had anyone cared.
But Sam did, and it rocked him all the way to his heart.
“Touch me, Sam,” he breathed, wanting to feel her hand against him again.
She moved herself lower, trailing her tongue and lips down his abdomen, to his navel, his hip, where she tormented him mercilessly with little nibbles that rocked his entire body.
Delirious from her touch, he closed his eyes in painful anticipation as she finally brushed her hand through the curls at the center of his body. She cupped him in her hand.
Adrian arched his back, growling at the softness of her fingers stroking his shaft.
“Yes,” he moaned, writhing from the unbelievable sensations that ripped through him.
And before he knew what she was doing, she moved her head lower and licked a slow, torturous path from the base of his shaft, all the way to the tip.
Adrian hissed at the unexpected, blind ecstasy that tore through him.
Sam smiled as she felt him shivering around her. Her only thought to give him more pleasure, she took him into her mouth.
She knew she was making him crazy, and she loved every minute of it. Adrian deserved to be loved by someone who wouldn’t take him for granted, and she wanted to show him just how much he meant to her. Just how much she needed him.
Adrian clenched his fists in the sheets at the incredible sensation of her tongue and lips covering him. No one had ever done that to him before, and he couldn’t believe just how good it felt.
His body trembling, he couldn’t stand not tasting her in return.
He had to have her. Now!
Sam lifted her head as Adrian sat up. His eyes dark and shuttered, he moved until his body was lying in the opposite direction of hers. He ran his mouth and tongue over her stomach as he skimmed a hand down her hips, blazing a scorching trail of heat.
His touch literally burned her from the inside out as he trailed it up her inner thigh, urging her to open her legs for him.
He nudged her legs farther apart, then buried his lips at the center of her body.
“Adrian!” she breathed as he tormented her.
Sam moaned at the sensation of his mouth on her as he nibbled and licked. His tongue and fingers swirled around her, intensifying her pleasure.
Trembling, she returned to torment him the same way.
She writhed as he continued and as she tasted him.
There was such fire and magic in his touch. It scorched her in a way that was indescribable. No wonder she loved this man.
She gave herself to him without reservations or fear. There was something so special in this equal sharing, equal giving. It touched her profoundly and she knew in her heart that she would never be the same.
Sam’s head was light as he gave careful consideration to her, and when he slid two fingers inside her body and stroked her, she moaned in ecstasy.
Biting her lip, she closed her eyes as his fingers delved deep and hard inside her, swirling around with the promise of what was to come while he laved her even faster.
Sam’s entire body shivered and jerked involuntarily in response to his touch.
Her head spun from the intense sensations. The pleasure was so incredible, so extreme, as it built inside her until she could stand no more.
Suddenly, her entire body exploded as white-hot ecstasy tore through her in ever-increasing waves. Sam cried out as her release came.
Panting, she couldn’t move.
“That’s it,” he said, his skin covered in sweat. “I have to be inside you.”
Sam pulled back from him and reached for the condom a few inches from her.
Adrian tensed as she gently slid the cool condom over his hot, swollen shaft. Then she cupped him in her hand. Her touch singed him as his body quivered in response.
How could such tiny hands wreak so much havoc on him?
Needing to feel her more than he needed to breathe, Adrian pressed her back against the mattress, then separated her thighs with his knees.
You are about to violate your Web designer.
He didn’t know where that thought came from, but it ripped through his mind as he pressed the tip of his shaft against her core.
What was he doing?
“Adrian?” she asked as she looked up at him with a frown. “Is something wrong?”
“Are you sure you want this?” he asked as he looked down at her. “If anyone finds out, we could get fired.”
“Then I’ll find another job,” she said, lifting her hips toward his.
Joy ripped through him. Taking her hand into his, he stared into her eyes, then drove himself deep inside her body.
They moaned together.
Sam couldn’t believe the fullness of him as he rocked his hips against hers. He went so deep inside her, she could swear he touched her womb as fierce, hot stabs of pleasure tormented her.
She wrapped her legs around his lean waist and savored the feel of his muscles flexing in and around her. She ran her hands down his back, over the chills that covered his body as she met him stroke for stroke.
He was spectacular.
“You feel so good,” he breathed in her ear as he rocked his hips, hard and fierce, against hers. “I could stay inside you forever.”
She was sure she didn’t feel half as good to him as he felt to her. He lowered his upper body to where she could nuzzle his neck as he thrust into her.
Sam wrapped her legs tight about his hips, then she rolled over with him.
Adrian looked up, startled, as he found himself beneath her. She took his hands in hers and placed them on her hips. Then, holding them in hers, she lifted herself up to the tip of his shaft, before she lowered herself onto him.
He growled at the feel of her body on his as she rode him fast and furiously. He’d never felt anything like it.
“You’re making my toes curl,” she breathed.
“I plan to make more than that curl before the night is over,” he said as she released his hands and leaned forward.
Adrian ran his hands over her breasts, cupping them gently as she continued to stroke him with her body.
Why had he waited a year before kissing her?
It terrified him when he thought of how close he’d come to never acting on his desire. What if he had let her get away without ever having tasted her lips? Her body?
And in that instant, a wave of possessiveness washed over him. He would never let her go.
She belonged to him.
Sam watched Adrian watch her. His dark eyes were shuttered, but the look of pleasure on his face tore through her.
She ran her hand over his stubbled cheeks, grateful that she had finally kissed him. This moment far exceeded any fantasy she’d ever had about him.
Her body aching with bliss, she could feel her pleasure mounting again with every forceful stroke she delivered to him. She moved her hips faster as Adrian lifted his hips to drive himself even deeper.
“Oh, my goodness,” she breathed as her body became even hotter as massive, wrenching stabs of pleasure tore through her.
Adrian rolled over with her then, and placed her beneath him. His eyes wild, he quickened his pace.
Sam moaned at the feel of him sliding in and out, fast, deep, hard.
And then suddenly, an indefinable ecstasy exploded through her body in resounding ripples. Sam gasped at the same time Adrian threw his head back and roared as he delivered two more long, deep thrusts to her. His entire body convulsed around her as he released himself.
He collapsed on top of her and buried his face in her neck.
Sam held him there, cradled in her arms and legs as she just listened to him breathe. She felt his heart pounding against her chest and sweat covered them both.
This was a perfect, peaceful moment that she wished she could hold on to forever.
“That was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had,” he whispered in her ear as he cradled her gently in his strong arms.
“No kidding,” she said as she ran her hands over his hard biceps, then kissed him tenderly on his chest. “You know, I’ve never done that before.”
“Orgasmed.”
Adrian smiled. He was glad he’d been the man who had shown her the full depth of her sexuality. Cupping her head in his hand, he pulled her lips to his for a scorching kiss.
The phone rang.
“I swear, I hate those things,” he snarled.
“Oh,” Sam said as she let go of him. “I forgot to tell you Heather called.”
Carefully, he withdrew from her. “Then I’m sure that’s her,” he said, reaching for the cordless phone on his nightstand.
“Hi, Heather,” he said in a tone that was half a growl.
Sam could hear just a hint of Heather’s chattering on the other end.
“Damn, Heather. What do you do with your money? I pay you two hundred and fifty dollars a week to do my laundry and buy groceries for me, and half the time you don’t even do it.”
She heard Heather chattering again as Adrian ran his hand through his hair and clenched it tight.
Adrian got out of bed and reached for his pants as he listened to her. Biting her lip, Sam admired the perfect shape of his buttocks and rear as he stooped over.
“Give me a break,” he said as he fastened his jeans. “I worked three jobs in college and no one ever . . .”
He went rigid. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Just stop crying, okay? Heather, please stop crying.”
Sam sat up as he walked out of the room.
Frowning, she pulled her shirt on and followed after him.
He wiggled his mouse at his computer. “I’m doing it right now,” he said in a gentle voice. He cursed again. “You only have two dollars in your account, did you know that? What are you living on?”
His jaw ticked, but his voice was patient. “All right, I’m transferring two grand over to you, but this is it, Heather. I work too damned hard just to give it away to you because you decide you need a Christmas vacation in Daytona for a week.”
He clicked the phone off and tossed it on his desk.
Sam moved to stand behind him. She ran her hand over his back. “You are a wonderful man.”
“I’m an idiot,” he said under his breath. “I don’t know why I put up with them.”
“You love them.”
“I wonder sometimes. God, I’m just so tired of everyone needing me all the time.”
Sam went cold at his words. His dependability was what she loved about him most, and in truth that was what she wanted. Someone she could depend on who wouldn’t disappoint her. She was tired of unkept promises.
Sam, you fool. No one is ever going to put you first. When are you going to realize that?
Her father had done what Adrian’s had, he’d abandoned them. And her worst fear was to fall in love with some thoughtless, woman-chasing jerk who dumped her for a trophy girlfriend the minute she passed the age of thirty.
She didn’t want a little boy, she wanted a man.
And she had hoped Adrian would be that man.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head, then brushed her hand over his whiskered cheek.
Please don’t disappoint me, too. The words were on the tip of her tongue. But she didn’t dare utter them aloud. Didn’t dare give him any more ways to hurt her. He already held a place in her heart where only he could destroy it.
“Why don’t we go back to bed?” she whispered.
He looked up at her with those dimples flashing. Then, he scooped her up in his arms and ran with her back to the bedroom.