Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,119
lips when he shook his head, silencing his protestations. “No. Listen. It’s true. If I decide to do something different, the way I leave all this matters. Especially then. I’ve got my staff to think about.”
His gaze moved from mine and settled somewhere beside us. “I can wait with you. You’ll know soon enough. I can easily fly back and forth for a month or two, you know that. And you know my offer to fund your employees still stands—”
“I know, and I’m grateful you would do that. For me, for them. But you’ve got to let me deal with this, my own way, however it shakes out. I know I’m a mess about it all right now—”
“You’re not a mess—”
“But I really am capable of handling it all. I need you to know that. I don’t want you to rush in and rescue me. But I damn sure could use a hug while I give it my all.” I sent him my best seductive look from under my lashes. “Also, I’ve read that orgasms are incredibly effective for alleviating stress, even—”
His mouth was on mine and I responded before I really even registered it, my hands winding around his neck, then sliding along the strong planes of his back. His strong hands grasped my waist, planted me on the counter, and slid between my skin and the silk of the robe until my breasts were in his hands, his fingers tweaking my nipples. I cupped him though his pants, hunted for the zipper in the placket of his jeans.
It was so easy with him. I’d never imagined I could feel so free, so uninhibited, so much myself with a man. This man. My goofy, awkward, pain-in-the-ass self. It was a relief, and terrifying. The closeness, the naked intimacy he demanded left me unnerved, naked. Vulnerable.
It also left me certain now that I couldn’t go back, didn’t want to live life again without this quality of love that was at once steady, dependable, and exhilarating.
I bit his ear, then licked his neck as he slid my hips to the edge of the counter and tested my wetness with the tip of his dick. Shushed his hoarse murmur that he’d be gentle and whispered the words that were sure to drive him crazy, that made him slam home with an anguished groan, his hands digging into my back as he delivered deep-rooted thrusts that claimed my sanity.
Please God, I thought, wrapping my legs around his lean waist, clamping his dick in a vise grip, groaning as I felt the hot spill of him. Please let it always be this way.
Chapter Thirty
Nick
“Where did you get this truck?”
Zora slid me that sly smile that warmed by blood, made my heart lighter.
“It’s Walker’s.”
“You don’t say.” I admired her confident handling off the older F-250 truck and her deft negotiation of the stick shift.
I’d been suspicious when she insisted on picking me up from Knoxville’s airport. Even more so when she pulled up in the aging truck, smiling that smile that meant she had something up her sleeve.
God, I loved her. How had we managed living apart all this time?
“What’s that smell?” I sniffed the air of the truck’s interior, searching after the vague scent of something delicious that hung in the air, but there was no food in sight.
“Would you stop asking questions?”
I loosened my tie and sat back, content to simply take in the view of her in snug jeans. The way her shirt clung to her curves.
After a stressful week working with our New York staff, I was relieved to be back home to her. Home.
How the hell had that happened? Home.
I missed the hell out of her. Without her in arm’s reach, my bed was empty, cold. Sleep was elusive and I was cranky. Relief had swamped me when I climbed the steps to the plane on the return trip that would take me back to her, back to a Technicolor existence filled with laughter, lovemaking, cuddling, and dreaming.
I didn’t want to go back to how things were before. I couldn’t. Being without her for a week had shown me just how empty, lifeless, and grayscale my life had been without her.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll stop asking questions. I’ll let you carry out your plan without any further harassment.”
“Thank you,” she said, and that dimple winked at me. “I would think you’d be happy to relinquish a little control, given the week you had.”