“What time can I see you?”
Vectra bit her lip before responding with an eager “Anytime.” She already felt pathetic enough with her verbal responses thus far. No need to push the envelope toward anxious. She’d probably done that already, though. She lay back on the chaise, squeezing her thighs in an effort to quell the needy stabs targeting her sex.
“The gallery closes at eight-thirty,” she told him. “We’re prepping for a show, and the artist and her people have arranged to be out by then during the week.”
“I’ll pick you up at nine, then.”
“Qasim, you don’t have—”
“I’ll see you at nine, Vec.” It wasn’t a question.
“Okay.” She waited until the connection ended on his line. Then, she moaned a little in reaction to the mini-spasms that rocked her center and demanded to be satisfied. She resisted the urge to tend to the ache herself. Only Qasim was qualified to do that effectively.
The end of her day couldn’t get there fast enough.
Chapter 10
Qasim considered calling Vectra again the second he ended the call. He wanted out of his office and back inside the master bedroom suite at Carro Vineyard.
Easy, Sim.
He grunted a harsh laugh. “Right,” he muttered, his voice creeping up on a growl.
Sex with Vectra had been like dousing thirst from a canteen after a year in the desert. There was no such thing as enough, and, man, hadn’t he proven that. He’d been way too rough with her, he feared, recalling how delicate her lithe, curvy frame felt in his hands.
Once he had her in his arms, his better intentions had been wiped from his consciousness. Taking had been the only intention worth seeing to. Stamina set his body on continuous refuel, and he’d only stopped because she’d been exhausted.
He would take more care with her tonight, he swore. He had a feeling that he’d not let her out of his bed when morning came. He’d take his time, give her more foreplay. Heaven knew he wanted to do that last night, but she’d tapped into every hormone he possessed, driving them into a state of sheer lust that was only soothed when he had his hands or mouth somewhere on her body.
Her smell, a unique mix of melon and perhaps lavender, took that lust haze of his into overdrive. He’d always imagined what she’d taste like and had planned to make her climax with his mouth as he had with his fingers. He’d been aching to know how she’d taste as her moisture coated his tongue while he took her with it.
He hissed out a ragged curse. Leaning forward in his desk chair, he massaged his eyes with the heels of his palms. The office was definitely not the place to fantasize. Qasim reached for one of the remotes in the desk caddy. He’d prefer reaching for something else, but the office was most definitely not the place to...handle what fantasizing had done to his body.
He raised the volume on one of the overhead plasma screens and allowed the ramblings of the sports commentators to redirect his thoughts. The morning show did the trick, and he was feeling more like himself by the time a knock hit the door. Qasim admitted his first visitor of the day.
Will stuck his head just inside the office. “Hey, man,” he said in a slow, measured style as though he was trying to get a bead on his mood.
“What’s goin’ on, Will?” Qasim’s friendly comeback was genuine. Despite their earlier tension regarding Vectra, a talk with Will would certainly keep his thoughts on safer ground.
If Will had been wearing a hat, it would’ve been in his hand. He stepped inside the office, closing the door with more care than was probably needed. When he finally turned, one hand rested in the center of his chest a deliberate display of humbleness.
“Sim, man—” he shook his head, appearing stunned in his disbelief “—my apologies. Attribute my stupidity last night to one too many drinks and a foot that wouldn’t stay out of my mouth. I had no idea it was like that between you and Ms. Bauer.” He swallowed, risking a step closer to the multisectional desk area. “I didn’t know she was yours.”
Qasim responded with an anguished smile. “She’s not mine.” He dismissed the way his heart twisted inside his chest. It was a sensation he only experienced when he lied. “I never should’ve come off that way,” he said.
“You’ve known her for a long time, right?”
“That’s right.”
Will seemed to be gnawing the inside of his cheek. “Excuse me for pointing out the fact that she’s an obvious dime.” He slightly raised a hand in caution.
“Excused.” A corner of Qasim’s mouth tilted to a smile.
“Man,” Will exhaled the word on an amused sigh, “are you really okay with a ‘just friends’ relationship or did you wind up there by mistake?”