But Marcus grinned down at her. "Relax, babe. I own this entire floor." He gave her another quick kiss and then pushed away, leading her out into a small room with a door. "I didn't like that the elevator opened up directly into my place," he explained as he unlocked the door. "Too much of a chance that my parents could bribe their way into the building."
He threw the bolt and exhaled in what looked like relief before he pulled her back into his arms.
"We're safe here," he told her.
Then he was kissing her again and for the first time, she let herself get fully lost in his touch. It wasn't the same fall-off-the-edge-of-the-earth sensation that she'd had in his car last night.
"Let me give you the tour," Marcus said, backing her up. She kicked off her dollar-store flip-flops and let him guide her. "This is the entryway." As he spoke, he grabbed at the hem of her shirt and started to pull.
"It's lovely," she replied, not looking at the entryway one bit. Instead, she was studying him. This-this was how they really were. Teasing and talking, just as they did on their morning runs. Except now, they were touching.
"Oh, Liberty," he said in awe as he dropped her shirt on the floor. His hands touched the sides of her waist for a brief second before he started stroking upward, over her ribs. Then he was cupping her breasts, his thumbs brushing over her plain white bra. "Look at you, babe."
Liberty shivered-actually shivered-at his touch. She wasn't clueless, just inexperienced. She'd seen men touch women and women touch men, but she hadn't quite grasped how overwhelming those touches could be.
"Good?" Marcus asked, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her left breast, right above the bra cup.
"Keep moving," she ordered. She didn't want her first time to be in a hallway.
An image assembled itself for her, of Marcus backing her against the wall right there, lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist while he thrust into her.
Okay, right. Not her first time. But maybe her second time. And her third time.
"Hmm," Marcus hummed, his tone light. But he kept pushing her backward, one hand snaking down to her lower back and slipping beneath the waistband of her skirt to brush at the skin hidden there. "And here we have the sitting room. Sometimes, I sit there."
She burst out laughing. "We should maybe try it sometimes. The sitting."
"Want to try other things first," he murmured as her bra strap gave under his expert fingers. The straps slid down her arms and he tossed the bra aside. "These, for example."
He leaned down and took her right nipple in his mouth. Then he sucked.
The sensation was almost too much for her. Looking down and seeing Marcus Warren doing that to her?
But, no, she reminded herself. He was just Marcus.
She threaded her fingers through his golden hair and held him to her. Her head fell back and a low moan pulled itself from her throat. "Oh. The sitting room," she managed to say. "Got it."
"I love this room," he agreed, switching to the other breast.
"It's a great room. Great views." But her eyes had fluttered shut so she could focus on the feeling of Marcus's tongue sliding over her bare skin, of his fingers gripping into her flesh.
A flash of panic popped up out of nowhere as Marcus turned her to the left and continued to back her up. Was this really happening? Or was this a dream? The most realistic, most erotic dream she'd ever had? Maybe she'd fallen asleep at work. She hadn't slept well last night, not after bolting out of Marcus's car. She could be hallucinating this entire thing.
"Dining room," he murmured.
Liberty was only vaguely aware that they were moving through a room that contained tables and chairs. Instead, she was more focused on how Marcus's hands snaked down her hips and how he was pulling her skirt up. "Wait," she said and the moment the word left her mouth, he froze.
"Wait?" In that moment when he stopped, she fell a whole lot more in love with him. It wasn't an act. He wasn't telling her how special, how important she was just to get her in bed. He really did want her and he really did want to do right by her.
"Don't pull it up," she told him. She didn't want a boring khaki skirt bunched up around her middle. Nothing sexy about that. In her fantasies, he stripped her bare. "Just take it off."
"Woman," he growled, relief flooding his face. Whereas he'd been slow and gentle with her shirt and her bra, he jerked at the button at the top of her skirt with an almost savage force.
He didn't even get the zipper the whole way down before he was pushing at the skirt, sliding it over her hips. The fabric hit the ground with a dull whump and Liberty took a mental second to thank the laundry gods that she'd put on a cute pair of undies today, white with little pink flowers printed on them and an edge of lace all the way around.
"Office," he said, jerking his head at a doorway.
"Mmm," she hummed, pulling him up and working at the buttons on his shirt. Which was not easy, as she was walking backward and he was sliding his fingertips under the leg bands of her panties and kissing her neck. She managed to get the top two undone before she gave up and jerked the shirt over his head.
"Look at you," she whispered, running her hands over Marcus's bare chest. "Do you have any idea how long I've dreamed about this?" She rubbed her thumbs over his flat nipples.
He shuddered into her touch. "I didn't want to be that boss," he said, pivoting her to the left this time. "I didn't want to hurt you."
This was going to hurt, in the end. Not the sex so much-although it might-but falling into bed with Marcus would, in the long run, be bad for both of them.
But not falling into bed with him right now? That wasn't even an option. "Then don't hurt me," she told him, trying to unbutton his shorts.
"Bedroom," he grunted, picking her up. "Bed." The next thing she knew, Marcus was laying her out on a massive bed with crisp white sheets.
Liberty fell back, surrendering herself to the plush softness of his bed and the hard muscles of his body. She touched him everywhere, but it wasn't enough-he still had his shorts on. "I like your bedroom. Nice place."
"Better with you in it." Liberty got the button on his shorts undone but when she went for his zipper, her hands brushing his massive bulge, he sucked in a breath and grabbed her hands. "Slow down, babe. Let me just..."
He pinned her hands to the bed and kneed between her legs. "Let me learn you," he murmured, leaning down and sucking on her nipple.
"Oh, Marcus," she moaned as he kissed and sucked at her. In all the times she'd thought about this, she'd never taken into consideration the wet warmth of his mouth. All that light and heat that flowed around her focused on where his mouth touched her, and her nipple went hard under his attention.
"You like that, don't you?"
"Yes," she hissed as his mouth closed over her other nipple, pulling and tugging until she was writhing on the mattress. "Yes."
"You taste so good," he said as his mouth moved lower. He let go of her hands and slid his palms down her sides, hooking into the waistband of her panties. "I want to taste all of you."
He pulled and her panties came off. She was nude before him. She'd have thought that she might feel nervous or self-conscious about this-being naked, having Marcus look at her with that lust in his eyes. But she wasn't.
A strange pressure was building up inside her, like lightning getting ready to strike. She shimmied against the bed when Marcus put his hand over her heart and let his fingertips drift over her midsection. "I'm going to touch you here," he said as his hand moved lower.
"You better," she replied, impressed at how confident she managed to make that sound. He was in no hurry, though, and the anticipation was killing her. She fisted her hands in the sheets.
"Impatient? That's not like you, Ms. Reese," he said with a confident grin.
"I just want to do-" She gasped as his fingers stroked over her sex. "I just want to do a good job, Mr. Warren," she managed to say through clenched teeth as he started to rub her.
"Oh, I have no doubts that you'll do an excellent job, Ms. Reese. You always take care of everything I need, don't you?" His other hand came up between her legs and touched her opening, but he didn't stop rubbing.