"What are you talking about? He violated what is essentially a contract." Vivian stares at me like I'm dumb.
"A contract that never explicitly states they cannot venture outside their bedroom for companions. It's not an issue unless someone tries to say it is."
"Someone did say it is, so now it's an issue."
"Look, we can argue their respective merits all day-"
"Like how your client is a notorious slime bag while mine is a celebrated humanitarian?"
"-but it won't change that his name is on the accounts and hers isn't."
"We both know that won't hold up."
I shrug again.
She's right and every day that passes makes me consider this. I can't let David screw her over. I'm already making a pretty penny on this case once it finalizes and I can let some of that go if it means I'm not aiding him in her total destruction. But I still have to make it look kind of convincing or my ass is grass at work.
"Well, this is what we are bringing to the judge. I was hoping we could work some of the smaller details out, but if you aren't willing to budge, then I see this meeting was useless."
"Which is why I requested a phone call." I smile thinly. "Look, Vivian, I know you know this isn't personal. This guy, say what you want about him, doesn't want to settle for anything less than this."
"So you are willing to let this go to court and risk getting worse than what we are offering by a judge who can smell his bullshit from a mile away?"
Fair question. And yes, at this rate, I am very much willing to risk that. Let the fucker go bankrupt and Kate get what she deserves. I'd still get paid at the end of it.
"You know I can only do so much."
"I strongly recommend you talk to David." Vivian packs up her bag and shakes her head. "Is he really as awful as he sounds?"
"Worse." I pinch the bridge over my nose. "You have no fucking idea, Viv. He's the worst client I've ever had."
"Is that right." She studies me carefully. "I think you're up to something."
"What?"
"You don't back down. I smell bullshit brewing."
If one more fucking person calls bullshit on me, I'm going to lose it. "I'm not brewing anything, Viv. Yes, he really is that bad. No, he won't settle for less. I don't know what else you want from me."
"You never concede anything like this in our meetings."
"I've never had a client like him."
My phone vibrates. I glance down to make sure it's not David. Even better, it's a picture message from Kate. My pants tighten without even looking at it. The last few pictures messages from her have been … inspiring.
"Eric."
"What?" I slide my phone under the table and open it. Kate is draped over a familiar chaise, naked. She says she's waiting for me. My cock jumps at attention, waiting for her, too.
"You know I don't play games. And we both know you thrive on them."
"For fucks sake, Vivian." I slide the phone in my briefcase with the rest of my useless notes. "I'm not going to entertain this shit. We're both better than this."
"Fine." She stands and shoulders her bag. "Be prepared to lose."
"Hasn't happened yet."
"First time for everything." She offers a tight smile and leaves quietly.
Another photo comes to my phone, a very naughty one featuring my favorite humanitarian. My cock throbs in my slacks. After this terrible meeting, I could really use her writhing under me.
We haven't seen each other much because of my work load. And, if I'm being honest, because I haven't known fully what to do with her. For as often as I think about her, our precarious situation looms over my head like a guillotine.
Every moment together with her is the best of my life. But I represent her ex, and I can't exactly walk off the case.
I'd thought about it more than once. David truly is the worst client I've ever had, but it would screw over Kate more than anything else. Quitting the case to sit by her side will look fucking terrible before a judge.
A few more weeks. I could do this for a few more weeks. I'll step up my visits with Kate and use sex as a stress relief. Maybe she needs more sex as a stress relief, too.
I throw my briefcase in the back seat of my car and head out. Not even Los Angeles traffic can kill my raging erection.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
KATE
Eric is breathless when he opens the door. I can't stop the stupid grin and the fizzy bubbles from flooding through me, and I don't want to anymore. All I want, after this terrible week, is to lose myself in the man who turns my world upside down.
"I need you." Eric's voice rumbles over me. He lays his jacket and tie on the bar. "I need to forget this whole goddamn week and only see you. For just a little while."
"Me, too." I push myself off the chaise and help him undo his buttons. Just being near him instantly silences the buzzing in my mind. "You're the only thing that makes sense right now."
He covers my hands with his and kisses me with fire. Words aren't needed anymore. We melt together like snow and everything slows: my heart, my breath, the world.
I pull off his shirt and place it with his jacket, followed by his pants and belt after he slips out of them. Eric presses himself against my back, his cock rubbing against my lower back. His hands leave a trail of heat across my chest and stomach. Kisses drift down my shoulder and up my neck.
Every other encounter together has been desperate, needy. This feels different, more comfortable. More tender.
Eric kisses down my other shoulder and caresses my breasts with soft fingers. We sway together gently to a silent song as we rub each other. I slide the band of his boxer briefs over his cock and run my fingers across his great girth, following the trail of veins to his head.
He groans and rests his head against the back of mine. I repeat the motion over and over, loving his sounds and the feel of him tensing against me. For all his dominance, he never makes me feel uncomfortable. Instead, I thrive on knowing how I undo him.
Eric gently turns me and presses his cock against my stomach. My center aches to have him inside, but I instead slide down him and hook his waistband with my fingers. He steps out of his last shred of clothing and towers over me, magnificently erect.
I caress his length between my breasts and lick his head with each pass. Eric groans and grasps the edge of the bar every time I do. Fucking him with my mouth is an experience all its own. Not only is it incredibly sexy, and drives me to pleasure myself while pleasure him, but I feel in total control.
The moment he thrusts his hips toward me, I slow down and pull hard with my mouth. His fists tighten around my hair but I don't take him back in my mouth. Instead, I exhale slowly across him and stroke the soft skin between his balls.
He responds with a deep moan. I'm slowly learning what drives him crazy and I love it.
Eric pulls me up to him and kisses me again. He leans me against the bar and throws himself into each touch. It feels like he's writing me a love song with his tongue and I could listen to it all day. We wouldn't need sex if he continues to kiss me like this.
"I need to be inside you," he whispers in my ear. "I need to feel all of you around me."
"Need is such a strong word." I tease.
"It isn't strong enough."
I lead him to the bed and move him into a seated position against the headboard. This is my new favorite position, where we can be close while making love to one another. I love to watch his face contort as he thrusts into me. I love to be bare and exposed when I fly apart with his cock inside me.
We move together slowly and kiss through the movement. It transcends every other experience together. Our bodies move seamlessly against one another; where he goes, I follow. Where he thrusts, I take. Where I push, he pulls. We become one entity in motion.
"Kate." Eric gasps a little as I grind into him. His lashes flutter and he stares at me with such deep emotion I almost come from the power of it. "I-"
"I know." I whisper against his lips.
"I don't think you do."
I place a palm on his chest and curl my hips harder against him. He closes his eyes and rests his head against the headboard as I move. His fingers press into me territorially and that exact moment is when it hits me, hard.
I want this man in my life forever. I don't care how. I just want to look at him like this every day and lose myself in the waves of passion.
"Eric." I whisper his name because the pressure in my chest mounts. I can barely breathe through the growing buildup between my legs.
Before, it always came quickly and burned through me. This orgasm comes in cresting waves, threatening to diffuse and send me into a million pieces.
"Eric."
"I know." He says quietly, a moan escaping him.
"No, you don't."
He cradles my head and pulls me to him without a break in the gyrating of his hips. We are forehead to forehead, breaths quickened, vision blurred. I can't stop the moans from spilling over my lips because I can no longer control my body.
The electric fingers of the mounting orgasm settle into my lungs and threaten to seize. Our eyes meet and I feel the emotions he can't bring himself to voice. The longing that radiates throughout him.
The love that flows between us, hot and unspoken.
As soon as that word populates behind my eyes, that pesky little four-letter word, I finally succumb to release. I gasp out his name and tears spill down my cheeks. My entire body shatters and rearranges itself under his touch. I don't know the sky from the ground and I'm flying through space and time.