Rule's Addiction(13)

Touched her, hell. He’d reached out and grabbed her, and instead of going for an innocuous spot like a shoulder or a wrist, he’d just had to touch her soft, feminine flesh. Because he’d been dying to know what it felt like for the last . . . for-fucking-ever. Since before he’d even seen her. And since he’d come to Florida? Nothing but weeks on end where he’d fantasized about shutting and locking the outer office door, with only the two of them inside. Weeks where he’d dreamed about her all the time. Not daydreams, hell no. He wasn’t some kind of pussy. He never should have stopped jacking off; trying to prove that he was in control had only made matters worse. Because now he was dreaming about her all night long. Wet-fucking-dreams. Dreams that made him wake up from a perfectly good REM with his cum sticking to the sheets. Dreams that should have been somewhat satisfying but weren’t in the least.

Usually he could control his thoughts during the day. It was unmitigated hell, but usually, he could stay focused on work, on the business that he and his brothers had built from the ground up. But the nights . . . he had no control . . . he thought of her incessantly. He’d even tried a shot or two of bourbon to get her out of his head.

It hadn’t worked and he’d given up trying.

He knew that when he lay down at night, she’d creep into his subconscious and invade his mind and body whether he wanted it to happen or not. He’d see her face, and he’d get hard. He’d imagine her body naked, and he’d get even harder. He’d see the belligerent fire in her eyes as she would snap her mouth closed and refuse to take whatever bait he’d pitched out to her that day.

Then he’d toss and turn and give up on sleep and go take a cold shower. And more often than not, that wouldn’t work either and his suffering only made his imagination run more rampant. He’d see her slip to her knees in the shower stall. Yeah, Maria on her knees. There was no question that he wanted her kneeling in front of him . . . her eyes on his, her lush, reddened mouth open around his cock, taking him in, making him come, swallowing him.

Yeah, he wanted her on her knees, but not until he’d fucked her and fucked her good . . . and made her come in every goddamn position he could think of.











As had been her habit for at least four days a week during the last month, Maria left for the hotel gym at eight o’clock that evening, knowing good and well that Garrett would arrive to lift weights at around ten. She wanted to be long gone before he arrived: no way did she want to see him anymore than she was forced to, so she’d quickly figured out his schedule the very first week he’d arrived.

Adjusting hers to his had taken a bit of jostling, but it was more than worth it not to have to be in close contact with his glowering features anymore than necessary.

Holding her gym bag over her shoulder, she stepped into the service elevator and rode it down. She hated being confined, but usually, it was a quick trip, as the car went straight down, but tonight, for whatever reason, it stopped on the floor below hers. Knowing that only employees used the back elevator, she felt a tiny flurry of nerves, but quickly shot them down. What would be the odds . . .?

The doors opened and her stomach sank. Evidently, the odds were good . . . or bad. Whatever.

Her breath caught in her throat as Garrett took a step inside and then came to an abrupt halt, looking at her for the space of a second before his features became emblazoned with an emotion that she couldn’t make out. He was obviously surprised to see her, and a small flurry of butterflies tried to take off in her stomach but she took a deep breath and refused to give in to them.

“Hello,” she said as nonchalantly as possible. Feeling as if she suddenly had no strength, she dropped her gym bag down to the floor and stepped all the way to the back of the car, finding the corner where she held onto the railings with both hands.

He gave her nothing more than a chin-lift in answer, turning to the control panel. When he didn’t press a button for another floor, and immediately noticing the way he was dressed, it became obvious to her that he was probably going down to the gym earlier than he usually did. Damn it!

The doors slid closed and they began to move, and just as her mind was going crazy trying to figure a way out of having to use the gym with him in attendance, he lifted his hand and slammed a button on the control panel with a force that made her jump. The lift slid to a jarring halt between floors.





Chapter Three





Every other concern flew from Maria’s head as Garrett silently turned to face her, the muscles of his neck cording and a tic appearing in his cheek.

Her tongue slid out and she licked her dry lips. “Why’d you do that?” Panic began to infiltrate as his eyes ran up and down her form.