The CEO's Little Surprise(17)

He ached to reacquaint himself with her body, the way she tasted, the  way she would respond to his touch. That T-shirt, soft under his  fingers, promised delights underneath it and he was game to discover  them.

No one was around and they had all night. He planned to make the most of it.

They gazed at each other and the ocean of desire in her eyes twisted  through him. She was inside him already and he welcomed her with a sense  of awe. How had she made him feel this way before they'd scarcely  gotten started?

"I want you," he repeated hoarsely, but the phrase scarcely encompassed  the sheer need he was trying to describe, as if he depended on her for  his next breath. "And not because you're wearing a sexy outfit. Because  you have a brain. Because you challenge me. Because I like being around  you. Because-"

"If you're going to kiss me, shut up and do it."

"That might be the sexiest thing you've ever said."

Because it suited him, he tilted her head back and took her mouth with  his, open and wet, pleasing them both with the force of his tongue. She  tasted of fire and woman and he wanted more. So he went deeper, coaxing  her to meet him with increased passion. No holding back. No ice goddess,  not tonight.

Apparently of the same mind, she moaned and shifted against his thigh,  her fingers working at his waistband. She pulled his shirt free and  spread her palms across his back. Oh, yeah. Heaven. He'd captured his  very own angel. Her touch raced down his spine and dipped into his  pants, resting on his butt. She shoved, grinding his erection against  her.

Nothing angelic about that.

Sensation exploded. In his body. In his head. She was taking over,  taking her own pleasure, and he was hard-pressed to find an argument  against it. Bolder now, she rubbed against his shaft, nearly finishing  him off. He clawed back the release through will alone.

With her barriers down, she was hotter than he'd imagined. Duly noted.

With a groan, he fumbled with the hem of her shirt and finally, his fingers closed around it. Gone. Next? Bra. Also gone.

Her gorgeous breasts fell into his palms, heavy and hot. She was made  for him, filling his hands perfectly. Locking his lips onto one erect  nipple, he swirled his tongue around it as he worked the rest of her  clothes into a heap, desperate to have her flesh against his. His pulse  beat in his throat as she stripped him in kind, then urged him on with  her hands against his thighs.

"Wait, darling," he murmured, and in moments, he'd sheathed himself with a condom.

Boosting her up against the wall, he slid into her heat and pinned her  in place, reveling in the perfection of her tightness. Yes. Exactly  where he belonged. Inside her.

She wrapped her legs around him and thrust her hips, drawing him  deeper. And deeper still. She gasped out tiny moans of pleasure that  drove him wild.

He needed to touch her...but he couldn't let go or she'd fall. From  this angle, the sensation was unbelievable. Then she widened her hips,  changing the pressure and his moans mingled with hers.

This wasn't the Cass he recalled. This woman was on fire, taking what  she wanted, giving unconditionally. Finding his pleasure center easily  and drawing him higher and higher, against his will. He'd planned to  savor. To reclaim.                       
       
           



       

But this Cass, who was every inch his equal, was claiming him, wholly.

He couldn't hold back one second longer, but somehow managed to get a  thumb between their bodies, stimulating her the way she'd always  preferred and that set her off. At last. The ripples of her climax  closed around him a moment before his answering climax exploded.

Sweet, blessed release. He shut his eyes and drove home one last time,  drawing out the pleasure for them both. When he could feel his legs  again, he swung her around and slid to the ground, still holding her in  his lap. He tilted his head against hers, both of them breathless,  chests heaving from exertion.

That had been...something else. Nothing like it had been before. It had  been hot and erotic and the stuff of X-rated fantasies. She'd always  been amazing but they'd never gotten so caught up that they couldn't  make it to the bed. They were still in her foyer. He'd meant to be  gentler, less frenzied. He'd envisioned a slow, sweet reintroduction to  each other, but who could complain about a fast, unbelievably intense  reintroduction?

Thankfully, they'd gotten that out of their systems.

"Maybe now we can concentrate," he muttered. But he didn't think so.

* * *

Cass ended up ordering pizza from the place around the corner. After  the hallway gymnastics, her bones had melted away entirely and she  couldn't stand long enough to cook. Gage had been amazing. Strong,  tender, hot, sweet. Far more so than she'd expected or remembered.

True to his word, he got down to business and they read files while  drinking a pitcher of the limey, sugary concoction he'd put together. It  was delicious. But not as delicious as Gage. Or the conversation they  fell into as they were reading. It was like old times-and her insides,  which were not all that solid in the first place, mushed under the dual  onslaught of sexy man and alcohol.

Names. She needed to focus on these names. She steeled her spine,  hardened her heart and ignored all the sizzling sidelong glances he shot  her way.

This was about sex and work. Only. After all, he'd practically dared  her to prove she could separate business and pleasure. No emotions  necessary for that.

She had Gage read the names out loud and as he did, she offered her  impression of the person, their work ethic, any workplace drama she knew  of. As she talked, she watched Gage carefully for any flicker of  recognition. Nothing. Either he was very good at keeping his cards close  to the vest or the leak's name wasn't on this list.

Of course, deep inside she recognized the possibility that he wasn't  involved. The longer they spent in each other's company, the more she'd  started to hope that he wasn't. Because if his interest in the formula  was innocent, then it changed everything between them.

And she wanted that. Oh, how she wanted things to be different, with  the possibility of throwing their agendas out the window and just  connecting as man and woman.

It was madness. Gage could not be trusted under any circumstances and  obviously sex had only confused things, not clarified them. She kicked  him out before she started imagining things that were impossible, like  asking him to stay and hold her all night.

He left without arguing, which dug under her skin and sat there  irritating her for no apparent reason. Why? He'd done what she  asked-what more could she want? Gage did not belong in her bed. That was  reserved for men who wanted to stick around and he wasn't the type. A  few days and then gone.

She knew that. But that didn't stop all the needy dreams during the  long night where he curled around her in bed and stroked her hair and  told her everything was going to be okay, that he was here for her and  she didn't have to be strong with him. That he understood her and cared  about her.

Clearly a dream-Gage Branson wasn't marriage material and she didn't  need a man who whispered pretty lies in her ear about the state of  things. There was no guarantee even one blessed thing in her life would  turn out okay. The investigative work she'd done on her own time hadn't  amounted to much and Gage hadn't given up any information either, which  meant she was still at square one.

Around 5:00 a.m. she crawled from the big, lonely bed and tried to  rinse Gage off her body and soul with a hot shower. It was Friday.  Reckoning day. Trinity had scheduled a meeting with the four executives  to hear Cass's progress report on the leak. It was shaping up to be a  short meeting because she had nothing to report.                       
       
           



       

It took twice as long as normal to do her makeup, partly due to her  shaking hands and partly due to the necessity of taking extra care to  present her best "I've got this" face to the world. Then, she dressed  carefully in a black suit with a knee-length skirt and red silk shell.  The look radiated power and control and she needed both today.

By nine, the other ladies filed in to take their customary seats around  the conference table. Cass had been in her chair for fifteen minutes,  going over nonexistent notes, and calming her nerves. It should have  been the other way around. Lots of progress, cool as a cucumber.

There was a distinct possibility she might throw up.

New fine lines around Harper's eyes spoke to the heightened level of  stress on Fyra's chief science officer. She'd been clocking long hours  in anticipation of presenting Formula-47 for FDA approval, perhaps in  vain if Cass didn't get with the program. Trinity tapped one foot,  impatient and ready to draw blood the moment someone presented their  jugular. Someone was about to be Cass, she had a feeling. Eyes on her  legal pad, Alex wore a slight frown, as if this boardroom was the last  place she wanted to be and Cass had interrupted the CFO's more important  agenda items for the day.