An Executive Decision (18 page)

He interrupted her ruminations by wiping his wet hand on the leg of his trousers, then turning to her, unhooking the halter top of her dress and cupping her breasts as it fell away. He settled a kiss on the press of each of her nipples before he eased the ruined silk down over her hips, lingering to cup the flare of her hips, the swell of her bottom. Finally, he knelt in front of her and carefully helped her out of the shoes she had forgotten to take off. So unlike her, she reflected, and he kissed her instep and moved to suckle her toes, causing her to squirm with ticklish pleasure and place a hand on his back to keep from losing her balance.

When she was completely naked, he stood to inspect her, while absently opening his fly and sliding off his trousers and boxers to release the erection she knew would be waiting there. They laughed as he struggled with his own shoes, hands made clumsy by lust. When they were both naked, he scooped her into his arms and pulled her under the heavy pulse of the warm water. Then he knelt in front of her and began soaping her, beginning with her calves, then moving up her thighs. ‘First I’m going to wash you very thoroughly,’ he said, moving up to soap her pubic curls and working his way over her belly as though he’d never had a task that demanded quite so much of his attention. ‘Then, once you’re all clean and pink and shiny –’ he stood and held her gaze ‘– I’m going to get you all dirty and messy again.’

He kissed her in a long, lingering tongue kiss, giving her time to contemplate his plans for her, then he carefully soaped her breasts, cupping and kneading and thumbing the nipples he wasn’t quite able to hide beneath the lather. Finally, he moved a hand around to soap and palm her ass cheeks, easing a thick finger in along the crevice between. He held her close while he lathered her butt, caressing and lingering and trailing fingers over the sensitive knot of her anus. In his embrace, the soap from her body slicked his chest and his erection, fat and heavily pressed against her belly. He pulled her still closer until she could feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest pressed to hers, then he slid a solicitous tongue into her mouth in unison with the soapy finger he eased, almost stealthily up into her tight back hole. And she sucked breath, nearly biting his tongue at the startling invasion that felt too personal to be shared, yet, as her anus relented to his insinuation, the rest of her responded in heavy, swollen ripples of need as he probed.

He nipped her earlobe. ‘I want to explore all of you, Dee.’ He turned her into the spray and washed off her front, still probing her back hole with a middle finger, then once again he went down on his knees and pulled her to him, kissing down her belly, then working two fingers up into her slit to move in tandem against the one in her anus. Dee didn’t realise it at first, but his relentless stretch and pull and stroke in untried places had compelled her into a shallow squat, hands resting on Ellis’s shoulders, hips rotating around the efforts of his beautifully dextrous fingers, fucking them, riding them, squatting to get them deeper inside her. The pressure was such that with the rake of a sudden insistent thumb over her hardened clit, he catapulted her into her first orgasm. He didn’t wait for the aftershocks to ease, but instead he stood, pulled her to her feet, and lifted her onto him.

She was heavy and wet and ready for him as he slid home, cupping her butt while she wrapped her legs around him and buried her face against his neck as she strained and clenched. And the orgasm she thought was ending built on itself instead with each deepening thrust of his cock.

She hung on for dear life as he battered her, tightening the grip of her thighs around his waist with each shove and push. As he grew closer and closer to his release, he felt more and more like the hard sandstone on the walls of the shower, every muscle tense, every sinew stretched. Breathing became a distant memory as they thrashed and hammered against each other; the sounds coming from their throat became primal, instinctive, far removed from language and thought. When at last they came, the world exploded and Dee was certain she would die from the cataclysmic collision of so much powerful need. How had she not known that this part of her existed? How had she ever kept it quietly tucked away inside her? Had it really take Ellison Thorne to rouse the animal in her, to awaken parts of her even more powerful than her driven nature? There were no real thoughts, just urges and half-formed queries inside her overheated brain. As they collapsed onto the shower floor in the warm wet, engulfed in a cloud of steam, she wondered if maybe some of what she felt, some of the not quite formed thoughts, were Ellis’s, overflowing into the mix of chaos and lust and so many other feelings she hadn’t the brain left to dwell on.

Chapter Twenty-six

There was only time to clean up, dress, and pack before they had to leave for JFK. Dee’s mind was abuzz with all of their planning and scheming of possible ways to thwart Jamison’s efforts. She made it a point not to think about the amazing sex that had happened between her and Ellis. Thinking about it took her mind in places it shouldn’t go, places she was sure weren’t included in the Executive Sex Clause. Yet when she and Ellis settled into their seats on the plane, she was asleep before their flight took off.

As soon as they were in the air, Ellis undid his seatbelt and leaned over Dee, effectively blocking her in her seat. ‘You’re a slut, Dee Henning, fucking me to get what you want, a regular filthy slut. Everyone knows it. Marston knows it, Wade knows it, Stacie knows it. Tell me, did you fuck Jason Daniels to get the Trouvères deal? I bet you did.’

Several of the other passengers were eavesdropping, covering their mouths in shock, scandalised at what they were overhearing. Even the flight attendants stopped what they were doing and listened, arms folded across their crisp tailored jackets, shaking their heads in disgust.

He ran his hand up under her skirt and, though she tried to push him away, he shoved fingers into her panties, then tisk-tisked. ‘Always wet and ready, aren’t you?’

To her horror, she was wet, and she couldn’t keep herself from moving against the probing of his fingers. To make matters worse, she found herself suddenly cupping and tugging at her breast through the silk of her blouse.

‘What a slut,’ she heard one of the passengers whisper to another.

‘But I’m not! I didn’t! You’re the only one,’ she gasped, trying desperately to calm herself, to push him away, but no matter how hard she tried, she just kept riding his fingers harder and harder.

‘Of course you are,’ he said. ‘And a slut who’ll fuck her boss will fuck anything if it’ll get her what she wants.’ He undid his trousers and released his cock. ‘You’ll do anything for a promotion, won’t you, Dee?’ He pulled her roughly to the edge of the seat and shoved her skirt up. ‘Oh, I’ll take it if you’re offering, who wouldn’t? And I am a busy man, after all.’ He pushed into her and began to thrust.

‘Of course he will,’ another passenger agreed. ‘Who wouldn’t if it’s offered? I would, wouldn’t you?’

‘Sure, if the slut’s offering,’ someone else said.

Ellis finished and shoved off her. ‘I’m done with her,’ he said, zipping himself back into his trousers. ‘Anyone else wants a go, help yourself. I’ve got business to take care of. I have to find a new executive assistant, someone who’s more interested in work than spreading her legs.’

‘What about the Executive Sex Clause?’ Dee gasped.

Ellis gave her a sour chuckle. ‘Oh Dee, are you really so naïve that you couldn’t figure out the Executive Sex Clause was just a joke?’

Dee awoke with a start, shoving her way up from under the airline blanket. Her heart felt like it would burst her chest and a cold sweat bathed her forehead. She covered her mouth to hold back the whimper of relief. A dream. Damn it, it was just a dream.’

Next to her, Ellis slept with his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose and his laptop screensaver showing off the wonders of the universe. It was only a dream, she reassured herself again. Nobody knew like she did just how neurotic she was, and her dreams often reflected it, taking her into bizarre, uncomfortable places. Still, it wasn’t a nice dream, and she really didn’t want to go back to sleep and risk part two. She booted her laptop and summoned the attendant, who brought her some iced tea. One of the pleasures of first class was that she could actually get someone to brew her real iced tea. There was plenty of work to do, and for the briefest moment she felt guilty for the time she and Ellis had spent making love. Making love; could she really even call it that when it was only a part of her job? Ellis said nothing had happened between him and Stacie, but so what if it had? It was none of her business. It was his private life, and whatever he did in his private life was private. It was a hard thing to think about, so she buried herself in the files her uncle had emailed her. It was mostly basic information on natural resources and environmental law, or the total lack thereof in Valderia. The world of business, no matter how messy and fucked-up, was always a much safer place to be than inside her neurotic, runaway train of a mind.

Back in Portland, the two went straight to the Pneuma Building. After an hour of catch-up with their secretaries, Ellis and Dee headed to the Dungeon where Wade was waiting for them. In his Boudoir, as they all called his inner sanctum. With a couple clicks of a keyboard, he had figures, maps, lists of ecologically sensitive species, and just about every factoid imaginable on Valderia, including all of the information Dee had uploaded to him from her uncle. At his touch, it could be pulled up onto a flat screen of almost cinema dimensions. All they lacked to complete the viewing experience was popcorn.

Wade gave Dee half a hug and a hard slap on the back that nearly knocked her off her feet. That was about as sentimental and affectionate as he ever got. ‘I hear you tore Marston a new one.’ His eyes shone with enthusiasm and he seemed suddenly more like a college student than one of the most brilliant minds in the US. ‘That would have almost been worth putting on a tux to see. Ellis.’ He gave his friend a nod, then motioned them to sit. Dee was still amazed at just how fast news travelled through the Pneuma grapevine. But then again, Wade had eyes on the world that would have shocked most people if they’d known. Plus, his best friend was the CEO of Pneuma Inc. Even though they worked in the same building, they didn’t see each other often, but they talked and texted. She’d read an article once, back in her hero-worship days, that had compared Thorne, Crittenden, and Neumann to three parts of the same brain working to make Pneuma Inc. the progressively stunning organisation it was. She wondered if she could ever hope to function as that third part of the Pneuma brain. So far, her track record was spotty at best.

One of the possible strategies Wade had been looking into concerning the Valderian crisis was technology and information swaps that could serve as bribes or at least deal-sweeteners to prolong the red tape and extend the time before the first tree was cut. There was no such thing as a real done deal when working with the natural resources of a country with such an unstable government. Anything could be nationalised and any foreign entity could be kicked out at the drop of a hat no matter how much they had paid. It was a testament to how desperate Marston was that he was willing to risk it. And Jamison was the king of third-world, underhanded deals. Though Valderia was open for foreign business, as it were, the risk was still there. It happened all the time. There was no doubt that Jamison had done more than his fair share of bribing and hand-greasing to make the deal as secure as possible, and he had very deep pockets. Jamison Holdings was about money changing hands to make more money. It didn’t create. It didn’t invent. That was what Pneuma had over it in spades, though Pneuma was technically a much smaller company.

‘The money for the forestry rights will only pad the bank accounts of people in high places,’ Wade said, as if they needed reminding. He flipped through images of some of the amazing Pneuma technology that might interest the Valderians. There was everything from state-of-the-art low-impact farming technology, not yet even marketed in the States, to water purification systems, to eco-friendly desalination plants. It would have made for fascinating viewing under different circumstances.

‘I’m sorry to say it, but it’s really very unlikely the powers-that-be in Valderia are going to scrap serious cash in their bank accounts for technology that could actually help the Valderian people,’ Wade said.

‘Didn’t think they would,’ Ellis replied. ‘I just want all the facts in front of me so I’ll know what I’ve got to work with.’

‘They’re not hiring Valderians to do the clear-cut,’ Dee said. ‘I’d pretty much bet on that. It’s the way Jamison operates. Valderia is poor, but its neighbours are poorer, several having survived recent civil wars. He’ll hire the cheapest labour he can find. Then he’ll have them shipped in to live in tents and squalor on location, and there won’t be anything anyone can do about it.’

Ellis and Wade nodded their agreement, but seemed surprised she would know such information. ‘The man was trying to hire someone to round up a cheap labour force in some other shady deal when I had my run-in with him at Jasper and McDowell,’ she clarified. Then she added, ‘Does Marston know this?’

‘I doubt it,’ Ellis said. ‘I would imagine he’s salving his guilt by telling himself the clear-cut will generate jobs for the locals in Valderia.’

Ellis stood and paced. ‘There has to be another way. You’re right, Wade. None of what we have is enough. But there has to be something we’re missing.’

‘What about our lawyers?’ Wade asked.

‘They’re on it, but it takes time, like everything, time we don’t have.’

Dee’s BlackBerry rang into the tense atmosphere and both men stared at her expectantly. Her uncle had been in touch several times since they’d landed in Portland, always with tidbits that were helpful but not enough to sway the situation. But this time it wasn’t her uncle.

‘Ms Henning. Alan Marston here.’

‘Yes?’ It was all Dee could manage through her shock. Marston was the last person she expected to hear from.

‘Ms Henning, your secretary told me I’d find you in the Dungeon with Wade and Ellis, which suits me down to a tee, since I want them to hear what I have to say, as well as you. That is if you will be so kind as to put me on speakerphone and not just hang up on me like I so richly deserve.’

She looked up at Ellis and Wade. ‘It’s Alan Marston,’ she finally managed. ‘He wants to speak to all of us.’ Then she put him on speakerphone.

‘Al,’ Ellis said. Wade didn’t say anything.

‘Ellis, Wade. I wanted all three of you present when I eat crow and apologise to Ms Henning.’

Dee felt her way to a wing-backed chair that looked like it belonged in Wade’s grandmother’s sitting room rather than his office, and dropped into it.

‘Ms Henning? Are you still there?’

She nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see her, only hear her. ‘I’m here.’

‘I owe you a very big apology, ma’am. I was wrong. And I have always prided myself in being able to admit when I’ve made a mistake and do my best to rectify it, and, well, this one was a doozy. It should have been good enough for me that Ellis felt you worthy to be his executive assistant. I’ve known him long enough to know he only chooses the best. He told me Beverly played no small role in his choice of you for the position, something I’d have seen for myself if I hadn’t been such a stubborn old jackass. I’ve gone over everything. Not just the artwork with which you decorated my cocktail napkins, but everything, like I should have from the beginning. I was swayed by Jamison’s offer before I even gave you the benefit of the doubt. Well, Ms Henning, I’m giving it to you now. I’m ready to talk turkey if you haven’t offered that fine deal to someone else.’

‘You’re not going through with the deal with Jamison Holdings?’ Ellis asked.

‘No. The man was pretty bent out of shape about that. Said he’d ruin me. I told him I’d like to see him try.’

‘I’m sorry, Al,’ Ellis said. ‘I’m glad you’re back on board with Pneuma, but I’m sorry you ended up on Jamison’s bad side. Not a good place to be.’

There was a moment of silence, and they could hear Marston shifting and settling on the other end of the phone. ‘He’ll find someone else who will take the deal, you know. I’ve not solved your problem, Ellis. I’ve only made myself a better deal; a deal my conscience could live with.’

‘Don’t you worry, Al,’ Ellis said. ‘We’ll take care of Jamison.’

Marston chuckled softly. ‘Figured if anyone could you could, Ellis. Now, Ms Henning – seems a bit formal to call you Ms Henning. Don’t think I was ever that formal with Beverly. Is it all right if I call you Dee? After all, the two of us’ll be working closely together from now on.’

‘Of course, Mr Marston.’

‘It’s Al. Just Al. If we’re gonna work together as a team like Beverly and I did, then it’s just Al.’

‘Al.’

‘Dee, I want to move on the alliance with Trouvères ASAP. Time’s wasting and if I have to fight that bastard, Jamison, I’d prefer it were from a position of strength and with good allies.’

‘Of course, Al. I’ll get right on it.’

‘Good. That’s good. I know ya’ll are busy, so I’ll let you get back to it. I’ve made some notes and a few observations, Dee, that you might find helpful for the next time we meet. In the meantime, Ellis, Wade, good luck.’ He hung up.

Dee sat, too stunned to move. Ellis reached over and turned off the speakerphone on her BlackBerry, then he stood and offered her his hand. ‘Congratulations, Ms Henning. When you deal, you don’t mess around.’ He pulled her up from the chair and gave her a bear hug, lifting her off her feet.

Wade followed suit in an unaccustomed show of enthusiasm. ‘It feels like old times again,’ he said. ‘I’ll order a celebratory pizza with everything, then we can figure how to kick Jamison’s ass and save some trees.’

After lunch, Ellis and Dee both returned to their offices to business as usual. Dee was already in New York in her mind. Ellis had never known anyone as focused as she was. She said she could be ready for a quick turnaround. The Rousseaus were sending Daniels to finalise the deal. Ellis wasn’t pleased about that, but it couldn’t be helped. Daniels couldn’t get away from other business until next week, so there was at least a few days of respite.

Maybe Ellis would be able to join her for part of the closings. But she really didn’t need him there. And maybe she’d think he didn’t trust her. Maybe she’d think he thought her not capable of closing such a big deal alone. None of that was true. It was Daniels he didn’t trust, and he wasn’t keen on the two of them being together on the other side of the country, especially not since Daniels had made his intentions very clear. Still, he reminded himself, it had been his arms Dee had spent the night in after Marston’s disastrous party, not Daniels, even when she’d had every reason to run to him. That thought gave him a cold shiver. It didn’t bear thinking about, her running to Daniels. She was with him now, and they were a team. That was what mattered. And he had no intention of ever giving her a reason to want an alliance with anyone else.