Moment of Weakness: One Moment, Book 1 (4 page)

She leaned forward to rest her hands on the table and every cell in Marcus’s body jumped to DEFCON 5. Her position squeezed her breasts together to create a deep valley Marcus wanted to get lost in. Her arms framed the perfect image of her flat, tanned stomach and a tidy strip of perfectly contoured hair. So utterly sexy and all he wanted was to splay her wide on the table and decimate every inch of her control.

He grasped the leather chair arms, barely restrained from snaking out and pulling her onto his lap. The head of his cock glistened, a single drop of liquid winking like a pearl bead. Abby’s eyes locked on it and Marcus knew she was weighing what to do. Her tongue sneaked out to brush her bottom lip.

Marcus tightened his grip to hold himself in place. He wasn’t a stranger to blowjobs. Hell, he loved having a girl lick at his cock like a piece of candy. But he didn’t like the fact Abby was dictating the way the game was played. He didn’t like that at all. They were both fighting for control. Jockeying for position. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time Marcus had bested an opponent by being patient and probing for weakness.

He searched for any signs Abby might be wavering. Nothing. No hint of vulnerability. He could only watch as she slowly straightened, defying him as her lips flattened into an uncompromising line.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what that is?” Abby’s voice tightened and her gaze burned steadily into his. Enthralling him.

“What…that is?” He struggled to make sense of her words, forgetting her earlier question as his thoughts drowned in a deep pool of desire.

“What I can do for you?” she reminded him, her voice a low husk as she strolled nearer. Her fingers flexed at her sides and Marcus’s eyes flicked to the telltale gesture.

He shook his head, a smile touching his lips. “No. I want you to show me.”

Her eyes flashed with heat and Marcus allowed himself to relax farther into his seat, inviting her closer with a flex of his hips. He had this. It was what Marcus excelled at. Taking control. And he so badly wanted to manipulate Abby, push her to the pinnacle of sensuous pleasure that was orchestrated only by him. She’d had enough time to tease him. Now let the master do his job.

Marcus thought Abby was agreeing when she strolled forward with rolling hips and parted lips. Her thighs scissored together, the stark outline of her hip bones moving like liquid metal under her skin. Coherency became lost in a haze as base animal lust rose up to punch him. Hard. She came to a stop in front of him. But instead of graceful acquiesce and a ready smile, Abby looked down sternly.

“This is my presentation,” she bit out.

Blood roared louder in Marcus’s ears. The sensation prickled, his muscles locking tight so he could hardly move. He was used to doing what he wanted. Who he wanted. When he wanted. Being at a disadvantage, less than others, scraped like nails over an open wound. He needed to control. To dominate. To win.

“I want to touch you,” he rasped.

“A second ago you said you wanted me to show you,” she retorted, the sly smile sending a scurry of chills down his spine.

Marcus’s heart stampeded in his chest. He couldn’t look away, couldn’t move a muscle to touch her.

“Show me then.” His words were barely more than a guttural rumble as he yielded to the pressure of anticipated pleasure.

He was powerless. And she knew it. Something dark flared in Abby’s eyes as she fell to her knees and drew his aching cock deep into her mouth.

“Fuuucccckkk.”

Marcus’s whole body bucked as her velvety warm mouth enveloped him. He had given in yet she was the one on her knees before him. The sweet juxtaposition tipped him further off balance and he wrapped his hand in her hair to pull her back.

“I’m close to coming,” he growled out a warning.

Abby’s eyes went flat as she stared up at him, her arctic-cold gaze doing nothing to lessen the tightness in his groin. She was enjoying this, he realized, his every reaction making her more. And him less.

“Let go,” she ordered.

A cold sweat rolled over his body, followed by a splash of hot, unfettered desire. For a flickering second, he wanted to hold her right there, to see how far he could push her, this woman that could have him close to losing it in the heat of one second and chilling cold the next. But more than that, he wanted her to engulf him in her mouth, to take him inside her and take everything he had. To undo him. For Abby, he was willing to let go. For her pleasure.

With a shudder, Marcus loosened his grip.

“Good,” she murmured, rewarding him with a sweet, luscious lick around the sensitive skin of his head. His cock disappeared between her lips.

Marcus dug his fingers into the chair arms and gave himself over to the fucktastic feeling of Abby’s mouth wrapped around him, licking then swallowing him whole, creating a delicious suction as she retreated, only to start all over again. Of their own accord, his hips started moving to the steady rhythm, his balls squeezing in a sensual grip, his gut clenching as pleasure strangled him. But it was the sight of his cock sliding in and out of Abby’s lips that drove him to the edge and tipped him over.

With a garbled shout he lost control.

As soon as he got his breath back, Marcus vowed to repay her every drop of pleasure in return.

In the time it took for him to recover, he had her pinned to the floor, his tongue punishing her mouth before starting the long, teasing journey over every inch of her.

Now the edge had been knocked off his hunger, Marcus could take a little more time. His victory over Abby needed to be skillfully handled, her surrender to him complete. Because he had no intention of this finishing in less than three hours’ time. At the very least, he would have her all of tonight. Success over Abby would taste far too sweet to be short-lived.

And speaking of sweet…Abby struggled up onto her elbows as she tried to get up from beneath him. Marcus pushed back on her belly to hold her in place. He sank between her legs and pulled her hips forward, feeling the dig of her heels on his back. He muffled a moan into her pussy as his mouth became covered in the musky nectar of her juices, his senses filled with her taste, her scent, the smooth, wet folds of her center. She was so fucking sweet.

The muscles in her stomach tensed and Marcus used his hands to open her further so his tongue could find the hard nub of her clit. He circled around it, feeling it swell and plump under his attention. Openmouthed, he kissed his way back down to run his tongue around her opening before dipping in to taste again. Abby’s guttural groans spurred him on, his spent cock pulsing back to life as her limbs became lax.

He wanted her again. But he wanted this too. To have her bucking and writhing against him. To feel her orgasm explode against his tongue. He went back to her clit, sucking it into his mouth then soothing with long, unhurried licks followed by short, hard presses. Back to the wet heat of her sex. Her hips twisted beneath him each time his tongue plunged into her.

He lifted his head to look up the length of Abby’s body. His cock grew thick and hard, bordering on painful when he saw she was tugging at her nipples, rolling them between her fingers. A spurt of heat as precome beaded. He closed his eyes.

“Do you want me to finish it?” His voice was little more than a growl of sound. Slipping his thumb into her tight heat, Marcus pressed against her vaginal wall, hitting the spot. Her back arched and he did it again. “Tell me you want me to finish it,” he commanded. He wanted no less from her than she had demanded of him.

“Fin…finish it.” Abby’s head rolled back and forth on the table.

With a deep groan of satisfaction, Marcus licked at her hungrily, all the time gliding his thumb in and out, press, in and out. She was so wet there was almost no friction. He scraped his teeth against the nub of her clit and she let out a high-pitched cry. Her body lifted from the table as he clamped his lips down around her. He switched his thumb and tongue around so he was lapping at her orgasm, all the time pressing against her clit as her thighs clinched tight around his shoulders.

Only when her body finally relaxed into a stupor did Marcus help her up.

“I will have you all night.” He didn’t bother hiding his smug satisfaction when she had to lean over to get her breath back. “But I won’t make you beg.”

Chapter Four

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Ms. Harkness?” The concierge’s voice sounded from outside the boardroom.

“Shit.” Abby looked at her watch, then realized it must’ve come off somewhere in the last few hours. She dropped her arm across her forehead with a groan. Every part of her ached. Delightfully.

Marcus came to the rescue. “One moment.” He jumped up to call through the door.

Abby wondered how the hell he had any energy left.

“Ms. Harkness specifically asked me to get her.” The concierge’s crisp tones had a definite edge.

Abby got to her knees and grabbed her blouse. She shoved it on, uncaring that she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. She motioned for Marcus to unlock the door, folding her arms to hide the view of her swollen, tongue-lashed nipples.

The concierge swung into view. His mouth twitched. No doubt he was catching the scent of sex and come and sweat from three hours of the most satisfyingly, physical sexcapades Abby had ever put herself through. And she’d do it again with Marcus in a heartbeat. Which is why it could never happen.

“Thank you. I’ll be right out.” She smiled reassuringly as Marcus shut the door on the concierge’s censuring face. “You’re so bad.” Abby had intended to tease Marcus about his rudeness, but he was right there, capturing her lips with his own.

His throaty moan told her they were both still eager. “So, are you willing to admit you want more? That you want to stay the night with me?”

Marcus’s questions yanked Abby straight back to reality like a cold slap.

She sucked in a breath as the air became heavy and uncomfortable. Marcus stared at her, his eyes cutting through the layers she hid under to touch on something raw. This was exactly why she’d stayed away from him. This was why she’d let Logan’s flirty overtures tug her in an entirely different direction.

Because it was safe. Yes. She wanted to stay. She could at least admit to herself that all she wanted to do was to crawl into bed beside Marcus and snuggle. Snuggle, for fuck’s sake—which was why she needed to leave. This way wasn’t for her. She craved intimacy but it was a slippery slope toward having any real feelings. With real feelings lay hurt.
Like Nathan.

A bark of sharp laughter jarred her back to the boardroom and Marcus’s stare hardened.

“No, best not.” He turned away, reading her rejection.

Hollowness exploded from the inside out, gnawing a giant hole somewhere in the region of her chest. Depriving herself was easy, but his look of disgust was something else. Although, it still wasn’t enough to give in.

“Best not.” She echoed his words before she could change her mind. She grabbed her clothes and struggled into them, each piece adding another barrier to hide behind, a physical blockade against her need for him.

“Abby.”

Her name was a plea and it broke something within her.

“You knew the rules.” She turned on him sharply. “Now deal with it.”

His face closed down and any hint of softness fast disappeared. “Yes. Let’s not forget the fucking rules,” Marcus said. He snapped open the door.

The concierge’s face remained stoic as Abby slipped out. As if he couldn’t tell she’d been fucked on every surface in the room, every inch of her body licked, sucked and totally satisfied.

Marcus followed her silently to the lift. On their way to the boardroom, there had been excitement and heat, an indefinable spark of energy between them. Now only a cold chill licked the air. Abby pressed the call button, fighting the sudden, overwhelming urge to cry. She gritted her teeth, thankful when the door opened. Yet she hesitated to get in.

She hated this. Hated the sting of anger peppering the air. Holding them apart. Abby rubbed at her arms, her fingers numbly gripping her wallet. She wanted to hold on to the memory of when they’d been flesh to flesh, heat to heat, for a moment longer. It was all she had to take with her. But if she stepped into the elevator with Marcus now, that too would be gone, buried under stinging looks and recriminations.

The elevator dinged. The doors slid open. At the last moment, Abby ducked out of Marcus’s way and made a run for the service door.

“Abby!”

Something in his voice made her stop. Or maybe she just wanted one final look.

She turned.

“I haven’t finished with you yet.”

The words were spoken so low she wasn’t sure she’d heard them right.

And she didn’t want to find out either. Because she wanted them to be true. The thought scared her more than anything that’d happened so far and helped to shore up the last few cracks left in her façade.

“You came. You saw. I conquered.” Abby threw Marcus an uncompromising look as she opened the door.

“The game isn’t over yet,” he warned.

“Yeah. It is,” Abby informed him. “And you lost.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

Marcus stepped into the lift and waited for the swish of doors to close him in. He might as well have chased Abby down the hallway with a shotgun. That probably would have been more merciful than asking her back to his room for the night.

He groaned and closed his eyes. Abby was the clever one. She’d run, too scared to face what had happened between them. Because something
had
happened. Something that had lulled Marcus into thinking he’d been winning. It didn’t sit well that he’d cracked first. Hell, he’d practically begged.

Why now? Marcus had experienced temptation like Abby before. Shit, he’d even had a girlfriend or two in between acquiring and dismantling his conglomeration of companies. But none had ever held his interest once the competitive thrill of the chase had passed. They’d soon figured out his need for control and been so damn agreeable it stripped Marcus of any sense of satisfaction. There’d been no point in continuing. Their acquiescence was tantamount to subservience and subservience amounted to giving in. Marcus couldn’t abide weakness.

Abby wasn’t weak. She hadn’t just tweaked Marcus’s interest tonight, but come straight up and given it a good yank. An intriguing mix of need and control, domination and supplication, three hours and she’d burrowed deep under his skin.

How much was an act and how much was Abby? The game had been furthermost from Marcus’s mind when they’d been
playing
, but he’d liked it a little too much to let her go sweetly into the night.

Because he hadn’t won? Maybe. But he hadn’t lost either. And Abby didn’t know Marcus at all if she thought he was giving up. She might think she was tough, but he’d been up against tougher. He hadn’t put up with six years of
taking it
from the rich, arrogant assholes like Logan to fall over at the first hurdle. Or the second. Or even the last.

Marcus smiled grimly as the elevator opened at the top floor, trying not to notice his and Abby’s own subtle scent unfurl around him. With a groan, he turned down the hallway, ignoring his stiffening cock and the fact that the woman who could alleviate the ache slept in a room somewhere beneath him.

There would be a next time. He dug into his pocket for his phone and put through a call to his home.

“This better not be about work,” Cole grumbled as he answered Marcus’s call. “It’s late.”

“Since when has that ever stopped you from working?”

“I’m a reformed man,” Cole retorted. “A few weeks of looking after your companies while you swan off playing consultant and I’m thinking of giving it up.”

“Bullshit,” Marcus scoffed. They’d known each other too long for him to believe it. “You love it. Anyway, if it is true, you’ll be happy to know I’m on my way back tomorrow. So, what am I walking into?” He glanced past the elevator to the stairwell. If business was still solid in Wellsford, a part of him was toying with the idea of tracking Abby down tonight. No more games. This time, he’d be the one making the rules. And she would obey them.

“Well, since you ask, things are turning to shit in New Zealand.” Cole broke the news about Marcus’s latest software acquisition apologetically. “Nagasaki wants an earlier release on the new game, but I can’t get a firm grip on whether we have the resources to do it.”

Marcus’s lips thinned, his attention immediately switching to his business. “So get more resource.”

“It’s not that easy.” Cole put in quickly. “Rob is trying to get additional people but the market there is so small…”

“Then shift production here,” Marcus countered. “I can outsource to any number of platform providers here in the States and get it done twice as fast.”

There was a pause at the other end of the line and Marcus rolled his eyes. He knew what his friend was thinking.

“And what about Rob and his team?” Cole asked softly.

“Harden up.” Marcus was blunt and to the point. There was no room for compassion in business. “I bought the company to deliver this deal to Nagasaki. If they can’t do that…” He left the statement hanging. Cole remained quiet and he sighed. “Business is business. You know that.”

They’d both learned that lesson at school with the sons of Maryland’s privileged society the hard way. Marcus had been the scholarship student and Cole was the kid with the right name but none of the money or power to go with it. The battle of survival against the power-hungry, influential boys had taught Marcus if you wanted to win, you had to control the game. However you could.

“I think you should at least meet with them,” Cole said. “Hear what Rob has to say.”

Marcus rubbed at his brow and considered his options. One of which was not going to be tracking down the delectable Ms. Harkness tonight. “I’ll give Nagasaki a call,” he conceded finally. He heard Cole release a breath. His friend still had too much of a social conscience. “But I’m not going to New Zealand. I don’t have time to fly to the other side of the world.” Racing away to help a failing company wasn’t an efficient use of Marcus’s time. If the company couldn’t fulfill its contract, he’d have no choice but to get rid of it.

Besides, there was his encounter with Abby to consider. Nobody just declared themselves the winner and expected the game to be over. That wasn’t how the game was played. She wanted to go up against him? Challenge accepted. Abby had just become Marcus’s next project. He wouldn’t rest until he’d found a way past the odds stacked against him. He would have her again.

Oh, she’d be a tricky competitor. Marcus knew he’d need to play this one very carefully. He would never walk away, but he had a feeling Abby might. She’d been hurt, that much was clear from the shock she’d displayed when he’d outed Logan. He’d felt bad for Abby at the time. Now it excited him.

Abby had a weakness which gave Marcus an edge. He smiled as he hung up the phone. The slimmest margin was all he needed.

Abby had long since given up trying to sleep and was waiting at the airport six hours before her scheduled flight to Chicago.

She wanted, no, needed to forget last night—which had been impossible in that damn hotel room. Tossing and turning in bed, it’d been too easy to remember the way her body had moved beneath Marcus’s hands as they’d traced each crease and hollow, the way his tongue had licked her skin, causing explosions of pleasure along every nerve. Each sleeping position became more uncomfortable than the last, while every movement caused her muscles to stretch and ache with satisfaction.

Abby was completely and utterly satiated. A pity her brain hadn’t caught up with that fact yet. Scenes from last night kept rolling, faster than a flickering kaleidoscope, replaying each delicious event that had taken place after Marcus had closed the boardroom door. And make no mistake. They were
events
.

Twice during the night Abby considered going back up to the top floor—and what?—sneak along the corridor until she sniffed Marcus out?
Gah!
It was when she’d gotten half-dressed with the intention of heading for the elevator that Abby decided the time had come to leave Baltimore.

A lifetime later, and she was approaching Chicago. The city lay low in a thick bank of clouds, but as the plane dropped through the final layers, the familiar skyscape slowly revealed itself. Only then did the tension begin to ease from Abby’s shoulders, her breathing less like an exercise and more of a habit.

For the first time in a long time, Abby was looking forward to coming home.

The cab pulled up outside her block. The buildings’ outer façade still reflected the rough and ready heritage of an old workers quarters. Inside was anything but—gleaming white counters offset functional furnishings in various shades of white and gray. Abby had all the modern facilities without needing to care for any of it. A quick swipe of the surfaces and it was like she’d never been away.

Except for the light blinking on her answering machine.

A light that made Abby’s stomach clench into a tight ball as her muscles locked in place. It took several deep breaths before she managed to sidle past the table where the phone sat. She knew who it would be. Her mother. Or her sister, Nicky. They’d tracked her down again. It had to be them because Stacy was the only person who knew Abby’s home number and even then, she never used it. She always called Abby’s cell.

Abby dumped her bag in her bedroom at the end of the hall. Her next stop was the kitchen. She cracked the top on a water from the fridge and poured herself a glass, only realizing she was shaking when liquid sloshed over the rim.

Damn it.
After three years of dodging her family, she thought she’d be immune to this shit. Their limp-wristed olive branches after Nathan and Nicky had come clean about their
lurve
. They hadn’t wanted to hurt her, they’d said. As if not telling her hurt any less when the truth came out.

Abby lifted the glass to her cheek and focused on the chill biting into her skin until she couldn’t feel anything through the numbing cold. Not the glass. Not her fingers. Nothing. Just like they’d done to her heart.

She laughed, the harsh sound echoing around the empty room and coming back to where she stood by the counter. It was funny, really. In Nathan, Abby had thought she’d found the one thing her sister didn’t have. Nicky had been overseas on a postgraduate scholarship, Abby finishing her degree at the local college. As odd as it seemed for an accountant, mathematics had never been Abby’s strong suit. Good Samaritan Nathan had offered to help with extra tutoring.