Moment of Weakness: One Moment, Book 1 (9 page)

“Marcus Brookhein.” Marcus’s voice held more than a hint of expectation. As if he knew who was calling before she’d uttered a word.

At the sound of his low, sexy tone, Abby’s tongue glued itself to the top of her mouth. She sank down on the bed.

“Abby, is that you?” Amusement tinged his words which sparked the anger necessary for Abby to find her voice.

“Yes, it’s me.” She spoke quickly, wanting to strike fast and retreat to safety. “I’m returning your key tomorrow. The answer is no.”

“No? There is no
no
about this, Abby. No ifs. No buts. Only
when
.” Marcus’s supreme confidence in the outcome ruffled Abby’s feathers, just like he knew it would. “And do you know why I’m so sure of myself?” There was a pause as Marcus waited for her answer. Abby flexed her fingers on the phone but kept her mouth firmly shut. “Because you didn’t really call to tell me about the key—you could’ve given that back at any time. Only you didn’t.” His voice thickened, a low husky tone turning his words into soft strokes that circled the tops of her thighs.

Abby shifted on the bed, drawing her legs under her. It pulled the muscles tight around her sex, subtly increasing the throb of need. She couldn’t deny his accusation. They both knew he was right.

“So why do you think I called?” she managed to choke out.

Another warm chuckle blew across her ear. “Tell me what you intend to do with me when you come to my bed.” His words lapped at her like a caress. “Tell me what you want.”

Abby’s breath caught and she lay down on the bed, her hand pressed between her legs. A moan left her lips as pleasure spread out from her belly, a slow tingling burn which swept over her limbs, weighing them down.

Marcus’s breath hissed out. “Are you touching yourself?”

Abby shifted her hand and allowed her fingers to brush over her clit. Her nipples tightened and rubbed against her clothing. Caution was torn away. To hell with what came later. She needed the here and now. If she kept playing Marcus’s game his way, she was going to lose. She was already losing. The only thing left for Abby was to change the game plan.

“I want you to touch yourself.” She countered the question with her own demand, a hard spike of desire catching in her throat. “I want you to fist your cock in your hand and stroke it. Nice and slow.”

“Fuck. Abby.”

“Shut up and do it.” Abby gritted her teeth, holding the phone between her cheek and her shoulder as she quickly unbuttoned her top. She plucked at her nipples, conjuring up images of Marcus with his hand gripping his cock. His back would be arched, hips shoved forward, a moan on his lips. Waiting for her next command.

A low groan filled her ear, followed by short, heavy breaths that told Abby he was doing everything she asked. Unable to resist any longer, her fingers crept down her belly, under the elastic of her panties, slipping along the crease of her pussy to glide in the wetness. She rubbed at her clit, biting back the cry of pleasure that built in her throat. The first blush of sweat rolled over her body.

“Do you want to hear me, Abby?” Marcus’s voice was ragged and another spear of lust had her widening her legs, pressing harder. “Do you want to hear what I’m doing to my cock?”

For a moment, Abby could hear nothing except the rasp of her own breath. Switching the phone’s position, she pressed it against her ear. There it was. The scrape of sound as his fist pumped at his shaft, the soft slap of his balls as they hit his thighs. A rush of creamy moisture coated her fingers and she stifled her moan. Even as she listened, his tempo increased and she could hear the small grunts of pleasure as he did everything she’d asked of him. Not holding back.

“Can you hear me?” His voice was suddenly loud in her ear.

“Yeessss.” Her answer hissed out.

“Do you want me to come?” His guttural demand was testimony to how close he was.

Abby screwed her eyes tight, her fingers working frantically at her clit as pressure continued to build. “I want you to come,” she gasped out. “I want you to pump your cock. Hard.” The first rise of pleasure took hold like a rabid dog and shook Abby. Her fingers stuttered and she cried out. “Harder!”

“Ah. Abby. I’m coming!”

The raw, erotic edge of Marcus’s cry took Abby with him and she let go, shattering into pleasure so exquisite she couldn’t catch her breath, couldn’t hear the words now pouring down the phone from Marcus into her ear.

Shit. Marcus.
Abby swallowed down a hysterical laugh as she quickly pushed the end button on her phone and stuffed it under her pillow.

Surprisingly, she slept very well.

Chapter Nine

Abby was stopped by Marcus on her way in the next morning. She tried sneaking past his office door unnoticed, but Marcus
’s head came up and his gaze locked on hers.

“You’ll have to excuse me. I need to see Ms. Harkness for a moment.” He addressed whoever was in the room with him as he got up.

Abby snuck a quick look in and stifled a groan. Cole was there, plus the IT guru, his office manager and the accountant. She couldn’t exactly deny Marcus, not in front of his staff. Last night had been hot and sexy and wicked as hell—it’d also been a mistake. One she had to front up to this morning. Damn it. Abby hadn’t exactly figured out how she was going to deal with Marcus. She’d been hoping for a little more time.

Of course, Cole noticed there was something going on and his expression changed to one of concern.

“Can’t it wait until later? We’re nearly done.” He stepped in to rescue her. Or tried to.

His interference only made Marcus more determined. “No.” He made a show of looking at his watch. “We’re due for a break. You can take ten.”

Cole took a breath, his chin lifting. “I’m not sure I have ten minutes to spare. Not right now.”

Marcus’s spine visibly straightened as he stared his friend down. “Well, now suits me perfectly.” His words could have been chiseled in stone, they were that hard.

He grinned at Cole but it wasn’t a pleasant smile. The tight, satisfied gleam in his eye didn’t match the shit-eating grin. Marcus knew that he would win and he was letting everyone know it.

Humiliation stung at her cheeks but A
bby smiled stiffly, trying her best to ignore Cole’s sympathetic glance. Marcus caught their exchange and snapped into action. He reached her in seconds, his body vibrating with tension as he followed her out into the corridor. He shut the door behind him. A quick look left and right to make sure no one was watching and Marcus grabbed her hand to tug her further into the hall.

“Is there something going on with Cole that I should know about?” He barely waited to get her into the shadows before wheeling on her.

Cole?
Abby balked. Where the hell had that come from?

His fingers dug into her arms and she winced, recognizing this Marcus as the one who’d barked down the phone when she’d goaded him about attending to personal matters. He was jealous. The thought brought with it a kick of perverse pleasure.

It was hot. Damn hot.

“Nothing that involves you or your business.” Abby crossed her arms, refusing to give an inch. She experienced a thrill of victory in realizing she had the upper hand. Marcus had toyed with her all week, but now she had him where she wanted. And what she wanted was to make him squirm.

“So, that’s what’s going on here?” Marcus sneered, heat leeching from his eyes to leave them cold and hard. “You want Cole?”

Abby stared straight back into his flinty gaze. “Is that why you dragged me out here?” she mocked. “To ask about Cole?”

“After last night, don’t you think I have the right to know?” His words had the desired effect. Abby could feel her cheeks growing hot as she remembered every detail of their dirty phone call. “So, do you want him?” he asked again. Soft. Dangerous.

Yes.
It should be the easiest word to say. One word and Marcus wouldn’t look at her like he wanted to drag her down to the floor and fuck her within an inch of her life. Her heart thudded loudly as she opened her mouth, but that one little word stuck in her throat.

“No,” she croaked.

Marcus pushed out a breath and with its release, the rush of sexual tension flooded back in. The air became thick with it.

“Thank fuck for that,” he declared.

He gripped her hand and pulled her up the stairs. At the first door they came to, he hustled Abby in. She stumbled after him, desperately trying to pull her professional mask back in place and wrap herself in the hard shell that’d served her so well. But she couldn’t. Her stomach muscles clenched in hot, lustful spasms, her breasts aching, nipples taut with expectation. Abby had wanted this from the first moment she’d stepped into Marcus’s trap. Her soft inner belly was exposed and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. Or wanted to do.

Numbly, she stared up at Marcus as he pushed her back against the door. It closed with a click. He kept moving into her until the only thing between them was a shiver of anticipation. He rested his forehead against hers, his breath an intoxicating promise.

“I’ll tell you what I think.” Dampness seeped into Abby’s panties as his voice folded around her in a lover’s embrace. “I think you want me to touch you, but you don’t want to be touched. In here.”

Marcus placed his hand over her chest and his fingers dipped down to rest against the swell of her breast. Her nipples were impossibly tight, begging to be touched. As if he read her mind, he flicked his thumbs across them.
Exquisite.
Abby groaned, her knees going weak. Marcus steadied her as she regained her balance.

“So, here’s what I propose.” Marcus stared down at her. His eyes bright and fiery.

Abby strained forward, impatient for him to touch her again, aching for him to wrap himself around her—over her—in her. He gripped her tight, keeping that small gap between them and not allowing her to close it. Abby caught at her lip with her teeth.

“I still want you. All of you.” His words kicked off a flurry of warmth through her, followed by spikes of panic. There was a real possibility she’d agree to anything right now, just to have him.

Abby started struggling, but he nipped at her earlobe. She moaned, the pleasurable pain bringing her attention back to him swiftly.

“It’s okay, I’m not asking for that now,” he soothed, laying a trail of kisses along her jaw and down through the column of her throat. He splayed his fingers wide until his thumb lay just underneath the curve of her breast. Abby shuddered, her hands flexing against his shirt. “But until you’re ready to give me what I want, I’m not going to give you what you want either.”

Her gaze flew upward. She had no idea what he meant but it didn’t sound like anything good. She licked her dry lips. “So…”

“So, despite the fact I want to fuck you so bad I can hardly see straight, I’m not going to.”

That Abby did hear clearly. “Wh-what?” She pulled away from his hold but again, Marcus refused to release her.

“I’ll do everything else you ask.” He continued to feather his lips across her cheeks, nibbling at the corner of her mouth. “Anything else you ask. But, until you’re ready to admit that you want me like I want you, that’s all I have to offer.”

He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was. Abby’s head was full of cobwebs, nothing made sense. She struggled again and this time he allowed her a whisper of space.

“You’re saying you want me to love you?” she asked. Her heart tripped into double time just saying the word. She shuddered. Not even the promise of sex with Marcus would convince her to do that.

“No.” Marcus’s tone lightened and his eyes hinted at amusement. Abby sipped in a breath and tried to relax. Until his next words. “But I’m saying that I could if you give me the chance.”

Abby shook her head and pulled out of his embrace. She was suffocating. Her hand touched her throat, encouraging it to open and let her breathe. This was where she should laugh in his face and walk away. Except she couldn’t. Not because he wouldn’t let her go, but because she didn’t want him to.

He stepped into her again. Not giving Abby time to collect her thoughts. He slid his hands up her arms, molding the curves of her shoulders. He flicked open the buttons of her shirt and her breasts came into view, arching forward, begging to be petted. He pinched at her nipples. It was all too brief before his hands dropped to glide up the outside of her thighs, lifting her skirt to her hips. Her head fell back as Marcus skimmed over her crotch.

He groaned. “So wet.”

Two fingers slid under the elastic of her panties and rubbed across her clit. Sensations arced through her, following each movement of his exploration. He held fast to her ass, keeping her pressed against him. His teeth grazed her nipple. Abby gave up fighting against the pleasure and reached inside his waistband to curl her fingers around his cock.

“You want to fuck me?” She ground her clit against his hand, her words nothing more than panted breaths.

“Yes.” His hiss of assent was filled with something close to pain.

Abby tried to smile but her teeth gritted together as she fought against the pounding fury of lust beating at her. “Then take me,” she goaded, fumbling with his button, pulling down his zipper to release him.

His cock sprang free, but Marcus froze as a dark shadow flitted over his face and snuffed out the spark of hard desire.

“If I do, then neither of us will win,” he said carefully. “Because I promise you this, it will be the last thing we do together.” Marcus stared her straight in the eye and Abby knew he meant every word. “Is that what you want?”

Abby’s hand stilled and her breath held deep in her lungs. An icy sweat prickled across her skin. She knew in that moment that one time would never be enough.

“Is that what you want?” Marcus rasped out again. Beads of moisture gathered on his forehead.

“Yes. No. I…I can’t think.” Mind and body reeling with indecision, Abby slid her hand free from his trousers and took a step back.

Marcus closed his eyes. Then he opened them again, his gaze even more determined. “Answer me this then. Do you want me?”

That was an easy yes. There was no point denying it. “I want you to fuck me.”

Marcus swore roughly, the curse half pain, half satisfaction. He reached for her before she could retreat any further.

“At least let me finish you,” he almost groaned. “I need to finish you.”

“No.” Abby’s nails bit into her palms. Her clit throbbed so hard it was a drumbeat, but the power of control surged through her body as he stared back at her. Waiting for her answer. This type of game she knew. “If you can’t give me what I want, then I want this. To know you’ll be thinking about me all day.” Abby leaned forward, getting as close as she could without touching. “To know how much you want to push inside me. Take me. Fill me.”

Marcus sucked in a breath, He followed her movements as she smoothed her skirt and re-buttoned her jacket. She bent over to straighten the straps on her shoes and he moved behind her. The hard ridge of his cock rested against her ass and she wanted nothing more than to shove back her hips and relieve the pressure in her swollen pussy, every little breath sending sharp slivers of need to every erogenous zone.

He rocked into her and she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting hard to find the strength to move away.

“Let’s go then,” Marcus said. The lines around his mouth were tight, his eyes gleaming. “But just so you know. We will be finishing this later.”

Abby couldn’t stop the grin spreading across her face.

“Oh. Yes. This game isn’t nearly over yet.”

Marcus couldn’t leave Abby alone for long. It’d been thirty minutes since their
meeting
upstairs, thirty minutes where at any time she could flip back into robotron mode. He sent a meeting request and counted down the twenty seconds it took her to reply. Confirmed.

He watched in amusement as Abby half rose from her desk when he sauntered through the door, then sank back onto the edge of her chair. She was tensed like a wire spring. Marcus smiled. He was eager to have some fun. To play.

And he could do anything shy of fucking her.

He loved the way her mouth fell open when all he did was utter a polite greeting and stroll across to the bookshelves.

“Don’t you want to…” Abby started. Then stopped, pressing her lips together to halt the flow of words.

“Want to what?” He turned and regarded her. “Touch you? Tease you?”

Her hands disappeared behind her back but not before Marcus saw them curl at her sides. She wanted him to do all that and more. And he wanted to, very much so. But, he didn’t make a move toward her. The silence struck louder than words.

Why was it so important to hear her say it? His insides were vibrating with an emotion he couldn’t even begin to understand, this need to have her capitulate to his demands. Marcus clawed back a little of his hard-earned restraint. That wasn’t the way to win Abby. That way lay failure. He fought to keep the teasing quality in his voice and hide the fierce need he had for her to surrender.

“Yes.” He answered his own question. “But I have work to do first. I’m only here to look for…something.”

Marcus crouched to get to the lower shelves of the bookcase. He hid his smile. He knew his pants would mold to his ass, something she liked digging her nails into, if he remembered correctly. After her reaction to him earlier, he’d thought she’d cave in first. But of course, Abby never did what Marcus expected of her.

That was what made playing so much fun.

“Perhaps this is what you’re looking for?” She stepped in close and the heat level between them sky rocketed.

Marcus stretched to his feet, intending to intimidate her. He was so close he could see each individual hair in the escaped curl resting against her chin. She smiled and bent over in front of him. His balls tightened, his cock growing thick and hard and heavy at the sight. Abby took her own sweet time looking over the selection of books on the bottom shelf. Marcus inched closer, his breathing sounding harsh in his ears as he waited for her to edge back and rub against him.

“Or maybe not,” she murmured a moment later.

She sank down on her knees and swung around to look up. Her head was level with his crotch. Sweat sheened his brow and his lips parted to catch his tongue between his teeth.

“Maybe you’re not looking in the right place,” she purred.

Marcus bit back a curse and reached out to grab at the nearest shelf as Abby raised herself back on her feet. She slid upward between him and the books, her breasts ever-so-slightly grazing his chest. The muscles in his arm stood out like strands of thick rope as she beat him at his own game.

Marcus’s gaze locked on hers and the stark need in her stare pulled him back from the edge and gave him back the control she’d stripped from him. He leaned forward until their lips were millimeters apart and his body followed, crowding her up against the shelves. He was too scared to breathe, his control stretched to breaking point.