Naked (13 page)

“Yes.” It came out on a moan. “All of the above.” Her cheeks had turned bright red and she was barely breathing. She looked as if one tiny touch would cause her to explode.

His finger caressed the bare skin at her waist. “So then it’s gentleman’s choice.”

The crack of a ball hitting pins sounded beside them, and he realized he needed to get them out of there.

She sucked in a breath through her teeth when he leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “There’s only one problem. I didn’t bring any protection.”

Note to self. Stash condoms…everywhere for the next four weeks.

The tension disappeared from her face and turned into a sexy grin that had him tightening the front of his jeans. “I did.”

She was constantly surprising him. Just when he thought she’d reached her limit, she pushed past it. So maybe it was all right for him to push a little bit more.

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her to the benches and ordered her to remove the hideous shoes. He did the same and, with a hurried pace, returned the shoes to the clerk then jerked her toward the entrance. Cool air hit him in the face when they breached the front door, a welcome caress along his scorching skin.

When they reached the truck, he double-clicked the key fob. The sharp sound of the locks releasing matched the intense beat of his heart.

He twirled her in front of him pressing her against the metal, placing both palms against the driver’s side window. He swooped in and pressed his lips to hers. She moaned as soon as he’d made contact and thrust her tongue inside his mouth.

“Noah…” She groaned when his hand clamped onto her thigh. “Please…” She pleaded. “I need this.”

Not I need
you
. Not I
want
you. She just wanted to do
it
. A tiny hint of uneasiness settled in his chest but he shook it off.

Easy. Uncomplicated.

He scrambled for the door handle, opening it, then pressing her into the driver’s seat. With the door open and the brick wall he’d backed up against they were almost completely covered.

Her hand found his erection and she massaged him. “What am I going to do with you?” A curse fell from his lips when she squeezed.

“You already told me.” Her breath came out heavy. In short, quick pants. “Bend me over and leave a handprint.”

“So you do have a preference.”

“Oh, God.” Her head fell back. “Please.”

She wanted this. Just as much as he did.

“God’s not going to help you here, sweetheart.” He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. “I’m your lord and savior, now. So be a good girl, Violet, and spread your legs.”

“I love the way you say my name.”

There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation. She’d done as he’d commanded and he slipped his hand between her thighs.

“Violet.” He kissed her nose. “Violet.” His voice was low, the words harder to get out the closer he came to sinking inside her.

She shivered.

“Does it excite you?”

She sucked in a shaky breath when he grazed her warm center. “Maybe it’s not the sound of my voice. Maybe you like the idea of getting caught.”

Looking down, he pulled up her skirt, but he stopped. The contrast between his work-roughened hands and the smooth skin of her thigh knocked him out of the moment. For the first time in a long time, he cared about putting his hands on a woman. He cared about what she’d think of his touch.

But Violet didn’t give him a chance to dwell.

“Please touch me,” she moaned out the words while grabbing his hand, pressing it between her thighs. She exhaled a shaky breath when he made contact.

A low growl started in his chest. Who needed all the bells and whistles? All he needed to get off was her wantonness. Her utter disregard for modesty. She wanted it. She wanted him. He was a fool to forget that.

With renewed determination, he slipped a finger under the fabric of her panties, scorching his skin. He found her wet. “All ready for me.”

“I was ready for you the minute you picked me up.”

He glided his free hand down the side of her face, but when it got closer to her neck, she clasped hers around his wrist, maneuvering him away. She held his hand between their bodies against his stomach.

Tension crept between them. Her eyes pleaded with him to leave it alone. He had no idea what she was hiding. Was it her breasts? Was it general insecurity? But right now, her privacy was the least of his concerns. Right now, all he wanted was his cock inside her. Baggage. Insecurity. Trauma. Those things had no place in this parking lot.

With his other hand still under her skirt, he circled her clit, dipping his thumb into the wetness in her slit, and returned, circling until her eyes rolled back along with her head.

She moaned, her hand breaking free of his wrist to grasp on to his shoulders. But he respected her wishes and didn’t return to her neck.

Instead, he used both hands to lift her onto the driver’s seat.

Immediately, she pulled him in, tugging at the collar of his shirt and wrapped her legs around him with the force of a vise. She smashed their mouths together, sucking and licking his lips and tongue. Feverishly. Like she couldn’t get enough of his taste. Of him.

His slipped both hands under her skirt to find her panties. “Lift.” He wasted zero time pulling them from her hips, down her thighs, and along her calves. She leaned back and lifted her legs, kicking her feet until one sprung free from the panties, and she spread her legs wide.

“Get the condom.” He grunted the words.

She leaned back, reaching for the purse she’d thrown on the passenger seat. While she searched for the condom, he pulled down his zipper and grabbed his erection, pulling it free of his boxer briefs.

The crinkle of the wrapper mixed with the rush of blood in his ears had him on high alert. Sights. Sounds. Everything was hypersensitive because of the need, his overwhelming desire to plunge inside her.

She sheathed him and with one final look at their surroundings to ensure privacy, he grabbed his cock at the base and penetrated her folds. Slipping through the wetness, up and down, until he found the sweet spot and pushed inside.

A heavy groan escaped his lips when he’d found heaven, and it was more than he’d ever expected. He pumped slowly, getting his bearings, learning the lay of the land. He loved that she clutched him so closely. Her face buried in his neck. Her fingernails biting his skin beneath the fabric of his shirt.

Loud music and laughing filled the parking lot when the doors to the alley opened. Suddenly his hips were moving to the bass of the music. Steady, rough pumps of his pelvis had her moaning, had him vibrating, staving off his orgasm.

He was already in the lead on that front. It was her turn to come.

Her frantic breathing mimicked his own and he was pretty sure his heart might beat out of his chest. But he was not going to blow prematurely.

“Noah…” His name fell from her lips in passion, and it was the sexiest thing he’d ever heard. She licked his neck. “You taste good.”

He shuddered. Her words too much for him to survive, so he changed the angle, moving his neck away from her. “Is this what you need?”

He’d try anything if it meant bringing her pleasure. He hadn’t learned her tells. He didn’t know the signs. And that made him even more determined that this wouldn’t be the only time they’d be having sex.

A string of yeses fell from her lips as he continued to pump short, even strokes and her legs tightened around him, one heel digging into his ass.

“What do you need, baby? Tell me.” He wanted to learn. He wanted to know all the things that resulted in her letting go, in her surrendering to him. He wanted to know exactly what he needed to do to make her—

“Say my name?” she cried out. “Noah…please.”

He fucked her harder. “Violet,” he grunted her name between his thrusts. “Violet.”

Her entire body stiffened in his arms, and he watched as her eyes rolled back in her head. Her lips moved, whispering silent somethings as she clamped around his cock.

Three strokes later, it was his turn to explode, emptying his seed into the condom with a grunt.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “That’s exactly what’s it supposed to be like.”

It was the second time she’d made a comment about things being a certain way. He didn’t understand what she meant. But if she was referring to the fact that this encounter in his truck in the parking lot of bowling alley was epic…then yes. That was exactly what
it
was supposed to be like.

“You better get used to it.” He kissed her nose. “Because there’s going to be a lot more coming your way.”

Chapter 10

The sun streamed through the windows on the left side of the boardroom at Walker Industries. The heat still hadn’t been turned off in the building so the room was stuffy, stifling, or maybe it was just Violet’s nerves. How was she supposed to feel when she was minutes from being announced as her father’s successor?

Her heart was racing. And it had nothing to do with the night she’d spent with Noah. The life-changing night that had opened the floodgates to hopefully many more. The night where for the first time she’d shed her inhibitions and let desire guide her.

And it had been the best night of her life.

That’s what she should be thinking about. Instead she was here, trying to get back to business.

Heat engulfed her. Damn this scarf. She was burning up from the inside out, from her toes that were squeezed into a pair of ankle-length stiletto boots to the top of her head. If she had been wearing a hat the heat would have been trapped and she feared she would’ve combusted from the temperature.

When the last of the board members had taken their seat at the boardroom table, Violet looked around the room at the men who would be her advisors, her comrades, and, potentially, her biggest critics for the foreseeable future.

Jonathon Wright and Ian Zohr had made their fortunes in construction as well; having sold their companies to the highest bidder, they were using their retirement to remain active in the business through this board. As part of their appointment, both of them had to give up their consulting businesses, as it would be a direct conflict with the work being done by Walker Industries.

Clive Baldwin had been the ex-president of a large banking institution and while he didn’t have any experience in construction, his knowledge of finance had brought an interesting dynamic to the group.

Evan James had worked for a residential builder for thirty years. She knew he would be the easy sell for her new project. She hoped that her idea was enough to pique his interest, and later her strategy and design would be enough to secure his favorable vote.

Her mother also had a spot on the board but only showed up when things needed to be voted on. She always voted in line with her father. Since she had already made a point of voicing her displeasure about Violet taking over the company, she only hoped that the same loyalty would extend to her when it came to approving her residential project.

Needless to say, there was an alarming amount of testosterone in the room. Her tiny ounce of estrogen had been snuffed out the moment she’d entered, and she feared it might never be enough to overpower the knowledge and experience of the men sitting around the table.

“What’s this all about, Ward?” Jonathon asked. He was restless at the opposite end of the table. He hadn’t aged well in his sixty or so years. She remembered him from her father’s parties. He had been a handsome man with dark hair and broad shoulders. Fifteen years and two wives later, he was fully gray, his face sullen and pale.

“I don’t really know how to begin so I’m just going to say it.” Her father straightened in his seat and clasped his hands together on the table. “Almost a year and a half ago now, I was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.”

Silence. All of them stared at her father. A table of blank faces giving away nothing.

Violet didn’t know how the board was going to react. These men were her father’s friends. This meeting was about more than just business.

“Ward…?” Paul Westlake, the CFO, sat closest to her father, always at his left, where Violet was always on his right. He was speechless. And that wasn’t a trait that looked good on him. He was a man of few words but those words were always intelligent and trustworthy.

“By now, I’m sure you’ve all witnessed me get…confused, at something.”

She knew how hard this was for him. Admitting his illness. Having to step down. Acknowledging that he was never going to be the same man he’d been even just a month ago.

She’d never admit it, but she knew exactly how he was feeling right now. Having to admit that you were never going to be the person you used to be. That because of circumstances beyond your control, you were forever changed.

She admired her father’s honesty, his strength and grace. She sure as shit hadn’t been born with those characteristics. At least not when push came to shove. Instead she’d decided to hide from her old life. But in her mind, so much of that old life just didn’t mesh with the person she was today.

“Over the last couple of months,” her father continued, “with Violet away, it’s come to the point where I can’t hide it any longer.”

There it was, the guilt. Maybe if she hadn’t left. Maybe if she had stayed and toughed it out, just like her father was doing right now, maybe his illness wouldn’t have progressed as quickly.

Her heart seized. When was she going to learn that doing anything outside of her expected role was a bad idea? She was supposed to be the dutiful daughter. Instead, she’d hidden and her father’s illness had gotten worse. She was supposed to take over Walker Industries and wanted nothing more than to do her family legacy proud. She belonged at the head of this table, but this was a room full of men who, because she was a woman, might never give her the respect she deserved. She was supposed to marry a man who was perfect for her on paper and in her social circle. Except she might never love that man and he definitely wasn’t going to fuck her like Noah did last night. She was supposed to be beautiful…