Open In Private (4 page)

Parker's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. He wanted to say something, to tell her how beautiful she looked, something to let her know he had the utmost respect for her, but he couldn't find enough oxygen to force out the words. So he silently held her, basking in the enormity of what had just happened yet refusing to think about what it meant for the future.

As much as he had always felt an attraction to Carli, as fantastic as the sex had been, he had just gotten out of a bad marriage and wasn't interested in repeating the mistake…in fact, wouldn't ever want to be that involved or solely committed to one woman again. A no-strings-attached relationship of some sort…maybe. His seven months of divorce made him realize he really didn't enjoy the concept of playing the field by dating lots of different woman or having to deal with that whole singles scene—women looking for a husband while pretending to be happy with being single.

But how did Carli fit into that equation? She was not now nor would she ever be nothing more for him than a casual fuck. He had been aware of her on a personal level as well as business for the entire five years they had been associated. There had been times when he had her purchase gifts he didn't need just to be able to have some carefree time interacting with her, especially that final year of his marriage. She was a breath of fresh air that calmed his inner turmoil.

His breathing finally returned to normal. He carefully withdrew his cock from her, wishing he could stay inside her a while longer but needing to dispose of a used condom.

"Are you okay, Carli?" He placed a kiss on her lips as he smoothed a few loose strands of hair from her damp face. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

She opened her eyes and flashed a sexy smile. "I can't think of anything
else
…at least not at this moment."

He returned her smile with a lewd grin, then kissed each puckered nipple. "I can think of any number of things I can do for you a little later."

She closed her eyes again, her smile lingering. "I'm sure you can. In fact, I'm looking forward to it."

"Right now I have this little problem I need to dispose of. I'll be right back." He brushed a soft kiss across her lips, slid out of bed, and pulled the blanket over her to keep her warm. Taking a quick look around, he spotted the door to her bathroom.

Carli snuggled under the blanket. An immediate sense of loss hit her when Parker left her bed. She ran her hand across the sheet next to her, his lingering body heat resonating to her touch. He hadn't said anything about going home. Quite to the contrary, he had talked about them making love again. Had he assumed he'd spend the night? Should she mention it to reassure him that she wanted him to stay? Confusion replaced her earlier euphoria. She didn't want to scare him by appearing too eager or somehow clinging and needy, but neither did she want to leave him with the impression that she was indifferent to the possibility.

She had been through a divorce and remembered all the uncertainty and anxiety of rejoining the dating scene. Her biggest concern at the time had centered on ending up in another bad relationship in her effort to fill that recently created void in her life and chase away the loneliness. Could that also be a concern for Parker? Would it be inappropriate for her to bring it up? When she arrived at Parker's office at eleven o'clock that morning, it never entered her mind he would be in her bed that night. Had he been as surprised as she was by the sequence of events?

He interrupted her thoughts when he slipped into bed and wrapped his arms around her. She shivered slightly as she ran her hand across his chest. "You let in the cold air." She pulled the blanket up around her shoulders.

A teasing grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I'm sure I can help you with that." He brushed a sexy kiss across her lips.

She dropped her voice to a sensual whisper. "What did you have in mind?"

He shot her a knowing look. "Talking you into returning to what I temporarily halted a while ago."

"Were you?" She widened her eyes in feigned innocence. Her voice teased, belying the surge of excitement racing through her body. "What if I've cooled on that idea?"

"Then I'll have to see what I can do to warm you toward it again."

He threw off the blanket, then gently maneuvered her body on top of his with her face at his crotch. His hot breath tickled her inner thighs. In spite of the fact that she had initiated the idea of oral sex, it was not one of her areas of expertise. She had sucked cock before and certainly been on the receiving end with a man's hungry mouth all over her pussy, but she had never been comfortable with it. She had never found the act truly satisfying…okay for foreplay, but not producing the orgasmic high she wanted.

Then his lips nibbled at her pulsing clit, and a highly charged spark of incendiary desire exploded inside her. All her thoughts fused into one—
more
.

Parker Simmons took in a deep breath, inhaling the tantalizing aroma of Carli's sex. Gushing juices filled his mouth with an intriguing taste as his lips worked her engorged clit. The exhilarating sensation of pliable lips formed a tight seal around his cock as her mouth sucked and her tongue fluttered.

His heart pounded in his chest. In spite of the orgasm he had just experienced, her mouth coaxed and encouraged his cock back to life. His erection grew until it again stood hard and tall, leaving him not only ready and willing, but also able.

He alternated between lapping at her flowing juices, pausing occasionally to flick the tip of his tongue in and out of her slit, and sucking her engorged clit. The erect nubbin actually seemed to quiver and vibrate inside his mouth, the sensation driving his desires to a higher level. Everything about Carli thrilled him. Having sex with her was every bit as exciting as he knew it would be…spontaneous, provocative, and very hot. It was as if he had been given a renewed view of what life had to offer.

His entire body jerked when she fondled his balls while continuing to suck his cock. His arousal jumped another level. The ecstasy churned inside him, traveling through his veins and spreading throughout his body. He kneaded her ass cheeks while hungrily enjoying all the incredible nuances of her pussy…a taste as addictive as any he had ever encountered. Her movements turned erratic, her sucking more aggressive. She rubbed her clit against his mouth, seeking an elevated plane of hedonistic pleasure. Her obvious excitement added fuel to his pursuit of the ultimate sexual pinnacle.

He felt himself rushing toward release. He had to warn her, give her an opportunity to pull off his cock before he shot cum down her throat. But at the same time, he didn't want to give up the tantalizing taste filling his mouth. The moment wouldn't wait. He had to do it now. Reluctantly, he moved his head away and forced out the raspy words. "I'm coming, Carli."

Without waiting for a response, he clamped his mouth on her pussy again. Nibbling…licking…sucking. He wanted it all. Then the final rush hit him, his body shuddered, and the spasms of climactic release consumed him. His head jerked back into the pillow. He inserted two fingers into her pussy to continue the stimulation. His cock twitched. To his surprise, she maintained a vacuum hold on his dick as he shot spurts of semen into her mouth.

Carli took in every drop as it hit her tongue, greedily swallowing without hesitation. She had never done that before, but with Parker, she welcomed the new experience. Her entire body vibrated, teetering on the edge of orgasmic euphoria. Her reality floated away, leaving only overwhelming sensual gratification as the intense convulsions claimed her. She continued to suckle his softening cock as she savored the climactic waves crashing through her body.

Her breathing finally returned to normal, as had Parker's. Not only was she totally satisfied, she didn't have the energy to move off him. Then she felt his strong hands lift and turn her around. He kissed her forehead and held her close. She snuggled into his embrace, silently enjoying the quiet moments following great sex. In fact, better than great—superlative.

For the first time in her life, she had swallowed semen. For the first time, oral sex had transported her to an exquisite orgasm. She now fully understood what others were talking about when the subject of oral sex dominated the conversation. What other treats could a sexual relationship with Parker provide her? She was anxious to know…to experience new things with a man who obviously knew exactly what to do and how to please a woman.

She tried to form a coherent thought. An on-going sexual relationship with Parker, as exciting as that would be…was it a viable situation? Or more to the point, was it a one-sided thought? Did Parker consider this a one-night stand? Tomorrow would be business as usual, as if this night never happened? Then a disturbing realization hit her. Worse yet…would business as usual cease to exist? Had she traded one of her best clients and that portion of her income for one night of incredible sex?

"Carli?" He whispered her name, his voice interrupting her thoughts. "Are you awake?"

"Mmm…yes. I was just trying to get my mind wrapped around everything that's happened tonight. It certainly hasn't been what I anticipated when I got up this morning." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "How about you?"

His expression and the way his gaze darted evasively around the room grabbed her full attention, pulling her out of her euphoric state and shoving her back to reality. "Parker? Is something wrong?"

Parker's mind raced to find an acceptable answer. He didn't want to lie to her, but neither did he want her to conclude that he had been playing her, purposely taking advantage of her. "Well…I have to admit that lunch wasn't quite as much of a spontaneous thought as it might have seemed. When we made the appointment for eleven o'clock, that's all it was…a routine business meeting just like every year on the Friday before Thanksgiving—time to discuss Christmas. But after your phone call, I kept thinking about you. When the day of our appointment arrived, I decided to turn our business meeting into lunch. It all just fit…it flowed together as if it was meant to happen. But as to this evening…" He slowly shook his head.

"This evening," she sat upright, bringing the blanket with her to cover her bare breasts, "when you showed up with condoms in your pocket?"

Her tone was not accusatory. It was more tentative and uncertain than anything else. He saw the wariness in her eyes and it pained him to know his confession had put it there.

"No…" He pulled her into his arms. Even though she didn't resist, he felt the tension in her body. But neither did she return the warmth of his intimate gesture. "What you're thinking is wrong. It's not the way it looks. The condoms were nothing more than what I said. They were a last minute thought as I was walking out the door, a quick flash of wishful thinking and nothing more than that. No assumptions and no expectations. I would never put you in that type of tenuous situation."

When she didn't respond, a hint of anxiety crept into his consciousness. Had he totally blown it? Managed to alienate the one woman he felt surprisingly comfortable with? One he wanted to know better, more than just the hot sex and heated passion that had exploded between them? The tickle of apprehension grew, welling inside him and straining against the walls of his rapidly shifting sense of what was happening.

"Carli, please listen to me. I'm not lying to you. I'm not playing you as if you were just a casual fuck. That's not my style, not who I am." A quick hint of regret at his words caused him a moment of discomfort. Treating every woman he met as a casual fuck was exactly who he had been since his divorce. "I've always thought of you as a classy lady, someone of quality who I was pleased to be able to count among my business associates and, hopefully, my friend." He placed a tender kiss on her forehead. His thoughts about her had become more personal even before his divorce. It was a fact he dared not voice, so it remained buried inside him.

"I have to admit…I…I don't know what to think, Parker. This all happened so fast. It almost feels like an out of control wildfire, consuming everything in its path." She made eye contact with him—her gaze searching, delving, silently questioning him, resulting in another uncomfortable moment. "Did it also consume my common sense and what I thought of as my ability to be a good judge of character?" Her words came out as a mere whisper, as if she was afraid to say them out loud.

He slumped back onto the bed, taking her with him. "How the hell did I manage to fuck this up so badly?" The words were muttered to himself even though he had said them aloud. His anxiety had grown to full-blown panic, partly due to his confusion over what he really wanted.

The evening had been perfect, some of the hottest sex of his life. But it had turned out to be more than that—an evening of shared warmth and intimacies. A closeness he had not experienced in a long time. An evening spent with a woman who was everything a man could want. A woman he had been interested in for over a year even though he never gave her any indication, especially while he was still married.

And all of that pointed in a direction that left him scared—a direction more accurately referred to as
commitment
. But the thought of alienating her from his life was equally frightening.

He sucked in a steadying breath in an attempt to settle his rattled nerves. "Could we back up? Retrace our steps and unravel this mess of misconceptions and erroneous assumptions?" He made eye contact with her. "Figure out how and when something that felt so right suddenly went so wrong?"

Carli's mind raced to make sense of the strange turn of events. She had arrived at his office precisely at eleven o'clock that morning, ready for their annual Christmas shopping meeting, one of several face-to-face meetings during the year. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then he said he was divorced and his ex-wife and everyone connected to her were off the list. After that, the world seemed to turn upside down faster than she could keep track of it. A man she had silently lusted after had suddenly become available. And from there, it felt like a dream…a long held fantasy turning into reality. Then, in one instant… She didn't know how to finish the thought.