Seduce (11 page)
~~ MICHAEL ~~
It had been twelve
days and eleven hours since I’d dropped Lily at her apartment building after the day we’d spent together at my parent’s ranch house. Twelve days since I’d touched her. Twelve days since I’d brought her to orgasm. Twelve days of several cold showers.
The first day ba
ck in the office had felt odd. Lily, basically went out of her way to avoid any contact with me which only served to make me try harder. My attempts were short-lived when Lily ended up in tears. I’d felt like the world’s biggest bastard.
I was
unable to cope with the sight of my Lily being in tears, so I’d jumped up from my chair and pulled her into my arms, half-afraid she would reject the contact. But she came willingly. I just held her while she wrapped her arms around me and cried. I whispered apologies to her over and over again until we both felt better.
Once she
calmed down, she’d admitted to me that she was keeping her distance because it was safer that way. She really wanted to be with me, but she had some things to work out with David first and she thought it best to keep her distance, but I was making it difficult.
I was angry, not with Lily, but the bastard she called a boyfriend. He was still cheating on her behind her back and yet
, still had some sort of hold over her.
It
had felt good, too good, to hold Lily in my arms that day. Although it was only brief, I loved every minute of it. I just wish there had been no tears involved.
I
placed a soft kiss to her lips and promised to keep my distance until she said otherwise. I also admitted that it was going to kill me and cause me a lot of cold showers. She assured me she wasn’t having sex with David. I surprised myself when I actually believed her. A relationship was built on trust, which was why I was trying to trust her completely.
Lily really got
under my skin and the thought of her having sex with anyone but me made me want to hurt someone. Badly. As far as I was concerned she was mine and I had no intention of letting her go.
It was damn frustrating
, having the woman who was warming my frozen heart living with someone else. The amount of times over the past twelve days that I’d nearly asked her to move in with me was in the triple digits. Keeping my mouth closed was proving very difficult for me, but for Lily, I would try.
Being
a mere two days away from the McKenzie picnic at my parents ranch, I had no meetings planned. We had some last minute preparations to finalize and I was really looking forward to spending the day with Lily with no interruptions. It was crazy to crave something as simple as being in the same space with her. I knew my body would flare to life being so close to her, but I survived the last twelve days, so one more wouldn’t kill me.
I hoped.
I stood
from the kitchen table where I’d just eaten a bagel and drank my third cup of coffee of the day, before I washed the cup in the sink, leaving it to dry.
George would be outside waiting for me for the
first time in three days. He’d been sick. I had to call the doctor out to his cabin because the stubborn ass refused to go to the doctor’s office. He was never sick and insisted he was fine, but he coughed as though he’d been smoking for years. He never smoked. Turned out he had a rather nasty chest infection and I threatened to get Ruben to stay with him if he refused to rest.
So after three days of
recuperating, he was on the phone at five in the morning, begging me to let him work today. He told me he was fine and would go crazy if he had to spend one more day in the cabin. He sounded much better so I agreed. Walking out of the front door I saw him resting on the hood of the car looking a damn sight better than he had.
“
Good morning George. I hope you’re really feeling better today,” I said, stopping in front of him. On closer inspection he still looked a bit pale.
“I’m nearly back to rights
, Mr. McKenzie. I really need to work. A guy can only sit around so long before going out of his mind with boredom.”
“How on earth can you be bored with all those DVD
’s and books you have stashed in that cabin?”
“I’
ve already watched them all and read all the books, but I was more restless than anything, especially after I started feeling better.”
“Okay George, but if you start to feel ill again, you tell me this time. Do not suffer in silence. You with me?”
“Yes. Are you going to get in the car or stand here giving me instructions all day, because I’m sure there is a little lady who is going to be mighty disappointed if you don’t get downtown.” He grinned.
I let out a groan and climbed into the car
, my thoughts drifting straight to Lily. They didn’t last long when George pulled out of the drive with a bit of a jolt. It smoothed out after a few minutes and soon he started whistling a tune from the front seat.
“Someone’
s in a good mood today,” I commented.
He cleared his throat. “Janet
is working today.”
“Ah, it must be love,” I replied
, grinning when I saw George blush through the mirror.
“Not yet, but she’
s growing on me. What about Lily?”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “What about Lily?”
“Why isn’t she with you?” In all the years George had been working for me, it was the first time he’d asked me anything personal. It surprised me.
I frowned. “It’s complicated,” I replied and moved my attention to the window,
effectively cutting his inquisition short.
I shut my eyes, thinking about Lily and how easily she disarmed me with a single look. Once or twice I
’d caught her lost in space while staring at me. I would grin at her until she came back to reality and she would blush, acting all embarrassed. It was cute.
Outside the car
, I heard a car horn, so I sat up in my seat just in time to watch an SUV smash into the side of our car. My heart pounded as metal crunched against metal. I heard glass break while I was thrown into the car door, smashing my head against the window.
Chapter 25
~~ LILY ~~
I took a sip of coffee
while I sat in the office and wondered what today would bring. I’d missed being close to Michael these past couple of weeks. It had to be done for my own peace of mind, as much as I hated it. I could see he was waiting for a signal from me to move forward and the minute I gave that signal he’d be on me like a starving tiger without hesitation.
My life really
revolved around work. I would have a very brief conversation with David over a bowl of cereal in the morning, spend the day in the office, working late, head home only to eat alone and then climb into bed and cry myself to sleep. David would climb into bed around midnight. The following day, I’d do the same all over again.
Why was I still with David? Well, apart from the fac
t that I had nowhere else to go, I would also feel bad ending our relationship. He told me he loved me every night without fail when he crawled into bed, thinking I was asleep, but the sound of the doors opening and closing always woke me up. It was hard to do and I didn’t have the courage yet, no matter how badly I wanted to be with Michael.
I didn’t believe
David anymore. Some nights he would come in smelling of perfume that wasn’t mine.
I
’d finally managed to find an apartment to view in a nice neighborhood, and the lady who I’d spoken to had said she would allow me to pay the rent once I’d been paid. All I had to do was come up with the deposit if I wanted the apartment. I’d sagged in relief when she’d said that and made an appointment to view the apartment on Sunday, the day after the picnic.
I couldn’t wait until Monday
, so I could tell Michael that I had an apartment. A small part of me was hoping he would offer to help me move. I glanced at my watch again and wondered where he was. It was just past eight o’clock and Michael was usually at his desk. It was odd, he usually arrived at seven.
As eight thirty came and went I started getting really worried.
It was ten minutes to nine and he still hadn’t arrived.
When my cell started
to ring, I reached for it and with a quick glance at the screen it told me Michael was calling. The sight of his name made my body sag in relief.
“Michael, I was really worried. Are you okay?” I asked i
n a rush.
“Lily.”
My heart sank. Something was wrong. I could hear it in his voice. “Michael, what’s wrong? Where are you?”
“I’m okay,” he paused. “A
n SUV crashed into the car on the way to the office.”
“Oh god
, Michael!” My voice quivered and tears started to fall down my face. I felt sick to my stomach.
“Shit
Lily, please don’t cry. I’m really okay. Apart from a couple of stitches on my forehead, I’m fine, but George had a heart attack,” he sighed. “It was only mild, so he’s going to be okay, thank god.”
I
was sobbing uncontrollably. “Where are you? I need to see you.”
After Michael gave
me the name of the hospital, we ended the call and I broke down into a flood of tears. The thought that Michael could have been seriously injured terrified the life out of me.
“Lily, what
ever is the matter?” Dale asked, coming around my desk and put his arm around me.
I
gulped some air into my lungs and managed to calm myself down. Dale passed me some tissues and I wiped my tear-stained face. “Michael was in a car accident. I don’t really know what happened, but he said an SUV crashed into them and George apparently had a heart attack. I don’t know whether that was why the accident happened, or whether it was the shock of the accident that caused it. I need to get to Michael.” I jumped up from my seat and quickly grabbed my jacket and my purse. “He said he was okay and that he had a couple of stitches in his forehead, but I still need to go.”
Dale just
looked at me for a minute. “He’s more than a boss to you, isn’t he, Lily?”
I looked him straight in the eye. “Yes,” I whispered.
“Come on. I’ll get Jacky to cover the phones in here,” he said with a huge grin on his face. “Jacky will be pissed that she has to do some work for a change instead of gossiping all day.”
Dale led me from the office and accompanied me in the elevator to the ground floor
. He managed to grab someone from security to drive me to the hospital. I think I surprised the hell out of Dale, when I reached up and kissed his cheek, whispering a ‘thank you’. He was an incredibly sweet and thoughtful man.
On
the way to the hospital I had all sorts of scenarios running through my mind, worrying constantly about the condition Michael was in. The thought of arriving at the hospital to find Michael unconscious in bed with wires sticking out of him had me in hysterics all over again. I was an idiot. I knew that didn’t happen for a few stitches in the forehead, but I hadn’t seen him yet and my imagination was running a little wild. I was stressed, to say the least.
As soon as the security guard pulled up outside the hospital
, I was out of the car running towards the entrance and through the doors to the reception desk. “Excuse me, can you help me?” I asked a lady who looked as though she had swallowed a whole lemon.
“I suppose
so.” She was cheerful.
“Can you tell me where I can find Michael McKenzie?”
“Are you a relative?” she asked me with a sneer.
I was a
bout to reply in the negative when a hand landed across my shoulder. It was Ruben. “She’s his fiancée and I’m his brother, so please can you tell me where to find him? Or do I need to ring Simon Summer, your administrator? He’s a good friend of mine.”
Flustered,
she pressed some keys on her keyboard and pointed us in the correct direction.
“Lily
, I’ve spoken to Michael. He said he was okay except for some stitches. You look really distressed,” Ruben said with concern.
“Rub
en, I just need to see him, okay?”
He kept his arm around me and pulle
d me in the direction the receptionist had pointed out.
“He’
s picked right this time around. I like you Lily. Hopefully one day you’ll be a McKenzie too. But you have to promise me you won’t tell Michael what I just said, unless you want him to beat me up.”
I smiled at him. “I
won’t. Thank you for the rescue back there. She was actually about to see my temper.”
“So I guess I actually saved her from you then?”
We rounded a corner and found Michael sitting on a chair in the corridor with his head in his hands. I started to walk towards him with more speed. “Michael.”
His head shot up
. He blinked and then stood up and walked towards me. “Lily,” he said just as I threw myself into his arms and started to sob my heart out, overwhelmed with relief that he was all right.
“U
m, I think you might want to step in here,” Ruben said, ushering us into an empty room.
I wasn’t reall
y aware of anything else other than being wrapped tight in Michael’s arms. I heard a door shut and a lock engage.
“Lily,” Michael said in a broken voice. “I really am okay love. Look at me.”
He pushed me away from him slightly. I lifted my hand and caressed his cheek. “I had to see you for myself.”
“Other than my family, no one has ever cared abou
t me. You bring me to my knees, Lily.”
I look
ed at him. All his desire for me was there for me to see and dared I hope that love was mixed in. “Kiss me, Michael.”
He groaned. He reached for me at the same time I reached for him.
My purse dropped to the floor and he pushed my jacket down my arms.
Our mouths lock
ed, our tongues fused together and I never wanted to come up for air. I was wrapped so tight in Michael’s arms while he devoured my mouth. My sex pulsed between my legs. I moved even closer to him and felt his arousal, hard and solid against my stomach. I rubbed against him. He groaned and moved his hands from my waist to my ass then pressed me into him. It was then my turn to moan.
“God
Lily, make me stop.” He started to kiss down my neck to my collarbone.
I took ho
ld of his head and met his eyes. “No.”
I slammed my lips to his this time and sucked his tongue into my mouth as he grabbed hold of my skirt and lifted it over my hips. He moved his hands to my ass and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and started to rub my
sex along the length of him.
He turned and my back hit the wall as he continued to r
avish my mouth. My nipples pebbled beneath my bra, my stomach quivered with need and my thong was soaked. Nothing ever felt so good.
Our breathing was
erratic and my orgasm was just out of reach. The lips of my pussy opened while I continued to rub against his hard erection and he pulsed in just the right place.
I
’d waited two weeks to be in his arms again, but we had too many clothes on.
