Read The Boss' Surrender (Callahan's Secretary) Online
Authors: Seraphina Donavan
The Boss' Surrender (Callahan's Secretary) (2 page)
Heading into the living area of the suite, she snagged one of the chocolate covered strawberries and popped it into her mouth. The burst of tart and sweet flavors was a balm to her. She loved him. She knew that. But what kept her from being able to say it? What damage from her past ignited such fear in her at the prospect of opening up to him that way? It wasn’t a difficult questions. Her parents, before their deaths, hadn’t been very demonstrative people. She could easily recall watching her mother put on makeup, thinking she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She also remembered telling her mother that she loved her and trying to kiss her powdered cheek, only to be pushed away so she didn’t muss her makeup. Her father had simply been oblivious. They’d died in a car crash for that very reason. Then she’d gone to her aunt’s house, and if her parents had been cold, that woman had been positively glacial. It was no wonder, she thought, that the idea of loving someone terrified her.
She wanted to call Celia, but even Celia didn’t know about the relationship with Anthony. Oh, her friend had guessed that she was seeing someone and had even guessed that it was someone from the office, but Grace had never confessed anything to her. Settling onto one of the sofas, her legs stretched out to the side, she stared over the back of the couch and out the window to the lake beyond. It was a peaceful scene, but her mind was far from it.
Stepping into the living area, a towel wrapped snugly around his hips, Anthony watched her for a moment. Grace was a fitting name. When she could forget herself and simply be, she moved like no one else he’d ever scene. But Grace rarely forgot herself. When she became self conscious it manifested as awkwardness, shyness, sometimes even clumsiness. Even that he found endearing. If he were an artist, he thought, he would paint her just as she sat right now, with her long limbs gracefully arranged, her hair a tangled mass falling over her shoulders, and that slightly distant but wistful expression on her face.
“I think you need a long, hot bath,” he said. “And that tub is big enough for the both of us.”
“But you just got out of the shower,” she protested.
“The shower, Grace my darling,” he said with promise, as he walked towards her, leaning down until they were nose to nose, “Was to get clean. This bath is going to get dirty. Very dirty.”
Grace kissed him, pressing her lips sweetly to his. “That sounds promising enough that I’m willing to forgo the rose scented bath salts.”
“Then I can emerge from the tub, man card intact.”
He watched her go, and then checked his phone. There was no response from his investigator yet, but that wasn’t surprising. Considering his options, Anthony knew in that moment that whatever the mystery photographer wanted, he wouldn’t give in. Having someone else out their relationship was not ideal, but it might be the only way to force Grace’s hand, and it was a chance he was willing to take. Powering off his phone, he left it on the table and moved back toward the bathroom and the temptation of a wet and naked Grace.
CHAPTER TWO
Anthony stared across the dinner table at Grace, enjoying the way the candlelight danced over her skin. He’d spent the better part of the evening plying her with wine, starting with the champagne that had been in their sweet. Her face was flushed and she giggled delightfully every time he said something remotely risqué. In turn, he was saying as many risqué things as possible.
“You have to stop,” she protested. “People are staring at us.”
“No... They’re staring at you. You look beautiful in that dress.” It had been one of the many surprises he’d arranged for her that weekend. The dress was the palest, shimmering peach. It draped over her breasts and hugged her rounded hips beautifully. It managed to be both demure and alluring at the same time, much like the woman who wore it. The pearls she wore at her neck had also been a gift from him. Those she had protested vehemently. Little did she know that the dress, custom made for her, had been far more expensive than the necklace.
“It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever owned, but you shouldn’t have. Where will I wear something like this again?”
“Wherever you want,” he said. “You can parade into the office in it on Monday for all I care.”
“That wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, now would it?”
“You’re raising something right now, Grace, and it isn’t eyebrows.”
She shivered. “You are being so bad. My face is so hot... Everyone in this room can tell you’re saying horrible things.”
“Not horrible. Wicked, perhaps. But not horrible. Would it be horrible to tell you that as lovely as you look in that dress, I can’t wait to get you out of it and have your lovely, naked skin laid out before me? That I want to kiss, lick and suck every exposed inch of your skin until you’re begging me to take you?” he said, his voice pitched low and deep.
“You’re killing me,” she protested, but her lips were parted and her eyes had dilated with passion. It was a look he knew well.
“Two days, Grace. We have two days here to act like any other couple, where we don’t have to hide behind closed doors... I can sit here with you at this table, enjoying a romantic meal and saying outrageous things to you. There isn’t a person in this room who doesn’t know that I am going to take you back upstairs and have you.”
Grace had enough at that point. Beneath the table, she slipped her foot from the nude stiletto and slid her toes over his calf, past his knee. At that point she didn’t need to do anything further. He reached beneath the table, capturing her foot, and guided it directly to his burgeoning erection. “Two can play at that game,” she said.
“Oh, this is only the beginning, Grace. I have all sorts of games planned for you tonight. Now finish your desert. I like to watch you eat... especially when it’s something sweet and decadent. You look almost as beautiful then as you do when I’m sliding my cock into you.”
Grace took a bite of the chocolate mousse, allowing the sweet confection to melt on her tongue. She couldn’t halt the slight moan of pleasure at the explosion of flavor. Anthony’s eyes darkened in response. Feeling brave, and incredibly sexy beneath his heated gaze, she gave the spoon a long, lingering lick.
“Minx.”
“I’m only following your orders... You did tell me to eat my desert.”
“So, I did. Keep going. I’m enjoying the show.”
Grace did so. She ignored everyone else in the room and focused solely on him. Every bite she took was a seduction, a veiled reference to things she had already done to him with her mouth, and would do again very soon. Beneath the table, she flexed her foot against his cock. He was fully erect. With a deliberate, teasing motion, she withdrew from him. “You can’t exactly walk out of her like that, can you?”
“Keep it up, Grace, and I might just bend you over this table and take you right here in front of everyone.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Maybe, maybe not. But thinking about it excites you, doesn’t it?”
It did. She was almost ashamed of how much it did. “No,” she said, a soft and completely unbelievable denial.
Anthony laughed, though it pained him to do so. His pants were so tight over his aching cock that he was literally in agony. Reaching beneath the table, he adjusted himself, easing the pressure. “You’re a terrible liar, Grace.... I won’t take you here. But I do have something very special lined up for you.” He motioned for one of the waiters. Immediately the check was delivered, which he signed. “Now, Grace, you are to go with Derek. He’s going to show you to your very special surprise.”
“What else have you done?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” he promised. “I’ll be along shortly.”
“Come with me, Miss Marcum,” the waiter said, easing her chair back.
Grace rose, slipping her foot back into her shoe with only the slightest wobble and followed the middle aged waiter from the dining room. She followed Derek down a series of dim corridors, until she thought she was being led on a wild goose chase. When he stopped outside a set of double doors, she could hear the bubbling of water. As he pushed them open and led her inside, Grace gasped with delight. There were candles everywhere, tiny tea lights in glittering, glass containers. They surrounded a large jacuzzi.
“The water is from the natural hot spring that runs beneath the resort,” Derek explained, pulling a plush, white robe from a rack near the door. “It is reputed to have healing properties and also to be an aphrodisiac.”
Grace blushed. “There’s no such thing.”
Derek shrugged as he showed her to a screen, where she could change into her robe. “Perhaps you only think that because you have never needed one. Many couples come here to reinvigorate their relationships... And many couples come here because they wish to cement their relationships with greater intimacy.”
That was not an issue she was ready to address with him or anyone else. “I can’t change with you here,” she said, effectively changing the subject. “I’m sorry.”
“There is no need to apologize,” he said. Derek was not easily swayed and continued, “I will simply wait with you until Mr. Callahan arrives. But you should consider what I’ve told you. Mr. Callahan is a frequent guest here, Miss. Marcum. He has never brought an additional guest with him.”
Grace would have asked more questions, but the doors opened again and Anthony entered the space. Her breath simply caught when she looked at him. Derek disappeared quickly.
RICHARD Beatty had watched from the bar as Anthony wined and dined Grace. It simply disgusted him. Following them from the city, he’d wondered what they were about, but when they’d arrived at the Grand, he’d known precisely what sort of weekend Callahan had in mind. He’d drained his glass when he saw Grace rise from the table and follow the waiter. Tossing a bill onto the bar, he did the same, staying back several paces from them. They traversed several darkened corridors until they had reached a set of large double doors which opened easily when the waiter touched them. He found it curious that the door was unlocked. Using his cell phone, he flashed light on the brass plate by the door. The room they’d entered was called the Orangery, but he could hear the bubbling of a hot tub. He thought about Grace naked in a hot a tub and the image fired his lust. More and more, he was enjoying the idea of taking what belonged to Anthony Callahan in every way possible.
Pushing those very distracting thoughts aside, he moved towards a darkened alcove when he heard other footsteps coming down the hall. As he watched, Anthony entered the Orangery and the waiter exited only moments later, smiling as if he were in on some great secret. Looking around, Richard saw another exit and took it. The Orangery was surrounded by a large balcony and tall hedges. There was no way onto the balcony except from inside the building and those corridors had been closed off, no doubt at Callahan’s request. Settling into a darkened corner with a full view of the candlelit scene, Richard knew this was just what he’d been waiting for.
“I HAD expected you to be naked when I got here... or damn near it,” Anthony said.
Grace blushed, “I couldn’t change with Derek here... not even behind a screen.”
“Well there’s no need for a screen now, is there? It’s just me,” he said, and walked towards her. He spun her around and deftly unfastened her dress in the back. The bustier beneath it came next. Within seconds, Grace was standing naked in front of him. He led her to the sunken jacuzzi and helped her step down into it. Afterward, he quickly removed his own clothing and joined her.
“This feels heavenly... and a bit sinful all at the same time.”
He smiled, “That’s a perfect description of you.
“Why have you done this, Anthony? Why go to all of this trouble?”
He hated the note of insecurity in her voice, but it was the perfect opportunity to share with her, to tell her things that would make her see why she mattered so much. Settling onto the small bench, he tugged her close so that she was perched on his lap, straddling his thighs. They were face to face when he spoke. “Why wouldn’t I go to this much trouble for you? I’d do even more if you’d let me. I love spoiling you, watching you blush and stammer when you open gifts from me... Hearing you protest that it’s too much and knowing that you mean every word of it. There have been very few women in my life, Grace, who ever wanted me just for me. They liked the fact that I wasn’t an ogre, but it wouldn’t have stopped them if I had been. It was always about the money, the connections, the power.” He touched her face, his hand cupping the delicate curve of her cheek, his thumb tracing the plump bow of her bottom lip. “You aren’t the only one with insecurities.”
