“Mmm, baby, you taste so good,” came the muffled sounds as he worked his magic between her legs.
She felt a pressure building inside her, a burgeoning fullness, a throbbing ache that demanded release. Already? Was she on the verge of coming already?
Then he pushed two fingers inside her, twisting his way in, exploring her, scissoring inside. His tongue moved up to her clit, the center point of her world at that moment, and flicked her sensitive nub.
She wanted to stay this way forever, but she was climbing too fast. She couldn’t stop it, couldn’t hold back. It had been so long. So very long.
He rolled his hot, hard tongue over and over her, around and around, up and down, setting a solid rhythm that complimented the push and pull of his fingers.
Phae threw back her head and saw the stars peeking through the leafy canopy. Then she let herself go wherever Kent wanted to take her.
“Come for me, Phae,” she thought she heard him say. “Come for me.”
She thrust herself against him, abandoning herself to this onslaught of pleasure, pleasure like she’d never known. She couldn’t control the pressure any longer.
It erupted inside her, electric bolts of glorious release shooting from inside out. It passed in wave after wave, curling her toes and arching her back. She cried out, yes, yes, yes, again and again, without being much aware of it.
All she knew was that there was a man doing things to her that she’d never felt before. And this was heaven, this was the great unknown.
He worked her clit and pussy until the last of her orgasm died away, then he licked and stroked her gently until she came down the rest of the way. She lay limp and stunned as tiny aftershocks shivered inside her every few seconds.
Phae hardly registered that Kent was putting her shorts back on her until he needed her to lift her hips so he could pull them up.
She pushed the shorts away. “What are you doing?”
“Getting you dressed,” he said. “Believe me, I don’t want to, but we’ve pushed our luck far enough.”
“I want more. Come on. Let’s risk it.” Phae was positively daring right then. She didn’t care what might happen. It felt too good to be stopping. “And you’re left hanging.”
He smiled at her, his teeth white in the moonlight. “Baby, I’ve been hanging practically since the first moment I saw you. At least now I’ve had a taste.”
“It’s only been a week.”
“What?”
She pushed his hands away and buttoned her shorts. “Since we met. A week.”
“Is that all? Huh.” He moved beside her and sat. “Then I guess that’s another good reason for us to keep our distance tonight.”
“Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?” Phae fixed her bra and shirt.
“Definitely me.”
Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Phae finally relaxed under Kent’s silken touch stroking the outside of her thigh. Intermittent puffs of breeze cooled her heated face.
The leaves rustled gently and added a soothing rhythm to the distant fair sounds. She grew strangely happy. Okay, so there wouldn’t be any lovemaking tonight, but she’d had a hell of an orgasm all the same, and she’d learned that the man she desired, desired her in return.
She glanced at his still, shadowy form. “So, I guess you’re okay with me beating you back at the carnival.”
“It was a fluke.”
She heard the smile in his voice. “I see. And you’re not the least bit mad at me.”
“Don’t see why I should be. James and I talked it over before that last round and decided to let you and Neesa win. We figured there wouldn’t be any living with either one of you if you lost.”
“Uh-huh. I could have sworn that you genuinely wanted to win. You must be incredible actors. The way you threw that basketball into the crowd was a masterful touch. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks. I did it all for you.”
Phae ran her fingers down his muscular arm. “It’s kind of weird talking to you in the dark. You seem mysterious. I can see you, kind of, but not all the details.”
“I’m hurting, because I can’t have … you know what I can’t have. And I’m trying to get comfortable on this lumpy ground, but I’m smiling because your leg feels like silk. So why don’t you tell me about yourself? When we’re not together, I think of all these questions I want to ask, but then when you’re around, I never seem to ask them.”
“I bet Miss Eugenia and James have told you everything about me already.”
“I can’t trust what my aunt tells me and James wouldn’t tell me much. I know you grew up here, but that you went to Harvard and worked briefly in Chicago before coming back here and setting up shop as a hairdresser. Not much to go on. Why don’t we start with you telling my why you left Chicago?”
“It’s personal,” Phae said sharply.
“After what we just did, what could be more personal than that?”
Phae didn’t want to think about what happened in Chicago. She was happy and wanted to stay that way. “I left. End of story.”
“I heard you had a great future ahead of you.”
“I think I’ve still got a great future ahead of me.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said.
“Not everyone wants the same things, Mr. Entrepreneur, so-called billionaire,” she said, hoping to throw him off track.
“Where did you work?”
She sighed. “If you’ve got to know, then fine. I left because of politics. I couldn’t handle it. You wouldn’t believe all the backstabbing that goes on in big companies like that.”
“Where did you work?”
“In marketing at Fullerton.”
Kent whistled. “Wow. You really were in the big leagues.”
“I don’t know how big your company is, Kent, but Fullerton is beyond huge. They employ tens of thousands of people in the U.S. alone. Their world-wide figures are even more staggering since most of their production is carried out in third world countries. When people talk about gigantic, faceless corporations, they’re talking about Fullerton.”
Phae took a deep breath and continued. “I couldn’t handle it. The constant pressure to be perfect and you couldn’t trust anyone. I hated it. There was no point in being miserable the rest of my life, so I left. And that’s all there is to tell.”
“You could have gone to work for a smaller company.”
She shook her head vehemently. “No. I didn’t want to. I still don’t. I like it here. It’s safe.”
“Safe? That’s an interesting choice of words.”
“Just an expression.”
“I don’t think so. What are you holding back?”
“Don’t read so much into it,” she said. “Are you so bored in your present occupation that you’ve decided to branch out into psychology?”
Kent finally must have sensed her wishes because he answered, “I’m far from bored. In fact, business is so good at my company it’s driving me crazy. I’ve decided to sell it.”
Phae was surprised. “Why would you sell it if it’s doing well?”
“That’s easy. It’s all in the details. When I started, I had a partner. He was supposed to handle the business side and I was going to write the software. It took longer to become profitable than he was ready for, so when he wanted out, I didn’t stop him.”
“I’ve heard Miss Eugenia talk about him like he was evil incarnate.”
Kent laughed lightly. “Hardly. He simply lost faith, and he’s paid for it. About six months after he left, my latest app took off and I haven’t had a dud since. Only problem is, the bigger the company gets, the less time I get to spend doing what I love—creating the apps.”
“Why don’t you hire a manager?” Phae asked.
“I thought about it, but I’m unwilling to put my trust into someone I don’t know well, who might blow everything or rob the company blind. So, while I haven’t enjoyed it, I’ve learned what I needed to learn to
run the business side of things. And it’s gone well.”
“That’s impressive,” Phae said.
“Someone more knowledgeable could have done better, I’m sure. Anyway, not long ago, I walked into my office one morning and turned on my computer. I needed to review a financial report before I met with accounting, but I couldn’t find the file. Because I couldn’t remember the exact name, the computer’s search turned up an enormous list of possibilities. As I scrolled and all those file names flew by, it struck me that not a single file had any connection to programming. It was all management reports, financial records, advertising contracts and so on. You get the picture.”
“Yeah.”
Kent continued. “Somewhere along the road to becoming successful, I’d forgotten why I started the company to begin with. I had too many commitments to do much more than check in with what the creative team was doing without doing any of the real work. I’ve been feeling more and more dissatisfied ever since. So I think I’m done with it. I’m going to sell.”
“That’s a huge decision.”
“Yes and no. I’ve had an offer from a good company that I think will do right by it, so I don’t have worries on that front. I’m flying out to Phoenix tomorrow to meet with my people then on Sunday I’ll fly to San Diego for a Monday meeting with the potential buyers. It’s possible that the next time you see me I’ll be a free man.”
“And when will that be?” Phae tried not to sound disappointed that he was leaving so soon.
“Probably Wednesday. Will you miss me?”