She didn’t answer, but her eyes darkened to indigo.
“Know what I want to do to you?” he asked softly.
Her lips parted.
He moved closer still, twining one hand with hers. He brushed back her hair, leaned in close to her ear.
“Kiss you,” he whispered. “Pull you into my arms. Peel that dress from your body and make long, slow love to you.”
“That wasn’t...” Her voice went breathless. “What I was expecting.”
“No?” He placed a kiss on her shoulder, reveling in the sweetness of her skin.
“I’m lying.”
He kissed her again, closer to the crook of her neck. “Yeah?”
“It was exactly what I was expecting.”
“But you came up here with me anyway?” His lips brushed her skin as he spoke.
“Yes.” Her palms touched his chest, warm and intimate. “I want you, Tuck. I keep trying to ignore it.”
He drew back to look into her eyes. “I can’t ignore it.”
“I feel as if we need to...” She toyed with a button on his dress shirt.
“Make love?”
“Set some ground rules.”
He tenderly kissed her lips. “Sure. Whatever you want.”
“This can’t impact our working relationship.”
He cradled her chin with his palm, kissing her again. He didn’t see how that was possible, but he wasn’t about to disagree. “Okay.”
“You can’t fire me, or promote me, or give me any better or worse treatment because I’m...”
“Completely and totally blowing my mind?”
“Tuck.”
“I’m not going to fire you.”
“Or promote me.”
“Maybe. Probably. I think I pretty much already have. You want a new title?”
“You’re not listening.”
He kissed her again. “You’re very distracting.”
She pressed against him, her body molding to his. “We have to get this straight.”
“Keep the boardroom out of the bedroom.” He wrapped his arms around her, sighing in complete contentment. Up against him, wrapped around him, that was where she belonged. That was where he wanted her to stay.
“Right.” She sounded surprised.
“Then, shut up, Amber. We’re a long way from the boardroom.”
He kissed her and passion roared to life within him.
She kissed him back, coming up on her toes, her arms winding around his neck. He tipped his head to deepen the kiss, pressing the small of her back, arching her body, inserting his thigh between her bare legs.
She groaned his name. Then she went for his belt, his button, his fly, her small hand all but searing him with need.
“Amber, don’t.” He could feel his control slip away.
“I can’t wait,” she rasped. “I’ve waited, and I’m done waiting.”
She didn’t have to wait.
He reached beneath her dress and stripped off her panties. Then he dropped into a chair, sitting her straight and square in his lap. She loosened his slacks and eased herself down. She was hot and tight, and each inch was a straight shot to paradise.
He bracketed her hips and pushed himself home.
She braced her hands on his shoulders. Her head tipped back. “Oh, yes,” she whispered.
“You’re amazing,” he told her. “Fantastic. Spectacular.”
Her nails dug in and her thighs tightened around him. He lost track of time as their pace increased. His world contracted and then disappeared. There was nothing but Amber. He didn’t end and she didn’t begin. They were fused to one and he needed to hold on to that forever.
She cried out his name and the sound pierced straight through him. Her body contracted and pulsed, and he followed her over the edge in a cascade of heat and sensation. He dropped back on the chair, cradled her face with his hands, pulled her down for a kiss, tasting her, breathing her, feeling life pulse through her, willing the euphoria to last forever.
Then he cradled her close, thinking how perfectly she fit against him.
“Stay,” he murmured in her ear. “I want you in my bed. I want you in my arms. The night in Arizona was sheer torture after you left me.”
Her chest rose and fell against his, the sound of her deep breaths echoing through the silent room.
“Okay,” she finally said.
He drew back. “Okay?”
She nodded.
“Okay,” he said, his body relaxing with relief. “Okay.”