“You taste so fucking good,” he said when he finished.
I was breathing hard. “You said you’d tell me what we’ll do about our work situation,” I managed to remind him.
“Yes, that.” He moved to my other inner thigh, positioning my leg just so. He ran a fingertip up almost to my pussy, then down again, watching the goosebumps on my skin. He really didn’t seem to be in a hurry. “The company is buying a building in Chicago,” he said. “It’s the building the four of us used to live in in the old neighborhood. It’s run-down and will be condemned if we don’t do something. It isn’t our best investment, but the partners don’t want to let it go. Call us sentimental, I guess.”
I watched as he kicked his shoes off and pulled off his shirt, then got back on the bed between my bare legs. He was impossible to look away from, all dark hair and cheekbones and scruff. “What does that have to do with me?” I asked.
He ran his fingertips along the outside of my hip, over my hipbone, then under my shirt. “It’s going to be a special community-building project instead of a for-profit project,” he said matter-of-factly. “And you’re going to be in charge.”
I sat up on my elbows. “Me?”
“Yes, you. You’re no longer going to work for me as an executive assistant. Instead you’ll work for Tower VC as a special executive, in charge of the Chicago project. What it does, what it costs, everything. The decisions will all be yours.”
I stared at him, shocked. He wasn’t looking at me—he was inching my shirt up, looking at the skin being revealed on my belly and my ribs. “Aidan, I’m not experienced in that kind of thing.”
He shrugged, as if that didn’t matter. “You’re working with four partners who have experience,” he said. “Ask us anything. And since profit doesn’t drive this project—real value does—you don’t have to be cutthroat. You only have to do what you think is best.” He glanced up at me and smiled. “Besides, you can do anything you set your mind to.”
His confidence in me made me fall in love with him even further. And it was very, very hot. I met his eye and said, “Do I get a raise?”
He grinned, enjoying this. “We won’t discuss money while I’m between your legs,” he said, his hand moving up my inner thigh again. “But it will definitely be discussed.”
His finger slid into my panties and lightly inside me, rubbing. I gasped and lay back again, luxuriating in the pleasure of that finger. Negotiation or not, with one fingertip Aidan could make me do anything. “I agree,” I said.
“Good.” His magic fingertip moved to my clit, wetting it with my juices and circling it slowly.
When I was worked up and squirming, he took his hand out again and pushed my T-shirt up, revealing my bra. He took the shirt off, and then the bra, taking his time, touching and kissing my skin. He pulled my panties off, drawing them down my legs. Then he took the rest of his clothes off and positioned himself back between my spread legs, kissing up my inner thigh.
I was going to die of anticipation. I wasn’t going to live another ten minutes—I was going to expire. “Aidan,” I said, reminding him. “You promised.”
He knew what I meant. He skipped over the aching place between my legs, kissing along my hip and sucking at the skin there. “I love you,” he said. “Is that what you were waiting for? You didn’t have to wait, you know. I would have told you if you hadn’t fled halfway across the world.”
I ran my hands through his hair as he moved up my body. “I love you, too,” I said. “Madly. And you have to admit this way was more interesting.”
“It was.” He licked my nipple, then moved up to my mouth, which he took—finally—in a deep, long, kiss. When we broke off I was wild for him, open and ready. He slid inside me and we both made a sound of satisfied pleasure.
“You’re mine,” he said as he started to move. He kissed me again, his stubble scraping my skin as his body owned me. “You’re the only woman for me. Admit it, Samantha. You’re fucking mine.”
“Yes,” I said, pulling him down to me, running my lips along his jaw, inhaling him with every breath. “I’m yours. You know all the pieces of me.”
He did know my pieces, and he held them with care. He also knew my body, and when I finally came—after long moments of torture—I fell apart.
He came, too, and then he kissed me, a kiss that made me ache and promised me everything. Everything I wanted, everything I was willing to work and sacrifice for. Everything that life could give me. I could have all of it.
As if he read my thoughts, Aidan smiled against my skin. “This is us, Samantha,” he said. “This is you and me. Forever.”
Epilogue
Two years later
* * *
Aidan
* * *
I ignored the jet lag and exhaustion and adjusted my tie in the mirror. I had just come home from a trip to LA, going over entertainment deals with Noah. My plane had landed an hour ago. I’d had time for a quick shower and a change of clothes before I set my evening plans in motion.
The sun had just set, and New York was about to begin its nightlife. Outside the penthouse windows, the city was beginning to light up in its inimitable way. The exhaustion fell away and my blood pumped faster. Tonight was going to be a very, very good night.