“Fuck, you’re so hot,” I said, sliding my hand to his cheek.
He turned his face and pressed a kiss to my palm, the center of his brow creasing as he emitted another soft moan. My body was on fire in the best way, heat and lust radiating through my veins as we moved together, the room filling with ragged breaths and the slight creaking of the bed.
“You feel amazing,” Daniel said, his breath rough.
I curled my fingers in his hair and smiled up at him. “Show me how much.”
A raspy laugh left him as he increased his pace, fucking me just a bit faster. Harder. He hit my sweet spot, and my damn toes curled. I was just about to shove a hand down my stomach to stroke myself when he did it first. He lifted himself up with one arm, still rocking into me, and gripped my dick, giving me quick jerks.
“Shit!” I clamped my teeth down on my knuckle to keep from being too loud. He’d had a point earlier. With it not even being noon yet, the other guests certainly didn’t need to hear how amazing it felt to have him pound my ass into the mattress.
He dipped his head to kiss my neck and canted his hips, his thrusts precise. It didn’t take long for him to make me a trembling, moaning mess. My ass clamped down on him as the pressure building inside me erupted.
“Mm.” Daniel peered down at me with heavy-lidded eyes, his hips snapping forward faster as he chased his own high. “You’re so damn beautiful when you come.”
“Now it’s your turn, big guy,” I panted, gripping the side of his neck.
He tilted his head back as his mouth popped open, the sexiest of sounds escaping his lips. And then his mouth was slamming back to mine. He kissed me hard and deep as his body quaked.
We lay there afterward, catching our breaths. When he went to pull out, I held his hips in place, not yet ready to give up the wholeness I felt with him there. He settled back in place and nuzzled the side of my head.
“That was, uh, kind of awesome,” I said before sucking in a deep breath. My brain was too damn fuzzy to send the right signals to my body, and I’d forgotten to breathe.
“It was.” Daniel touched the edge of my jaw, and his eyes did that crinkly thing that made my heart pang in my chest. “You are something else, Reed.”
“Something good, I hope.”
He didn’t respond, but he didn’t need to. A shy smile upturned his mouth again before he brushed his lips across mine and rolled off me, pulling the blanket over us once he was at my side.
“I’m hungry,” I said, flipping to my side to face him. “You think they’re serving lunch yet?”
“Here I thought you were full.” His lips twitched.
“Full of cock is different.” I leaned closer, gliding my nose along his cheek. “And we so aren’t done yet. Rest up because round two’s gonna be wild. Think you can handle it?”
A challenging gleam sparked in his eyes. “The better question is can you?” His fingers skimmed my bare side as he caught my lips with his.
I giggled as he turned me to my back and pecked kisses down my neck.
Now that my lust was sated, my brain had the chance to catch up with my actions—with reality. I wasn’t stupid. This thing between me and Daniel could only last in this room. Once we went back to Blue Harbor, it would have to stop. So, I wanted to take advantage of the time we had left.
However long that might be.
***
The logs crackled in the fireplace, filling the room with warmth and a comforting golden glow. I was cuddled up in the plushy chair in the corner, a blanket in my lap, as Daniel reclined against me with his laptop propped in front of him. I smoothed my fingers through his black hair and leaned down to kiss the top of his head.
He smiled up at me before looking back at his computer screen and typing more of the report. It was Saturday night, so he shouldn’t have been working, but he was an overachiever, as usual.
“Want another glass?” I asked after grabbing the bottle of wine to refill mine.
“No, thank you.” Daniel stopped typing. “On second thought. I wouldn’t mind another.”
“Your wish is my command,” I said, finishing off the bottle as I poured us each a glass.
He took a drink before setting it down and going back to work. The sound of the clacking keys combined with the popping firewood relaxed me, and I reflected on the day.
After rolling around in bed earlier, we had gotten up, showered together, then dressed and went downstairs to eat turkey sandwiches and vegetable soup for lunch. Cole had come to sit with us, and we’d talked to him for a bit after we ate. The afternoon was spent wandering around the manor and chatting with the other guests before we had returned to our room and pulled at each other’s clothes again, going for that promised round two.
And here we were now, sitting in an easy silence in front of a warm fire as a winter wind moved through the trees outside the window.
I’d never really considered many things to be peaceful before, but it was the only word that came to mind as I sipped wine and sat there with Daniel.
“Will you do that again?” he asked, pausing in his typing.
“Do what?”
“Play with my hair.”
I smiled and slid my fingers through the silky strands. So many questions burned inside me. What happens when we go back home? Will we pretend this never happened? Daniel had shown me a sweet and playful side that day. Would he return to his neutral indifference and cold demeanor once we were back at the office?
My heart ached at the thought.
It had only been three days, but my simple crush had blossomed into something greater. Something strong. Falling for men too quickly was a major character flaw of mine, and it scared me when I realized Daniel had been added to that list.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Hmm?” His eyes remained fixated on the screen.
“Is this just for tonight?”
He stopped typing and leaned back, tilting his head up to look at me from his place on the floor. The look in his eyes made me wonder if the question had been eating at him too.
“I don’t want it to be,” Daniel whispered, furrowing his brow. “I haven’t felt like this in years.”
“Felt like what?” I played with his hair some more.
“Happy.”
That one word hit me square in the chest and weighed so damn heavily on my heart. Happy. God. I was happy too. And I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to that happiness or the peace it brought.
“Does it…” I swallowed hard. “Does it have to end?”
“A boss isn’t supposed to date his employee,” he answered, placing his laptop to the side and turning around. The flames from the fire danced in his blue eyes, but I felt kind of cold as I stared into them. Numb. Because I didn’t want this thing between us to stop. “If the higher-ups found out, I could lose my job.”
“Why, though?” God, even my voice sounded whiny. Why did I always do this to myself? Getting attached to the wrong men.
“It can be seen as favoritism,” he explained, reaching forward and lightly touching my jaw. “People might also think I’m taking advantage of you. There have been so many instances over the years of boss-employee relationships where the employee later said they felt trapped and that their job would be on the line if they said no.”