“Did you just spank me?” I squeaked, my cheeks full of heat that wasn’t completely due to the blood rushing there from hanging upside down. More of it was from the feel of Julian’s hand against my butt cheek than I was willing to admit.
“That was barely a love tap.” Julian had the audacity to wink at me, making me gasp in dismay. “Trust me, you’ll know when I give you a real spanking.”
The elevator doors slid open, and I sputtered as he carried me down the hall to one of the corner suites. Once we were inside the room, he set me on the couch before sitting on the cushion next to me. Looking around the spacious suite, I couldn’t help but compare it to Julian’s dressing room. He had one of the biggest ones in the hotel, but it didn’t compare to the beauty of the suites at the Lennox. “At least you’ve improved your kidnapping techniques since yesterday.”
“Except I missed the most important step.” I was trying to figure out what he meant when he lifted me onto his lap so I was straddling him. I wound my arms around his neck to help me regain my balance—and also because he was nearly impossible to resist. With our bodies pressed close, his head dipped down and his lips brushed against mine. “Our kisses were the best part of the kidnapping, if you ask me.”
“Nobody was asking you,” I whispered, shaking my head as I tried to catch my breath since the slight touch of his lips against mine had taken it away.
“Sure you were.” His palms came up to cup my cheeks. “I could see the question in your pretty, emerald green eyes.”
I pressed my lips together to stop myself from smiling at him. He didn’t need any encouragement. “Now you’re an eye reader?”
“Only yours,” he murmured softly before kissing me passionately. His tongue swept in my mouth to tangle with mine, and his teeth nibbled at my bottom lip. I felt as though he was devouring me whole. When he lifted his head again minutes later, I’d been thoroughly kissed, and we were both breathless.
“You can’t keep doing stuff like this, Julian.” I did my best to sound firm, but my voice wavered on his name.
He brushed his lips over mine another time before asking, “Why not, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart. Butterflies swirled in my belly upon hearing him use the endearment in his deep, raspy voice. How was it that Julian seemed to know all the right buttons to press?
Forcing my spine straight and dropping my arms from his neck, I answered, “Because we barely know each other. Kissing, talking of spankings, and carrying someone over your shoulder implies a relationship we don’t have.”
“Only because you run in the opposite direction any time I try to get near you,” he complained. “How are we supposed to get to know each other if you don’t give me a chance? How are we supposed to build a relationship if we never spend any time together?”
My heart wanted to break in two as I replied, “We’re not.”
“I refuse to accept that answer. You’re as attracted to me as I am you. Admit it,” he growled as his hold on me tightened.
There was no denying that Julian fascinated me from the moment I’d first spotted him. My reaction to him left me feeling so vulnerable—without even taking the stumbling block that was his career into consideration—that I’d had no choice but to keep my distance from him. But his willingness to do whatever it took to get my attention was starting to knock down the walls I’d been working hard to build against him over the past month. If I didn’t get this situation between us under control fast, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to resist him any longer. Scrambling for a reason to get him to back off, I finally came up with something that sounded semi-reasonable. “My reaction to you doesn’t matter. We can’t get involved. Not when we’re co-workers.”
5
Julian
I threw my head back and let out a deep belly laugh at Anna’s joke...until I realized she wasn’t laughing with me. “You’re serious?” I asked.
She nodded emphatically and crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s against policy.” I wanted to laugh again because she was so adorable, but I decided to get on with calling her out on her lie.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So we should just move on from anything we might, um, feel for each other.” Her sad expression betrayed her real feelings about nothing happening between us. Which made me even more determined to break down the wall she kept trying to build between us.
“Hmm.” I lifted my hips so I could grab my cell from my back pocket. The movement pressed my erection against Anna’s center, and I nearly smiled when she squirmed and tried to suppress a moan. Instead, I kissed the tip of her nose and winked before clicking on one of the numbers in my “favorites” list on my phone. Then I put it on speaker.
It rang twice, then Drew’s voice came over the line. “Julian,” he greeted. “What can I do for you?”
“I want to talk to you about your fraternization policy.” Anna’s eyes widened, and panic began clouding the green gems. I grinned, and her expression morphed into a scowl. She’d figured out my game.
Drew snorted. “What the hell are you talking about? Fraternization policy? You’re kidding, right? Even if I’d had one, I would have tossed it out long ago. I’d have lost my best employees and been royally fucked if I kept a policy like that around.”
“Oooh, okay,” I responded as though I hadn’t already known the answer.
“Is this about Anna?” he asked suddenly.
“What?” she squeaked. “Absolutely not!” It took less than a heartbeat for her to realize she’d just given herself away, and her cheeks flamed red. I couldn’t hold back my laughter, earning me another cute glare.
Drew’s guffaws drew her attention, and she grabbed my phone and stabbed the end button.
Before she could say anything, I snatched the phone and tossed it onto the table beside the couch, then I slid a hand around her neck and yanked her mouth down to mine. Her stiff posture lasted for a millisecond before she melted into me. My fingers attacked the pins in her hair until the wavy dark tresses tumbled down her back. Then I grasped her hips, holding her still when she squirmed on my lap because if she kept rubbing her pussy on my cock, I was going to come like a fucking teenager.
Her hands traveled up my shoulders and around my neck where she buried them in my hair. I quickly tugged her silky blouse from the waistband of her pants and splayed my hands on the soft, heated skin of her back. Electricity hummed between us, and Anna shivered, emitting a tiny moan. The sound sent a bolt of lust straight to my cock, and precome leaked from the tip, ruining my very expensive pants. But I didn’t have one fuck to give about it; all I wanted was to hear more of her moans.
Gliding around her rib cage to her front, I caressed her belly, and then my hands drifted up to cup her generous tits. They were large and round, and I knew they would more than fill my hands when they were free of her bra. “These are so fucking perfect,” I groaned against her mouth. My thumbs brushed over the hard tips that were poking through the thin lace barrier. It earned me another little moan, which snapped some of my control. I released her lips and withdrew my hands from under her shirt, then I grabbed the sides and ripped it open, causing the buttons to go flying.