Page 78 of Long for Me
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bennett
We need to talk were the least likely four words I expected her to say while she was still flushed and sagging against me.
Still, I slid my hand from her thigh and reached for my glass of water.
“We need to talk?” I asked, and took a sip.
She watched my movements, eyes flickering as she kept her gaze on my fingers that had just been on her and in her.
“Why me?” Her brow furrowed.
“Why you, what?”
I knew what she was asking, but teasing her was too much fun. She’d flush and grow angry and even while sated from an orgasm in semi-public, submitting to me when she could have pushed me away, I still wanted to bring out her sass.
Like I told her, I’d play all sort of games with her, as many as I could think of, while securing she knew what she meant to me.
“Why did you offer me that job?”
I slid the glass of champagne toward her. Perhaps some bubbly would calm the pulse still racing at the base of her throat. Hell, even her breasts were a shade of light pink as her chest rose and fell.
“Have a drink. Calm down.”
“I’d like an answer to my question.” Her voice steeled. Her hands, instead of reaching for her glass, went to her lap where she squeezed them into tiny fists.
Damn she was strong. She’d broken skin on my arm, and I couldn’t give a shit. As much as I wanted my mark on her, especially her ass, her marks on me were more delightful.
“You began working for us at eighteen. A summer internship in the general marketing area and worked in the mail room. The next fall, you took night classes and took a full-time job in our project coordinating department. Since then, you’ve worked for almost every single manager as their assistant. You know more about what goes on in my company than I do. The employees trust you. You’re not only intelligent, you’ve done all of that while finishing school, getting rid of what I now know is a completely shitty upbringing. You don’t trust men, yet you’ve given yourself to me willingly, completely, and in ways I know you never imagined. Does it shock you so much that I am astounded by not only your body, but your brain?”
“Well,” she cutely huffed. “That’s very flattering.”
“And I mean every word.”
I threw my arm along the back of her chair, leaning forward so she couldn’t see anything but me. I wanted to get her off, again and again and again. I’d meant to wait, meant to wait until we’d discussed this first, but Jesus she drove me mad. All her creamy skin and almond-shaped eyes that promised all sorts of secrets if you pressed and dug in just the right places.
I caged her in, grinning when instead of tensing, she relaxed and her shoulders fell.
“When my dad was raising me, he had a wife and son at home. He always made time for us. He created a successful company, and he never hesitated to let us know that he was doing it all for us. Since I’ve taken over, I’ve done nothing but build it to be something bigger and better. It’s been my entire life for the last five years, Rebecca. And now, I want more.” I cupped her cheek with my palm and bent lower, so close I could still smell her arousal and her light, sweet perfume wafting into the air. “I want what he had, Rebecca. I want a wife and a child, or more, and I want to run that company but in order to have all of that, I need someone at my side I can trust. I want that woman to be you. In the office and out of it.”
Her eyes lit with fear. “Are you—?”
“It’s too soon,” I said. “I’m not currently, tonight, suggesting anything more than a relationship with you outside of work, a partnership with you in the office. And time will make the rest of our path clear, but make no mistake, I want you at my feet and by my side.”
I slid my hand to her back, pressed it between her shoulder blades and pulled her near me, brushing my lips over hers, inhaling the scent of her, licking the taste of her on my lips.
“Jakobs’s job gives you an incredible opportunity. His company is strong, even if his indecision drives me insane, but I suspect that’s why he wants you, too. But make no mistake, you’re mine, and anything he can offer you, I’m offering you more. I’m offering you everything. All that I have, all that I am, is in your hands.”
She gasped and I took her surprise to kiss her. Perhaps keeping her senseless would work in my favor.
Her lips met mine swiftly and firmly and good God, this woman. She tasted of sweet champagne and all that was her. She whimpered against me, turning and placing her soft, chilled hands at my neck, holding me to her.
If I could have her then, I’d take her without thought of who could see. But The Chop House wasn’t Luminous, and while I’d love even more to take Rebecca there, run my hands along the full creamy expanse of her stomach, her breasts, while men watched and craved what I had claimed, we weren’t there yet, either.
She made me lose all self-control.
I wasn’t the least bit annoyed.
