Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
I was going home with a cat.
And my assistant. I wasn’t sure which was more troubling.
In truth, my assistant wasn’t coming to my house. I was just driving her home. That should’ve been a safe endeavor.
At least in theory.
The problem was we had entirely too many hormones bouncing around between us.
On top of that, I had never given April rides home or anywhere else.
I also hadn’t invited her to a “working lunch” the first day of her employment.
We had never kissed or fondled glowing hunks of rock or attended speed dating events.
That Ryan and I weren’t being matched with each other hardly seemed to matter.
I couldn’t keep my hands off her. And it didn’t even matter if that overly smiley vet Thorn was lurking around. My hand seemed to be magnetically drawn to the small of her back.
Before the speed dating event, Luna had reminded me I had no business entertaining the possibility of anything with Ryan. Too bad I couldn’t seem to remember that when we were alone.
Or even when we weren’t.
She was like oxygen, and I’d been starving for air for far too long.
Now we were walking out to the parking lot, my hand between us carting the carrier holding my new charge, and I could feel her gaze lingering on me. She made an attempt at light conversation, commenting on different things about the event, but the weight of her stare was a physical thing.
Being alone with her in my car was not a smart plan.
I smiled as an idea took form. I would take proactive steps to protect her virtue.
Luna would probably approve.
Before Ryan could stop me, I rushed around the car to open her door.
One black brow winged up. “What’s with this new chivalrous side?”
“What do you mean, new? When have I ever been anything but a gentleman?”
“When you groped me every time you saw Dr. Thorn.”
“I hardly groped you.”
“You touched me in a way to indicate possession.”
I reached up to run a finger under my suddenly too tight collar. “You are my temp. That indicates a kind of...employment possession.” Even I knew that was ridiculous.
She rolled her eyes and got into the car. Then she stuck out her fingers to touch the cat in the carrier. “You’re such a good boy. Just sitting there quietly while your daddy says nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense,” I muttered. Then I frowned. “Daddy? Me?”
“It does seem like a biological impossibility, but that sweet cat doesn’t know the difference.”
I stepped back as she pulled the door shut. Then I rounded the vehicle and opened my door before leaning in to try to fit the carrier on the console area between us.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I grunted as I tried to make the carrier fit between the seats. The cat let out a sound between a growl and a meow at the violent rocking. I couldn’t say I blamed him.
“If you’re this bad at fitting everything, you just made my decision a lot easier. Give me that.” She tugged the carrier away from me and climbed out of the passenger side.
What decision was she talking about?
She opened the back door and set the carrier on the floor in the back before returning to the front.
“Maybe you should drive,” I heard myself suggesting as I reluctantly slid behind the wheel and shut the door. “I’ll sit back there with the cat.”
“Do you have some fantasy about being driven around by a lowly peon? Sorry. I don’t drive beige grandpa cars.”
“Grandpa? I’ll have you know this car has plenty of horsepower.”
“Horsepower only gets you so far.” She clicked her belt into place. “You need to know how to use it.”
I put on my own seatbelt. “Trust me, I’ve never had any complaints.”
“Oh, I’m sure. I bet the society types you take out to socially approved events get a thrill from your...torque.”
“Not sure if you’ve forgotten, but I told you it’s been awhile for me.” I put the car in drive and reversed out of the space too fast. It was nearing sunset, and the sun was like a spotlight through the trees as I drove away from the shelter.
“Been awhile for a relationship is one thing. Surely you date. Maybe have the occasional long lunch—”
“Don’t.” My voice whipped out.
“I didn’t mean that,” she said after a moment, sounding chagrined. “I was just going to make a rude nooner comment, but not about that. I wouldn’t.”
“Why wouldn’t you? You think I’m just like my father, don’t you?”
“I do believe you aren’t married.”
I let out a frustrated noise and signaled to get onto the highway. “That’s all that you see that separates us?”
“No. I doubt your father would do all you’ve done for those sweet cats.” She shot me a quick glance. “Or look at them the way you do when you think no one is paying attention.”
I swallowed uncomfortably. “I’m no hero. I don’t help to get praise.”
“No, and that’s why you deserve it.”
I merged onto the highway and grabbed my sunglasses, sliding them on. “I thought we were talking about my dating life.”
“Why would we talk about that? I can’t see any reason.” Slowly, she crossed and recrossed her legs. “Can you?”
“It’s a point of fact.”
“And not my concern, unless you’ve forgotten your unbreakable rules regarding employees.”
I tightened my fingers around the wheel. “I have a photo on my phone that indicates my rules can bend.”
“You mean on my phone.”
Ah, dammit, it was on her phone. I’d wanted to keep the picture, so I could stare at it when I was alone. So I could imagine what it would be like to live like that all the time. To just think of the pleasure of the moment. To take what I craved and give back so much more in return.
“And yes, your rules can bend. But you never make the choice freely. You’re always led by the woman cursing you for unknown reasons with a sex hex.”
“Probably just for the amusement of seeing me at your mercy.”
“Oh, Mr. Shaw,” her voice dropped to a purr, “if I had you at my mercy, I guarantee neither of us would be laughing.”
Neither of us spoke for the rest of the ride to her apartment, other than a few short directions from Ryan. The cat was mostly quiet, but she twisted around a couple of times to slide her fingers into his cage. Each time, she was rewarded with some action that made her murmur softly to him.
I’d never been jealous of a cat before.
Once I pulled into the small parking lot, I drove into the far back, near an alley partially blocked off with a chain link fence. A canopy of trees overhead provided some privacy, and no cars were parked close by.
That was intentional.
She frowned and took off her belt, turning toward me on her seat. “What are you doing? There were spots near the building.”
I took off my own belt and undid the button on my jacket before shifting toward her. “Making a choice,” I said softly, cupping her soft cheek in my palm.
The pulse just beneath her jaw fluttered wildly against my finger. “Of your own free will.”
“Yes, but I can’t make any other choice right now. Not because of a sex hex,” I acknowledged as the cutest wrinkle formed between her brows, “but because you’re the most maddeningly intoxicating woman I’ve ever known. Now shut up so I can kiss you.”
She smiled when our lips met, but that was the last lighthearted moment between us.
I slipped my arms around her under her sweater and somehow lifted her into my lap with a minimum of banged knees and flailing arms, and she straddled my legs as if she’d been meant to fit in that very spot, steering wheel in her back and all.
She coiled her arms around my neck and our lips refitted together on a long groan, one I was pretty sure we shared.
I couldn’t stop sucking on her tongue, and she kept driving her fingers through my hair, tugging on my scalp with every twist. Her full breasts were mashed against my chest, her nipples hard and tight, and she tasted like a mix of sin, moonshine—the actual moon, not the alcohol—and the peppermint tea she’d had at work.
I wanted to drown in her. To thrust between her legs with every bit of the savage gentleness with which I was attacking her sweet, sexy mouth.
And most especially, to forget a world existed outside what we were like together.
She scraped her nails down the back of my neck and swiveled against me, grinding her cleft against my very insistent cock. The purr of satisfaction she made in her throat gratified me in ways I couldn’t explain.
“You came to play ball.” She nipped my lower lip, her lashes flickering over her sultry eyes. “Sir.”
That single word made me grip her jaw that much more forcefully, my other hand lowering to her breast. It flowed into my palm, full and perfect, and she gasped into the kiss, her mouth battling mine for supremacy.
I twisted her nipple and drew on her tongue as she rocked against me, testing us both.
I had to have more of her.
Breathing hard, I pulled back long enough for our gazes to connect.
Then I lowered my head and sucked on her nipple like I had her tongue, hating the layers of fabric between us.
Lightly, she scratched the back of my neck again, adding those little frissons of pain that made my shaft jerk every damn time.
As if she loved pushing me to the very boundaries of my control.
Getting some of my own back, I peeled down her jersey dress and swallowed a groan at the sight of her lacy low-cut red bra. Of course it was sexy. Everything about her was. I nudged that out of my way too and her hard brown nipple was there for the taking.
Using my lips and tongue and teeth, I pulled hard enough to make her pant and squirm against me.
“Fuck, we’re outside.” But she wasn’t pushing me away. If anything, she was clutching me closer, her fingers drawing alluring circles on the back of my neck as I licked and nipped her taut little tip.
“Are you asking to fuck outside? Because we absolutely could. You taste like fucking peaches.”
“So much swearing from such a normally repressed male.”