9. Chapter 9 #2
“Oh, Ms. Clayborn, we’re already there. Or have you conveniently forgotten how you feasted on my cunt? Because I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”
This wasn’t any definition of fun. Not that Sarah was having fun before, of course, but now she felt like a chimp trapped in a cage, going crazy, ready to throw some serious shit.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Give me one good reason you won’t date me.” Luca rethought that. “That has nothing to do with work.”
“All right. You want a reason? Because I’m not interested in dating anyone.
I’m not at a point in my life where I can realistically date someone, even casually.
I’m sorry you got caught up in me letting off some steam, Ms. Blackbourne.
You’ve seen me at my job. It’s incredibly stressful.
Ms. Moreau makes sure I get very little rest when I’m on the clock. ”
Luca remained silent.
“I don’t want to date you. I don’t want to date anyone.
This also leaves out casual sex between us.
I would not feel comfortable with that. I don’t regret our circumstances meeting, Ms. Blackbourne, but I will not pursue something that I feel is detrimental to my mental health. I should hope you would respect that.”
She sat up. “I do. I just wanted an explanation, that’s all.”
“You’re not used to being told no. You’re the kind of person who needs to understand why someone told them no.”
“Is that so wrong?”
“No, but it’s bloody annoying.”
Luca’s mouth twitched. At first, Sarah thought it was a sneer, but when she turned laughter into a fake cough against the back of her hand? What the hell? She thinks that’s funny?
“Didn’t know you were British, Ms. Clayborn.”
“Half-British,” she said, maintaining her straight face. “Mother’s side.”
“See? Learning more about you already.”
Sarah stood up, leaving her food untouched. “Sorry to make you buy my lunch when I don’t intend to stick around. I must be going.”
Luca stood up as well. “Wait.”
She wasn’t going to wait. What was the point in waiting? This woman would stall her until she fell for her. Sarah had seen it dozens of times under the employment of Danica Moreau. She certainly did not intend to become a woman who fell for those rich playgirl tactics.
“I really must be going.” Sarah turned, one step toward the door.
“Sarah.”
Luca didn’t quite bark her name, but the command was there. I’m not your dog, Ms. Blackbourne. Yet she stopped.
Why?
Her whole body shivered. Quivered. From head to toe, her skin was brushed with the paint of arousal, as if it were last Saturday night and she saw this woman through nothing but a sexual lens.
God, did I want her. That lust for her was forced underground over the past week.
The fact that Luca was still interested in her enough to show up on her doorstep to ask her out hadn’t swayed Sarah, but the lust was still there.
“I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m sorry.”
She turned, the full force of her strength propelling her toward Luca Blackbourne.
“Excuse me?”
Her nose almost touched Luca’s. Breath as hot as the ire raging within Sarah blasted against her face. Still, Luca remained unfazed. “I have nothing else to say, Ms. Clayborne. I’m sorry. For everything.”
How dare she.
All her professionalism went out the window. Sarah smacked that woman’s cheek as if some outraged bitch somewhere paid her to do it. Yeah. Me.
Luca’s face only slightly turned away from the impact.
“Don’t you dare feel sorry for me. About anything.”
Her trauma and whatever way she dealt with it was not for Luca’s commentary.
Let alone to know about! Even Nigel barely understood the extent to which his sister pushed herself into unhealthy scenarios.
If anyone thinks it started with sex, they’re na?ve.
More like drink. Lots and lots of drinks.
It was all she practically did while at her mum’s house the month after the miscarriage.
Jack Daniel was her boyfriend for that whole month.
After Russell’s role came to light? She had never been so shitfaced since a frat party in college made her wake up in a stranger’s house – and the stranger had no idea how she got there.
“I have never intended to anger you or make you feel uncomfortable, Sarah.” So why did Luca continue to lord over her? “But I clearly have done so. My apologies. I won’t bother you again, unless it’s strictly for work.”
“Please do so.”
“Don’t worry about lunch. I’ll have it sent to the office so you can eat it away from me.”
“Away from me.”
Something sounded so final in Luca’s voice.
This was it. She finally got the clue. Sarah wanted nothing to do with her or her unfounded pity.
They had nothing. No relationship. No grounds for one.
They had hot sex on a whim one night, before they knew who the other was and how it would affect their lives one day.
Life was one crazy coincidence after another. That’s all there was to it.
So why did the thought of this song and dance ending suddenly make Sarah feel… less?
It was that damn sexual tension hanging between them. The tension she tried to deny when she called it out the day before.
Oh, no. It was real. Sarah wasn’t dreaming about Luca because she was a convenient stand-in for a sex dream. Sarah wanted her. It simply wasn’t a good idea to have her.Sarah and good ideas? They didn’t get along.
Who kissed whom first? Oh, who the bloody hell cared?
It certainly was not as one-sided as it had been the night before.
Last night, Sarah had been a passive participant.
Now? Her arms wrapped around Luca’s shoulders, tongue searching for hers as desperately as Luca’s wandered Sarah’s mouth.
Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me! Was that a command, or a desperate plea?
Sarah was in trouble, regardless. No, no, no, this is bad, this is wrong.
That was the rational side of her. The irrational, sex-starved side?
Wanted her back on the table and this woman between her legs.
“You’re killing me,” Luca muttered between kisses. Sarah lost her damn mind and unzipped her trousers. Without thinking about it, her hand slipped inside Luca’s clothes and palmed her mound. It grew warmer and wetter by the second. “You’re killing me.”
Sarah’s back didn’t end up on the table, but it found the nearest wall within five seconds.
“Don’t play games you don’t intend to finish.” Luca’s voice rumbled through Sarah, like that pussy continued to surge against her hand. “I swear to God, Sarah. If I don’t fuck you again…”
“Ms. Blackbourne.” Where had that husky breath come from? “You’ve never fucked Sarah before.”
“My place or hers? Or does she want me taking her here in a damned restaurant?”
More wetness covered Sarah’s palm. She closed her eyes and sighed, imagining this woman banging her against a restaurant wall while other well-to-do people dined outside, talking of private schooling, the latest fashions off the runway, and what to do about mistresses who gabbed too much.
“Right here.”
In a perfect world, Sarah would have received her cake on a platter and wolfed it down in the same instance.
Wham. Bam. Orgasm. This woman’s fingers back inside her, getting to work at getting them both off.
Give it to me for real this time. She didn’t want it halfway.
Didn’t want Luca’s intimacy anywhere but between their bodies. Don’t push me away the moment you come.
But her own zipper was barely down, and both of their buttons were undone when Luca cursed against her throat and pulled away from her.
“No. Not. Here.”
Each beat pounded against Sarah the way this woman should have been pounding those fingers into her. “So?” she hissed back at Luca.
“So unless we’re going somewhere else, we need to raincheck.”
Was she fucking serious? Apparently.
Sarah was left against the wall, clothes disheveled, thighs wet, and brain in overdrive. Luca cleaned herself up with a twisted look on her face. Really! Not even gonna get fingered, was she? Last Sarah checked, she worked nothing but magic with her whole hand.
“For all you know,” Sarah spat, “that was your only chance.”
Luca said nothing as she zipped up and shook out her jacket.
“I’ve got my reasons.” Before Sarah had the chance to spout off at her, Luca kissed her again, slowly, allowing her tongue to take its time tangling with Sarah’s.
Luca’s hand beneath her chin was a nice touch. “Thanks for the thrill, though.”
Her wan smile and the wink that followed kept Sarah from getting angrier. “Bitch,” she whispered, looking away. “You wanna talk about embarrassing? I just now embarrassed myself.”
“I’m the one with a raging wet pussy and nothing to show for it.”
“Would’ve taken care of that, you know. I don’t have carpal tunnel yet.”
“I don’t want anything but the real deal. I won’t be able to stop myself.” Luca sat on the edge of her chair, pulled out her wallet, and withdrew a business card. “Anything else you offer isn’t good enough. Yet.”
Scoffing, Sarah pushed herself off the wall and hurried to put her blouse and trousers back in order. “I get it. You’re punishing me for teasing you. Fine.”
“I’m not punishing you for anything. I told you… I have my reasons.”
“Hope I get some answers at some point.”
“Here.” Luca handed her the card after writing something on a white corner. “It’s my personal number. For the love of God, call me after work so we can arrange something.”
Sarah snapped the card up and shoved it into her inside jacket pocket. “I need to go. Seriously.”
“Then go. Before I lose all self-control and do something we both may regret.”
Sarah spared her one last look of unbridled longing before grabbing her purse and getting the hell out.
One last wall came down inside her. The compartments blended, and soon, the stoic and put-together Sarah Clayborn would no longer know what the hell she was doing.
Who gave Angel the right to bleed into her everyday life like that?