Chapter Twenty-Five
Savannah collapsed. If the vehicle caught fire, she doubted she’d get out in time. Bones had turned to jelly. She could stay in his arms forever.
His heart beat fast against her ear, but his hands moved in a slow caress. She sighed, and snuggled closer, basking in the intimacy. “Thank you,” she murmured.
He chuckled. “I’ve never had a woman thank me for sex before.”
“You could have refused me.”
His chest banged against her head as he laughed. “As if that would ever happen.”
Her lips twitched. True. He was as horny for her as she was for him. He’d pursued her—although she hadn’t run very fast or very long. Resistance had been a token.
She hugged him tight, feeling safe and secure. She’d never had a panic attack before. She hated being terrified of nothing. Most likely, she’d imagined the noise in the alley.
Sex had felt like a matter of survival—the only way to center herself again. To replace a bad memory with a good one.
It worked. She was her old self again. Calm. Even-keeled.
Exhausted. Wrung out.
A good night’s sleep, and I’ll be right as rain. But I’m never going by the alley again. If I have to walk five miles out of the way to get to work, that’s what I’ll do.
She kissed his damp throat, reluctant to separate from him, but they were making a mess of the seat, and they couldn’t stay in the vehicle all night.
The windows were darkened so no one could see in—unless they got close, but someone might choose to investigate the expensive, fancy vehicle outside the modest apartment building.
“I should go in.” She sought his gaze. “Will you come in?”
“That’s my plan,” he stated as if it had been a foregone conclusion.
The man assumed a lot, but how could she get mad when she desired the same thing?
Hair springing every which way, dress wrinkled, she did not relish the walk of shame. She lifted off his lap and immediately missed the physical connection, until she tried to cover herself. The entire front of her dress and her bra were ripped. She gaped at him. “You tore my dress?”
Her lust-soaked brain hadn’t noticed. She did recall him sucking and biting her nipples.
Having the buds sucked hard, bitten, got her off every time and intensified the climax.
It left her nips tender afterward, but during?
Holy shit, it was hot. It never failed to push her over the edge.
However, she did not like having her clothing destroyed—especially since she had a limited amount with her!
“I’ll buy you another one.” He tucked himself into his pants. His intact pants. The ones she hadn’t torn.
“That’s not the point! I have to march into my building with my tits hanging out!” She tried to gather the tattered edges together. If, by some luck, no other tenants were around, the guards watching the security monitors would still see. Hey, Joe—check out monitor five for some reality TV!
“No, you don’t. We’re not at your building.”
“We’re not—” Her gaze shot to the window. They sat in a large lot, vacant except for two other vehicles. “Where are we?”
“We’re on the roof of my building. You’re spending the night with me.” Another foregone conclusion.
“Excuse me?” She waffled between outrage at his autocratic behavior and pleasure that they would spend the night together.
Back when she’d assumed they were outside her apartment, she’d hoped he’d stay, so nothing had changed except the venue and who called the shots.
And she was dying of curiosity to see where he lived.
He popped the hatch and ushered her out.
“It would be nice to be asked,” she snapped. Chilly night air beaded her tender nipples to hard points, and the wind whipped at the skirt of her dress. She clutched at the front trying to cover herself and hide her dangling bra. I’m a mess. “I suppose there are monitors in your building?”
“Of course. Security is very tight.”
“Robo-manned?”
“Oberian personnel.”
“Great.”
He removed his jacket and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she said grudgingly and slipped into it.
“Better now?”
“Marginally.” She wouldn’t be flashing, but nothing said this woman just rode the wild pony like hobbling in wearing a man’s jacket, hair a mess, and cum running down her legs.
“This way.” He gripped her elbow and guided her across the roof. “We don’t have far to go anyway. My apartment is in the penthouse.”
They boarded a rather opulent propulsion lift. Stratos peered up at a red eye up in the corner, and the door closed.
“Identity scanner?” she asked.
He nodded. “And a surveillance camera. Two in one.”
“You invented it?”
He nodded.
Of course.
The propulsion lift descended so smoothly, she never felt it move. They boarded. Doors closed. A few seconds later, the door opened to an apartment built entirely of glass, including interior walls. Hand on the small of her back, he nudged her forward.
“Welcome home,” Aaia said. “Hello, Savannah.”
“Uh, hi.”
His apartment wasn’t in the penthouse; the penthouse was his apartment. “You have the whole floor?”
“Yes.”
City lights beckoned her to the window wall. Illuminated high-rises stretched for as far as her eye could see. Bookended between two skyscrapers, a squat building took up an entire block. “That’s not OberTech, is it?”
“Yes.”
“It looks short.” It seemed massive from the inside.
He chuckled. “It’s fifteen stories—but we own the air space over it, so we can always build up if we need to.”
“How tall is the building we’re in now?” It gave her a touch of vertigo to peer down at skyscrapers.
“One hundred and six floors. I own the two topmost floors, the roof, and the airspace. No one will ever live below or above me. I like my space.”
“Which building is mine?”
He pointed. “Third from the left, in the group along that passageway close to OberTech.”
She turned away from the view outside to take in the bold design of his apartment, seeing past the conversation pit with seating for at least twenty, through transparent walls into a minimalist, masculine home office, into a bedroom bigger than her apartment with a humongous bed and an ensuite bath and beyond to a room filled with exercise equipment.
“You work out?” she asked.
“Every morning.”
She could have guessed. He hadn’t acquired a sculpted chest, rippling abdomen, and muscular shoulders and biceps by sitting at a design console all day.
In the other direction, three hover chandeliers floated over a table accommodating—she counted chairs—twenty.
The sleek kitchen was compact compared to the other rooms, but spacious by Earth standards, and there were no upper cabinets to block the views.
“I don’t see any guest bedrooms,” she said.
“I don’t have overnight guests.”
“No sleepovers. Okay. But you entertain.” She gestured at the massive dining table, the conversation pit.
“I don’t like many people. My friend Kep drops by occasionally, but that’s about it.”
“Not your mother and sister?” she joked.
“Gods no!”
“You’re the only guest other than Keplar,” Aaia volunteered.
So, he didn’t bring women home, but she didn’t doubt there’d been women. The man knew his way around a woman’s body; he hadn’t learned that by being celibate. She hadn’t been fishing for the info about his former lovers, but she felt ridiculously pleased.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“I am, a little.” Maybe that was why she’d started to feel faint.
“Aaia…”
“Dinner for two. In the sitting area?” Aaia said.
“Yes,” he replied. “If that’s okay?” He looked at Savannah.
“Sitting area is fine. But, about the food—” She tried to be polite, but she probably couldn’t eat anything he put before her.
“I’ve got it covered,” Aaia said. “I’ve been preparing for this.”
Out of nowhere, two robos rolled in. One proceeded to the kitchen, where it began preparing a meal. The other set up a small table in front of the living room window-wall, laid out china and cutlery, a vase of exotic flowers, and candles.
Then the interior walls darkened to opacity, and the lights dimmed, cocooning the tiny table in intimacy. Romantic dining for two.
“Aaia, what’s all this?” Stratos looked bewildered.
“As I said, I’ve been preparing for this.”
Oh, my god. She’s matchmaking! Odd comments and actions suddenly made sense. Savannah laughed. “I told you she takes liberties.”
They sat, and the robo who’d set up the table poured drinks for them—vekkel for Stratos, and a lemony-ish concoction for her. It contained no citrus, but Aaia had suggested it, and she’d found it to her liking. Next to kaffii, it was her favorite drink.
Shortly thereafter, the robo wheeled out with their food.
Aaia had, in fact, covered it, providing two separate meals. Looking at Stratos’ dinner, she knew she could never have forced down even a morsel. Her face must have reflected her thoughts, because he commented, “Our food is not to your liking?”
“It is very different from what I’m used to,” she said tactfully. “Oberia is amazing, but I miss Earth food.”
“So, you like my planet?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“Could you see yourself living here long term?”
Was he making idle conversation or asking for a reason?
She’d never fathomed they could have a future, but what if they could?
Earth was her homeland, but was it still home?
What did she have there, other than good food?
It was too soon to make a life-altering decision, but shouldn’t she keep her options open?
“I guess…if there was a reason to stay.”
Her hopeful mood dimmed a little when he didn’t follow up but began to eat.
“I’ll find out what happened to the company vehicle tomorrow,” he said. “But I don’t want you walking to work anymore. You’ll take my vehicle.”
“Even if you drop me off, we shouldn’t ride together—”
He held up her hand. “You can ride in one vehicle. I’ll take another. I should have thought of this sooner. The two other vehicles parked on the roof? They’re mine.”
“Oh.” He had three vehicles, and a penthouse. He owned the floor below—and the airspace.
“You can use it whenever you want, go wherever you want, not just to and from work.”
“You’re giving me one of your vehicles?”
“Yes.”
“If people find out, they’ll know for sure we have a thing going on.” She used Brad’s words. If he’d read the signs, others could, too.
“We do have a thing going on.”
His admission gave her a zing of warmth and hope, but she still had to get him to understand. “That doesn’t mean they need to know about it! We need to be dis—”
“Discreet. You’re right. As enjoyable as flekking you on my office desk would be, I agree we ought to exercise more decorum.
However, there’s a difference between being discreet and hiding a dirty secret.
My feelings for you are not dirty. Well, some of them are.
” His gaze turned smoldering, and she was suddenly too warm in his jacket.
“I won’t flaunt our relationship, but I’m not going to pretend I don’t care about you. To me, that’s disrespectful.”
His words unleashed a yearning, but she had to be sensible.
For the sake of both their careers, they had to keep their relationship under wraps.
They should not have slept together, but since they had, and his seductive magnetism decimated her good intentions and willpower, the least they could do was be careful.
“I care about you, too. I don’t want to sneak around either, but I worry about the repercussions.
You’re my boss. It won’t look good for you, but mostly for me.
Your mother and sister could use it as an excuse to get rid of me.
They already don’t like me.” She fluttered her hands in agitation.
“I could lose my job.” Been there, done that.
Didn’t even get a T-shirt. The risks were greater this time.
If she lost her job, she’d lose him. She’d have to go home to Earth, and she’d never see him again.
“That won’t happen. I promise. I won’t allow it.” His eyes shifted to her chest, and she realized her borrowed jacket gaped open. She pulled the lapels closed.
“Why do you cover up? I’ve seen your breasts. Sucked those pretty nipples until they were hard berries—” he said in his sexy low rumble.
Her pussy pulsed, letting down a gush of moisture. “Stratos, please. Let’s talk about this. What if you get tired of me? We work together. It’s hot now, but what happens if the heat cools?” The sizzle inevitably fizzled.
“Ah, Savannah, it’s only going to get hotter.”