Page 51 of Wanted

“Yes,” I whimpered. My words escaped me. Hell, I could barelybreathe from all of the different sensations firing off inside me. I was soclose, so near the precipice of release, the only thing I could do was leandown and bite the pillow, pushing my ass higher in the air for him.

Each stroke of his touch, both inside and outside of my body,sent me on a rollercoaster ride of desire, threatening to careen off the railsat any second. It was by far the most erotic thing we had ever done.

“I’m gonna come, Sara.” He pushed himself in and out with twolong strokes. “Come with me.” He caressed me with such precision I had nochoice but to allow my orgasm to rip through me.

I screamed out my release as he let go of my hair, grasped myhips and chased after his own pleasure.

A short while later, he’d withdrawn from me and immediatelyasked, “Are you all right? How do you feel?” After his initial desire hadlessened, a look of worry shadowed over him.

“I’m fine, Alek,” I assured him. “We just won’t be doingthatagain for a while.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough.”

Following his normal after-sex clean-up ritual, he crawled intobed behind me, pulling me into his body so he could hold me tight. Inhaling myscent always relaxed him. I wasn’t sure why, but it did.

“Love you, baby,” he whispered, quickly fading into sleep.

“Love you, too,” I answered, squeezing his hand in mine as Ifollowed him into dreamland.

~31~

Sara

I finally decided to take Megan up on her offer to grab a drinkafter work. She’d been asking me for months, but I’d been too depressed to evenentertain the thought. Normally, I wouldn’t go for drinks with an employee, otherthan Matt, of course, but I liked her. I was her boss above all else, and sheknew it, but she was someone I could see having a long-term friendship with.

Alek was already aware Ihad plans for the evening. He’d tried to persuade me to go to Throttle or even Verdana,but I didn’t think it was a good idea. We wanted to go somewhere low-key,somewhere we could sit down and actually hear ourselves think.

He never forced the issue,which was quite an improvement. Curbing his overbearing ways was doing wondersfor our relationship. Even though he was impossible sometimes, he was trying. Plus,he realized the one person who had been the biggest threat to me was dead. Hewould never harm me again.

Megan was shaping up to be a great new addition to the shop,proving she took her job seriously, coming up with new ideas all the time. Sheasked if I ever considered expanding, maybe adding on to the existing building.Coincidently, there was an empty lot next door, but I didn’t have the money inthe budget to do anything so grand yet. I refrained from mentioning her idea toAlek because I knew he would buy it before I even had the chance to dispute it.Full Bloom was my baby, and I needed to nurture it my way. I wanted to do it onmy own.

We decided to meet at Laverty’s, a nice, quaint Irish pub. I’donly been there once, but the finger food certainly left an impression.

The evening was shaping up to be a fun time out, the conversationflowing between us as the hours ticked by.

“So, Megan, did you like living in North Carolina? I’ve alwayswanted to visit but never had the opportunity.”

She hesitated for a brief moment, looking away as if she didn’tknow how to answer. Being someone who had skeletons in her own closet, Irecognized the fleeting look on her face. Maybe she moved to Seattle becauseshe was trying to escape something, or someone. Much like I had.

Taking a sip of my drink, I allowed her the time she needed toanswer me. “I did, although I didn’t live there for too long.” She avoided myeyes once again, staring instead at the glass of wine in front of her. Decidingbest not to push her, I changed the topic.

“Do you have any siblings? Are both of your parents still living?”My questions were innocent enough, but again she looked uneasy. Something abouther reactions piqued my curiosity. I’d told Alek I’d done the background checkon her, but I didn’t. It was on my to-do list. I had, however, called all ofher references, and they had nothing but nice things to say about her. I didn’tlie about that part, at least.

“Both of my parents are still alive. They’re actually stillmarried, if you can believe it.” A faint smile spread across her face.

“That’s sweet.”

Squirming in her chair, she turned the questions on me, “So, whatabout you, Sara? Does your family live close by?” she asked, bringing her drinkto her lips. Her study of me was quite intent, more so than usual.

Maybe I was reading too much into her behavior, Alek’s insistenceabout her background check playing over and over in my head.

Before I could answer, my phone vibrated on top of the table. Takinga quick peek, I saw it was Alek. “Sorry, one sec, Megan.” Turning my head tothe side, I answered. “Hello. Hey, babe. Yeah, we’re having a great time,” I said,glancing back at Megan as I spoke. A pissed-off look washed over her face asshe realized who I was talking to.

When she saw my questioninglook, her scowl quickly switched to a strained smile. I turnedmybody to the right as I answered him, doing my best not to witness any moreof Megan’s facial expressions. “Yeah, I have. One. Don’t start,” I huffed. “Fine.Okay, I’ll call you when we’re done. Love you, too.” I turned to face her againas I disconnected the call. “Sorry. Alek was just checking in.”

“You mean checking up, don’t you?” she argued. “Why do you lethim get away with that type of behavior?” Draining the rest of my drink, sheheld my stare and waited for an answer.

“He’s not doing anything but looking out for me. I’ve beenthrough a lot and he’s concerned.” I didn’t particularly care for her tone whenshe was prying into my business.

---