Page 48 of Hold On Me

The moan falling from her lips is obscene and I reward her by swiping my fingers through her dripping folds. She cries out, hands clinging to my shoulders. Oh dear. Her first rule break.

“What did I tell you about your hands?” I bring myself to a kneeling position, forcing my body to inch away from her. Her hands falling back to her sides, a whimper leaving her lips as my fingers leave her skin.

“To leave them by my head.” Her eyes meet mine and a fire burns within me. She places her hands back above her head and bites on that damn lip again, and a feeling of affection sails through me. I don’t care what I said, what I told myself before.

This girl is mine.

“I’ll let this one slide, my beautiful Penelope. But the next time, I stop completely and I’ll make you watch as I finish myself off all over your pretty tits and leave you needy and wanting. Understand?” Her eyes shine with disbelief, but she nods anyway. “Now where was I?”

Lowering myself back down, I let my tongue trace a line down her stomach and inhale at the top of her mound. She smells heavenly and my mouth waters, needing to taste her more than I need to breathe. I hum my approval when she opens her thighs wider for me. My tongue dips out and?—

Groaning, my face buried in the mattress instead of a pair of lush, silky thighs, my dick harder than ever, I slam my hand on the dresser and manage to silence the loud screeching sound my brain belatedly identifies as my phone alarm. So close and so fucking far.

It’s not the first time I’ve dreamt of her. There’ve been a few, and every time I get close to tasting her, I wake up. Every fucking time.

Not long ago I was kissing her in the lift, and today I’m going to have to fist my dick in the shower again to get some sort of relief. I can’t get her out of my head, and instead of avoiding her like I’d been doing before she came to work for me, I find myself creating reasons to be near her. Planning the Christmas party, organising my schedule, discussing which meetings I need to attend, anything to spend time around her. All the while still tiptoeing around the elephant in the room—our kiss—and whether we want it to happen again.

I know I do. I want more. And even though I know she has the ability to ruin me, I don’t care. The need to taste her is greater than the need to protect myself. And besides, I’m not as stupid as my dad. I can put things in place to look after myself and my fortune. What I can’t do is keep up the ridiculous pretence that I don’t want Penelope Richards.

So today I’m putting step one into action. I have a business lunch with an associate from England who’s visiting New York city. It’s a forty-five minute flight, and something I’d never take an assistant to ordinarily, but I have to have her in New York.

I haven’t told her yet, and I know she’s going to lose her shit with how last minute it all is, but when an opportunity as good as this comes up, you have to jump on it. Plus, if she had time to think about it, she’d come up with silly excuses not to come. Mundane excuses like she has too many things to do for Christmas, or she can’t leave Hank alone.

Little does she know, I’ve taken care of everything. And Hank is aware of our little trip. Of course he thinks it’s strictly business, but the old adage ‘what he doesn’t know…’ fits nicely here. And while I do feel guilty for lying to him, it’s not enough to convince me to abort my plans. Not now that I know it's a dream of hers to go to NYC in December. To experience a movie-esque magical Christmas experience without her family or the whole town there to comment.

This is my shot, and I have to make it count if I want her. And I really fucking want her. Bent over my desk as I spank her. Straddling me on my office chair, riding me. On her knees with my cock between her lips…

Shit. Now I’m hard again. This is bollocks. I need to make this happen, and New York city has the magic to help me. I just hope we both end up surviving the flight together. And she doesn’t curse me to hell for springing this one on her last minute.

“I’m sorry, what?” Drumming her hands on the other side of my desk, her wide eyes are fixed on me as I try to hide my grin. Excitement is thrumming through my veins and I can barely contain it.

“I said, we have a business lunch we have to be at in the city. We need to be ready to leave in an hour. So if you head home to pack a bag now, I’ll meet you at the airport.”

Her mouth gapes open as she blinks furiously, trying to get her head around what I’ve just said.

Rather than basking in her loss of words, I pull the sleeve of my shirt up a little to reveal the expensive watch on my wrist, and tut loudly. “Time’s wasting, Penelope. Get a wriggle on now. You don’t want to miss our flight.”

This seems to snap her out of her stupor and she jumps up and heads toward the door, briefly turning back, with a frown on her face and that lip between her teeth.

Before she can speak, I cut her off with a wave of my hand. “And yes, I’m sure you’re needed on the trip. And yes we will be staying overnight. Now go.” She flashes a grin and scurries out of the office without murmuring a word.

Had I known a trip on my private plane to the city that never sleeps would’ve rendered her speechless, I would’ve done this weeks ago.

25

PENNY

“You’re going to New York? Today? On a private plane? For how long?” Angie’s voice is about ten decibels higher than it should be, rising with each question.

I shush her through a giggle. I know she’s at work, and I don’t want rumours started about me and our boss. “Keep it quiet. I don’t want the whole office knowing my business. I don’t know for how long, but it can’t be that long, not with the Christmas party around the corner. I need you to let my dad and the rest of the clan know, though. I have to pack a bag and head to the airport. No time to call everyone and deal with their questions.”

I know I’m being a coward, making her tell the boys and my dad, but I really can’t deal with them yet. I don’t even know what’s going on in my own head, let alone trying to answer questions from all of them.

Rushing through my bedroom, shoving a change of clothes into a bag, I hover over the fancy bra and pantie sets I have. I bought them a few years back, and they still have tags on them. If I take them, it's like admitting I want something to happen with us. And if I admit that, and then nothing does, I’ll be left disappointed. But if I don’t take them, and something does happen, I’d be mortified for Ben to see me in my granny panties.

“I can hear you thinking through the phone. Talk to me.”

Angie’s voice makes me jump, I forgot she was still there.

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