Page 54 of Close to the Edge

Impossibly, he thickened in my mouth. I drew him deep, right to the back of my throat and held still, glorying in his utter lack of control when he ground himself mercilessly against me.

“Take it. Fuck, take it all,” he panted, right before a pure, animalist growl rumbled from his chest, then erupted in a hoarse shout as he came furiously in my mouth.

I swallowed him down, the salty muskiness of him weirdly addictive. When his body sagged against the seat, I licked him clean, then allowed him to pull me upright.

“Jesus, Lily. That was sensational,” he breathed against my mouth.

The smile that curved my lips was pure feminine power. My first blow and I hadn’t sucked at it. A wicked little laugh broke loose before I could stop it.

“Enjoying your power, are you?” he croaked.

“Maybe,” I replied breathlessly.

He pulled me in for a deep, long kiss. When we parted, we stared at each other for several heartbeats, both adjusting to the shifting landscape beneath our feet.

His gaze scoured my face; then his thumb brushed my lower lip.

After he zipped himself up, he reached into the center console and handed me packet of tissues. I took one and reached between my legs.

He caught my wrist. “No. Not there. I want you to walk around the office today with a reminder of how good this moment felt. Each time you get anxious, remember this moment. Remember that you’re phenomenal. Okay?”

The huge lump that rose in my throat prevented me from speaking. After I nodded, he took the tissue from me, and gently wiped my smeared lipstick. Then he wiped his own mouth before reaching for my satchel and the small makeup bag I kept in there.

He watched as I repaired my makeup, his intense gaze fixed on my face. Only then did he zip me back up, button my jacket and let me slide back into my seat.

“You ready?”

I took a deep breath and let my gratitude show in my smile. “Yes.”

His return smile was gentle if a little dazed around the edges. “Let’s go.”

The morning presentation went without a hitch, with an eager audience comprising the tech media and bloggers, applauding when the two-hour event was done.

Over the years, Chance and I had perfected the art of being in the same room but speaking only the barest minimum to one another.

Afterward, I returned to my office with Chance. Caleb had grudgingly agreed to keep out of sight while I dealt with Chance but I knew he was nearby, and that gave me a layer of comfort I didn’t know I needed till it was time for the second presentation.

The beta test started off well, my tweaks making the algorithm as fast as I promised it would be.

Right up until the moment the compression sequence slowed to a crawl. My heart jumped into my throat. Seventeen excruciating seconds ticked by before it sped up again.

But the blip was the only thing that mattered when the screen turned black and the lights went back up in the conference room.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lily

“ICANFIXIT,”I blurted. “It’s just a small area of the code.”

Chance looked furious. “We thought these wrinkles would’ve been ironed out by now.”

“I still have three weeks of beta testing before the final deadline.”

Walter Green, the man Chance had brought with him, frowned. “You said it would be ready, Donovan.”

“I was assured it would be,” Chance responded.

I ignored the men and fired up my laptop. Scrolling through the code, I zeroed in on where the problem was. Heart pumping, I forced myself to analyze it line by line. After forty lines, I stopped. “It’s fixable,” I repeated. “But I’ll need time.”

---