Page 16 of One Week To Claim It All
“I’ve missed your mouth,” she whispered breathlessly, as she ran her hands over his shoulders and back, pointy nails softly grazing his sensitized skin. He shivered from the onslaught of emotions.
“I missed everything,” he confessed, losing himself to her touch, mouth pressing kisses to her warm skin as he made his way up her body. He’d had relationships since her. He’d had lovers. So why did it feel like he’d gone a decade without human touch? Why did it feel like these were the first hands he’d had on him in years? His skin was parched, dry earth, and her hands were rain.
“I need you. Please, Rodrigo.” Her words seemed so loud in the quiet room. He felt a tightening at his waist as she unbuttoned his trousers and unzipped them, and when he opened his eyes she was looking up at him, unrestrained hunger flashing in her eyes. Within seconds he was on her, his larger body covering hers. Skin on skin, fused together. There was nothing that could stop him from what they were about to do.
He reached for the side table where he’d left his shaving kit and plucked out a condom and rolled it on as she undulated on the bed, pleasuring herself. Her lusty moans resounded through the room and if he didn’t get inside her he would combust. As soon as he was ready, he went in for another kiss, their tongues sliding together.
“More,” she demanded as he placed himself right at her entrance. “Now, Rodrigo.” He could not deny her or himself any longer and entered her.
“God,” he gasped, heart pounding in his chest as pleasure coiled around his spine like a vise. “You’re perfect. I want to be inside you forever.” With one hand he moved them until her hips were canted just right and he could be seated to the hilt.
“Ah. I love this!” she cried as he pounded into her and she met him stroke for stroke. He placed a hand in between them and rubbed circles over her clit, desperate to feel her walls tighten around him. “I’m coming,” she gasped, pulsing around him. And soon his orgasm was crashing over him as they shared hard, hungry kisses.
Yes, this was what he’d been missing. And as ill-advised and possibly disastrous as this was, with this woman warm and sated in his arms, he could not find it in him to regret it.
Eleven
“Hey, Mami,” Esme answered the phone, her jaw cracking from a yawn.
“Mija, I never heard you get home last night, and this morning you left before I woke up!”
“I got in really late. I didn’t want to wake you.” Heat flooded her face as she thought of the reason why she’d gotten home at almost 2:00 a.m. “I ended up coming back to the office after the reception to um...” She cleared her throat as an image of Rodrigo with his head between her legs flashed through her mind. She closed her eyes, hoping to shut it down, but more moments from the night before came to her in a flurry of very not-safe-for-work images.
It had been supremely unwise to sleep with Rodrigo, but she could still feel the delicious aches from last night in her muscles. Yeah, that had been dumb, and so damn good. He was so strong. The way he’d taken her...his massive chest covering her as he surged into her. Over the years she’d convinced herself that being with Rodrigo had not been as earth-shattering as she’d remembered. That she’d embellished their time together because he’d been her first and she’d been in love with him for so long she created a fantasy in her head. She’d convinced herself that no one could be that good. Well, she’d been lying to herself, because the memory didn’t hold a candle to the real thing.
The twenty-six-year-old gentle and attentive lover she’d been with at twenty-one was still there, but this Rodrigo was more skilled. Self-possessed like he was in every other aspect of his life. Although the restraint he carried himself with had evaporated the moment he put his hands on her. And his body, mercy. The man’s chest was like sculpted, bronzed marble. Her very own flesh-and-bone lustful god who’d made her tremble in his hands.
“Esmeralda Luisa Sambrano Peña.” Her mother’s recitation of her full name made her jump in her seat. Her face heated again as she realized she’d been having sex daydreams while she had her mother on the phone.
“Sorry, Mami.”What was she doing?“I just have a lot to do. I need like eight weeks and have four days, so I’m feeling the pressure to be here as much as possible.”
“I hear you, but Esme, amor, don’t start doubting yourself. You’ve been working hard for years for an opportunity like this. And you know what to do. Did that woman bother you again?”
“No. I haven’t seen Carmelina.” She sighed, feeling unsteady. She’d texted her mom about her father’s widow showing up in Rodrigo’s office. Esme wasn’t planning on letting her know about the scene Onyx had made at the reception. That would only worry her. But Ivelisse’s question was also a good reminder that she was on her own here. No matter how nice it had been to feel like Rodrigo was on her side, shewasstill trying to take his job. They werenoton the same team.
She needed to get her head in the game or she would blow her chance to finally make her professional dreams come true. She had a moment with Rodrigo, and the mind-blowing sex was a way to blow off steam. A onetime thing that could not happen again and that was that. Closure. That’s what it was, one last goodbye. And she hoped if she kept repeating that to herself she would eventually believe it.
“Good. If she bothers you again tell Rodrigo. He’s a good boy and he’ll help you.” Esme rolled her eyes, because despite everything her mom still had a soft spot for him. She’d been the only one who’d known about their relationship back then, and even when Esmeralda called her mother to tell her how Rodrigo ended things, her mother had not disparaged him. She’d comforted Esmeralda and sat through many pity parties over the phone. But her mother had not spoken ill of him, not once.
“I’m trying to take his job, Mami. He’s not exactly an ally. And let’s not talk about how he ghosted me ten years ago.”
Her mother clicked her tongue, a definite sign she did not approve of Esme’s opinion of the man. “You should give him more credit. He’s not a bad man. He’s just loyal to a fault.”
At least on that they agreed. “Yeah, and his loyalties are not with me. So, I need to keep my guard up. That means Rodrigo Almanzar is the enemy until I have the CEO position secured.”
“Good morning to you, too, Ms. Sambrano-Peña.”
Shit.
“Oh, hey.” Yeah, there was no masking the “just got caught disparaging your name” guilt in her voice. From the look on his face he must’ve heard her fighting words. Dammit. Her and her big mouth. This was not the way to keep things civil. Sure, she didn’t want to keep going down the path they started on last night, but she didn’t want him mad at her, either. First she’d slept with him and now he’d found her talking smack about him behind his back. This was not a good development. She pointed at her earbuds. “It’s Mami. Let me just end the call.”
His face was back to that stony expression she could not read at all, the heat she’d seen in his eyes the night before replaced by a flinty stare. “I’m not here to chitchat, just wanted to remind you we’re meeting with the CFO in ten minutes.”
A hole opened in her chest at the detached way he spoke to her. Like she was nothing to him. As if last night had never happened. But wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? Some distance. She’d told herself a dozen times since they’d parted ways last night she couldn’t get caught up in her old baggage about Rodrigo. That she had to keep pushing to get her presentation ready. And it seemed they were on the same page. So this was great. Exactly what needed to happen. Then why did she feel like a ball of lead had settled in the pit of her stomach?
Because Rodrigo always did this to her. He made her weak and careless then he left her alone and discarded. Was she really going to set herself up to have her heart stomped like the last time? How could she forget how it had felt when he’d dumped her? God, and she’d slept with him. Not even 48 hours of having the man back in her life, and she had already broken every rule she’d set for herself with Rodrigo Almanzar. And she wanted to be angry, she wanted to befurious. But the way he’d touched her last night, the way he’d whispered in her ear that he’d ached for her, what those words had done to her—thatwould not be so easy to forget.
“Your office?” she asked as her mind raced.
