Page 31 of One Week To Claim It All
“Of course, I expect you to run this place with me.”
“Two. I will have opinions, and I will have plans. Some of those will be different from yours or push against what you’re envisioning and we will have to find ways to compromise. To figure out what works best for the company.”
“A partnership,” he agreed, his heart beating in his chest and a smile already tugging at his lips. He was usually careful, never one to count his eggs before they hatched, but it was hard to hold back when he was so close to getting everything he’d ever wanted.
“I refuse to just be a convenient warm body with the last name Sambrano that you trot out for photo ops.” She was trying very hard to sound mad, but her lips were fully pulled up in a hopeful smile he could almost bet was a mirror image of his own.
“I expect you to be at the office across from mine every day and to help me build a network that we can both be proud of,” he told her, and he tugged on her hand, bringing her a little closer.
“Are you really willing to take a pay cut?” she probed, this time her expression much more serious. He was. He’d thought about it and the reality was that going from making fifty million to twenty-five was almost an absurd thing to be upset about. And he barely spent on anything. Because he had no life. He’d paid cash for his house and the other properties were investments that essentially paid for themselves. It was a good thing, too, since most of the wealth he’d accumulated had gone into a stake in Sambrano. It had been worth every penny.
“Getting half of what I get now isn’t exactly a hardship, mi vida.” He was running fast and loose with the endearments, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. She was all that: his love, his life, his jewel. And it was about time he started saying it.
He brought her into his arms and she pressed into him like he was her harbor, her body relaxing against him. Soft and warm...and perfect. He would spend the rest of his life earning the right to be the shoulder she always leaned on. “Can we really do this? What if the board doesn’t go for it?”
He pressed kisses into her hair, just because he needed to be as close as possible. “This board is interested in preserving the core values of this company, and once they see your presentation and hearourplan they won’t be able to deny that this is the most logical path forward.”
“But what about Carmelina?” He could not help the growl that rose from his throat at the mention of the woman.
“She’s lost her power. Now she needs us to dictate what happens with Sambrano. The two of us together have more power than she does.”
Esme looked up at him, her eyes bright with something that looked very much like his future and pushed up until their lips were pressed together. “I want this to work,” she confessed against his lips.
“Wewill make it work. Because the most important part of this plan is you and me, and we already have that.” They pressed their foreheads together as their mouths met again. Soon he was holding her tight. Deepening the kiss. Every cell in his body attuned to the woman in his arms. The only person on earth who could bring him back to himself. Who was able to remind him who he’d always wanted to be. The woman who brought into perfect clarity for him that success wasn’t just about power—it was about turning that power into purpose.
Someone knocked on the glass door to his office, and when Esme went to step away from him he pressed her closer. He would die before hiding what this woman meant to him ever again.
“Sir, the board is ready for you,” his assistant informed him and discreetly slipped out again.
“Are you ready for this?” Esmeralda asked as she gripped his hand and headed to the door. He looked down at her, overwhelmed by the rightness of the moment. The certainty in what they were about to do. “It feels like we’ve been waiting half our lives for this,” she said, almost dreamily.
“Our future’s waiting, mi amor. Let’s go claim it,” he said, as he walked out of his office with the love of his life by his side.
Epilogue
One Year Later
“Mmm... I love starting a workweek like this.” Esmeralda gasped as Rodrigo trailed kisses down her body, his lips parting so he could lap at her heated skin.
“Technically we’re off today, amor. Travel day,” he reminded her before sucking one of her hard nipples into his mouth.
“Right,” she responded, voice reedy with need. They were supposed to fly to Las Vegas in a few hours. They had a big week ahead of them, which had Esme a bit jittery, but Rodrigo’s hands and mouth on her always had the power to make everything else feel inconsequential. Especially when his lips hovered right at her heat. She pulsed with need, desire coiling up inside her tighter and tighter until she was trembling from it.
“Mmm, here it is,” he whispered as his fingers explored her. His tongue flicked her clitoris, making her cry out. “I love it when you scream for me, mi vida,” he told her, voice low and dirty as he sucked and licked Esmeralda into a frenzy.
“I need you,” she pleaded, widening her legs to make room for him, and soon he was sliding up her body, cock in his hand and about to enter her.
“Is this what you want?” he growled against her ear as he pressed the tip into her.
She gasped as pleasure threatened to obliterate her. “All of you, baby, please.”
“I love you,” he groaned as he pushed in slowly. He was a big man and even when she was burning for him she needed time to accommodate all of him. Sometimes she wanted slow, sweet lovemaking, and Rodrigo would do that. He’d keep her on the brink, pleasuring her again and again for hours, but this morning, she wanted it fast and hard. And he seemed to always know exactly what she wanted. In a couple of thrusts he sheathed himself in her. Filling her to the brim.
“You’re perfect,” he whispered against her mouth as he started to move. His hips circling in that way that made every nerve inside her spark. The heat of him always managed to melt her.
“We’re perfect together.” She gasped as she moved to meet him thrust for thrust. They’d come together a year ago and started building the life she’d always wanted and thought she would never be able to have. They were true and equal partners in everything. Even their home. As he moved in her, she pressed kisses to his skin, grateful for this man and this life she now had.
“Where did you go, baby? Am I not keeping your attention?” he teased and a pool of heat spread at her center as he brought his thumb to her mouth. “Get it wet for me, sweetheart.” She shuddered out a shaky breath then sucked on it as he asked. Once he was satisfied he brought the pad of his finger down to her engorged clit and circled it exactly how he know she liked. Within seconds a frantic, electric wave of pleasure was crashing into her. He doubled his efforts, pistoning into her ruthlessly, and soon he was stiffening over her in a silent cry as his own climax took him.
