Page 16 of The Powerful Boss She Craves

‘A blip?’

‘Um... Well, you were super-business-like when you picked me up, and you didn’t say two words to me for more than three hours. I thought...’

‘You think far too much, Ella,’ Micah stated, pushing his hand through his hair.

‘And you hide your thoughts too well, Micah,’ Ella shot back.

‘Touché.’Micah nodded. ‘But understand this...nothing has changed. I still want you in every way a man wants a woman.’

Oh...right. Wow. That was pretty clear.

‘ButIcan’t make the first move here,Ican’t do a damn thing,’ Micah said, his voice sounding strangled. ‘My hands are tied because you work for me andIpromised you—promisedyou!—that you were safe with me.’

He’d put a lot of emphasis on the ‘I’...

‘I’ve already resigned from your company, and I’ve decided that I’m not coming back to work at Le Roux Events, so I’ll be leaving your employ in a little under three weeks. Does that make a difference?’ Ella asked him, surprised at her question. She wasn’t normally this brave. Correction: she wasneverthis brave when it came to men.

He stared at her, his hands bunched in his pockets, his eyes holding hers captive.

‘And what if I told you that I do feel safe with you, and I appreciate you making me feel that way? Most men would take my statements as a green light and would’ve been kissing me by now, trying for more.’

His eyes blazed but his stance didn’t change. ‘I’ll say it again and I’ll keep saying it: I don’t force myself on women, ever.’

God, how was she supposed to resist him, fight against the rush of need and want? ‘What if I kissed you? What if I placed my hands on your body, my lips on your mouth?’

The air shimmered between them, and it was as if lightning was striking all around them from the cloudless blue sky. ‘You talk far too damn much, El,’ he muttered.

Ella stepped closer to him, feeling mighty, potent and, best of all, in control. Something she hadn’t felt for months. She placed her hand on his muscled chest, stood on her tiptoes and did what she’d been longing to from the moment she’d first seen him—and that was to place her nose in the space where his jaw and throat met. She inhaled his scent, cologne, soap and hot male skin, and her stomach rolled over. Cupping her hand around his neck, she noticed that his hands were still bunched in his pockets and his heart was pounding. He wanted her...

She knew that as she knew her own name.

Ella placed her lips on his and nibbled and licked her tongue across his bottom lip. He was stiff, tightly coiled, and she pulled back a little to look up into his fire-blue, narrowed eyes. ‘Please kiss me, Micah.’

For a moment she thought that he was going to refuse, to reject her, but then one hand was on her lower back, pulling her into his body, and the fingers of his other hand held her jaw, gently but possessively. She expected him to cover her mouth with his, to drop them into a hot, deep, slide of a kiss, but surprisingly his mouth travelled from the side of her mouth, up her cheek and back down along her jaw. When he finally returned to her lips, he nibbled, then sucked, tracing his tongue over her bottom lip. It wasn’t enough; she needed more. She needed to feel his heat, to taste him, to feel wholly connected to him.

And, right at this moment, she wanted more than a kiss—she wanted it all. Cool sheets, naked bodies, him sliding into her and making her whole...

In his arms, she felt pretty and perfect—sensational, as if her sole purpose in life was to stand in the African sun and kiss him. If only he’d do it properly. Ella opened her mouth to demand more but, before she could utter a word, he captured her open mouth and slid his tongue inside. And she was suddenly on a bullet train travelling through a kaleidoscope of light and warmth, sensation and emotion. On one level she took in the details—his soft hair, his clever tongue, his big hand cupping her butt, the length and thickness of his erection. On another level, she was pure sensation—heat and colour and warmth and emotion...

This guy, she thought, her mind spinning, couldkiss. If he was half as good, a quarter as good, in bed, she’d never recover. Wow, was she thinking of going to bed with him? Yes...yes, she was. Why wouldn’t she? She’d had a few miserable months; didn’t she deserve a little fun?

Ella heard Micah’s low groan as her hands travelled up and down his back, and his kiss deepened when she pulled his shirt out of the back of his shorts so that she could feel his warm skin under her palms. So strong, so masculine... She wanted to kiss him here, at the base of his spine; and here, on the deep valley above his hard butt. There were other places she wanted to kiss, intimate spots she’d never explored before...

Micah placed his big hands on her cheeks and his kiss turned gentle, softer, a gradual dialling down of his passion. He pulled his mouth off hers and kissed her cheek, her nose and each of her closed eyelids before resting his forehead on hers. Like her, he was breathing heavily.

‘Wow,’ he whispered.

‘That bad?’ Ella asked, even though she knew it was anything but. But a little reassurance never hurt a girl.

‘That good,’ Micah said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. ‘Hold on to me for a sec. I just need a moment to recover.’

She knew he didn’t, not really, but she was happy to stand in his arms, her cheek on his chest, looking out at the valley overlooked by those impressive cliffs and hangouts. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the chatter of a stream and the melodious tones of two women talking in Sesotho. She could stand like this for the rest of the afternoon. Being held by Micah was better than she’d ever imagined.

But in a minute he’d break the spell, suggest that they go to their hotel and finish what they started. Because a kiss like that was just the start of a pleasure-soaked journey, one that needed completion. It was, obviously, the natural outcome...

He was her boss, but in a six-steps-removed type of way, so the boss-employee dynamic wasn’t, to her, much of a factor. And sleeping with Micah would be the perfect way to get her back in the dating game, to put the ghosts that hovered around her because of Pillay’s behaviour to bed. She wasn’t the type of girl who could easily separate sex from love. She thought the act was better when emotion was involved, but maybe sleeping with Micah would be a good way to get her sexual mojo back. If she’d ever had any.

In a couple of weeks, she’d be out of his life, so there was no way she’d allow herself to fall for him. Being with Micah would be a way to replace those bad sexual memories of Pillay’s hot breath and clammy hands with some good ones. If she started feeling confident and attractive—who wouldn’t feel like that after being with Micah?—maybe that would translate into her feeling confident about her life, would make her feel more self-assured. Sleeping with Micah would give her a new lease on life and would be a great way to kick-start her new life.

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