“That’s amazing.” Erin clasped his hand tight in hers.
“No, it was lucky.” Abel raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “The man is a recluse and I couldn’t find a picture of him anywhere, but I do know that he lives in Chicago and was recently married. This was the easy part. Now, I have to go to Chicago and try to meet a man, who by all accounts, doesn’t see anyone.”
Swallowing hard, she asked the question that she really didn’t want answered. “When will you be leaving?”
“I thought about flying out tomorrow.” He watched her carefully as he spoke, likely wondering what her reaction would be. “I figure, there’s no need to wait.”
Well, she’d known going into their affair that it would come to an end and it was up to her to make this easy on him. She wouldn’t cause a scene and she would save her tears for when he was gone. “That’s great.” She tried to infuse some enthusiasm in her voice, but her words just came back to her, hollow and flat. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep the house up while you’re gone and it’ll be here when you decide to come home again.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” His voice was tight with anger, and his whole body had suddenly stiffened.
Erin wiped her sweaty palms on her legs. Her nerves were beginning to fray. Why was he making this so damned difficult when she was trying to let him off the hook? “I’m just saying that I’ll take care of things.”
His expression was as dark as a thundercloud. Gripping the arms of his chair until his knuckles whitened, he glared at her in total disbelief. “You don’t think I’m coming back, do you?”
She backed away from him, frightened by his growing fury. “When we agreed to have an affair, it was understood that you wouldn’t be staying.” Her own voice grew shriller and louder with each word, and she struggled to find some control.
“The hell with that.” In one single motion he was off the chair and grabbing her by the arm. His hand was clamped tight around her upper arm, keeping her chained to him. She tried to pull away, which seemed to infuriate him even further.
Reaching out with his free hand, he swiped everything off the end of the desk. Papers and books flew everywhere, making Erin gasp at his unexpected violence. But he wasn’t finished. Pulling her close, he picked her up like she was no more than a rag doll and draped her over the top of the desk. Her legs hung over the end and he stepped between them. When she tried to sit up, he held her down with one hand. He froze her to the spot with his heated gaze, and like a cornered animal, she was afraid to move, fearful that any movement might set off a storm of violence.
Grabbing the edges of the shirt she was wearing, he ripped it open. Buttons flew everywhere and Erin’s hands automatically reached up to cover her breasts. But that was entirely the wrong thing to do.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” He grabbed both her hands and raised them over her head, holding them easily in one of his. His other hand gripped her chin. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. Do you understand me?” She didn’t, not really, but she nodded anywise. Anything to calm him.
Towering over her, he looked like some conquering barbarian, capable of just about anything. Deep in her heart, she knew that he wouldn’t hurt her physically, but her heart pounded frantically as she realized just how much at his mercy she was at the moment. She was a tall, strong woman, but Abel was beyond huge. He was massively built and all of it was pure solid steel.
All Erin knew was that she’d somehow hurt Abel with her words, and now he needed to reestablish the connection between them. She knew she could stop him with just a word, but her woman’s heart wanted to give him whatever he needed, and her body, as always, yearned for his.
Reaching down, he unzipped his jeans until his cock popped free. Then in one motion, he positioned himself at her opening and drove himself deep inside her.
Erin arched off the desk as he filled her. It was a little uncomfortable as she hadn’t been ready for him, but her body was used to the pleasure he gave her, and as he remained seated deep inside her, her muscles began to relax and her body began to welcome him.
Dragging her bottom to the very edge of the desk, he began to pump into her. “You are mine,” he repeated over and over as he continued to fuck her relentlessly.
There was a desperation in him that called to her, and she lifted her hips to meet each stroke wanting to be closer to him. “Yes,” she answered him again and again, wanting to reassure him in any way possible.
Ignoring the uncomfortable hard wooden surface beneath her, she raised her legs, wrapping them around him, and digging her heels into his butt. She clawed at the edge of the desk, desperate for something to hold onto, anything to help anchor her in this storm of passion.
As the frantic pace drove her closer to the edge, he leaned over and plunged his tongue in and out of her mouth in a parody of the sex act. “Tell me you love me,” he ordered.
How did he know? she wondered desperately. She’d done her best to hide it from him, but he’d somehow found out her secret, and now he wanted her to lay her soul bare to him. She shook her head, trying to deny him, but he was relentless.
“Tell me.” He bit her neck as he continued to pound in and out of her. Her pussy was wet and full, and the pleasure threatened to overwhelm her until she could deny him nothing.
“I love you. I love you.” It rose up from the depth of her soul, and came spewing out of her in a torrent of emotion that she could no longer control or stop.
“Yes!” he shouted as he drove hard into her one last time. Erin felt him explode into her and then she was coming apart herself. Her orgasm shook her to the very core of her being. Abel slumped on top of her, releasing her arms and gathering her close to him. Her heart pounded against hers as they both gasped for breath.
Emotionally and physically drained, she lay there on the desk unable to keep the tears from seeping out of the corners of her eyes. Her legs slipped from around his waist and dangled against the side of the desk. She felt naked in every way possible, and she was too worn out to care.
“Don’t cry, honey.” Abel used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that fell from her eyes. “Everything is going to be fine now.”
She shook her head, unwilling to believe him. “Yes, it is,” he assured her. “How could you think that I could ever leave you?”
Erin still was not sure she could believe him. “But you’re going away,” she quietly reminded him.
Abel smiled the soft sexy smile that she loved so much. The one that made his green eyes smolder with passion. “You’re coming with me… if you want to?”
“I am?” she blinked at him in confusion.
“Yes you are,” he calmly informed her. “Then we’re coming back here to settle down. I figure we can have the wedding in a couple of weeks.”
Erin sputtered. “Marriage. Who said anything about marriage?” It was hard to follow the conversation as she could feel Abel swelling inside her again.
Cupping her breasts in his hands, he traced the hard nubs with his thumbs making her moan. “Marry me? I’ll make you happy.”
“Why?” she managed to spit out between groans.
“Because you make me happy.” He leaned over and flicked one of her nipples with his tongue. “Because we’re absolutely compatible sexually.” Closing his mouth over the tip, he nibbled it. “Because I admire and love you and want to spend my life with you.” He suckled her breast hard and Erin thumped her feet against the side of the desk, unable to form a coherent thought.
“Say yes,” he prodded her. “I’ll just torture you until you do.”