Blissful Surrender (Bliss #3)(27)
Author: B.J. Harvey

I can’t deny this anymore. He knows me, he knows the real me, and the man still makes my days brighter, my dreams hotter, and can command a room like he owns the joint. He’s strong, he’s dedicated, and hard working. In fact, he’s turned out to be everything he promised me he would be – successful, dedicated, and willing to build a life for us.

And I never gave him a chance.

What am I? Fucking stupid or what! I had a man ready to give me the world and I walked away.

I shake my head as Tanner puts his hand on my bare arm. His touch doesn’t warm me like it used to.

“Look, Tan, I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” he looks at me in utter disbelief. “For what? Getting me worked up in a club? ’Cause baby, as long as you help me work my way down, all is forgiven.”

“No. I’m sorry because I can’t do this with you anymore.”

“This?” he waves his hand between us and I nod. He stares at me for a moment, two of us standing in a throng of unaware dancers continuing to shift around us.

I drop my head to the floor, my shoulders slumping in defeat as I refuse to register the hurt in his eyes. I look up to see Tanner’s back as he walks away from me toward the club’s front door. Once he disappears from sight, my eyes move to the stairs leading up to where Sean is, the man I truly want. My feet are stuck and I’m standing there motionless in a mass sea of flying limbs and sweaty bodies, caught between what my heart and body wants and what my mind is telling me I’m not in a position to handle.

One heel in front of the other. One step at a time, I make my way to the stairs. The bouncer holds his hand up to stop me and as I open my mouth to tell him who I want to see. He tilts his head toward his earpiece, his eyes cutting to me. With a chin lift, he steps aside. “Last door on the left, Samantha.”

My head snaps up to his at the sound of my name. Sean knows I’m coming. He’s been watching me which means he saw me stop Tanner and then saw Tanner leave the club. My stomach fills with butterflies as I climb the stairs. To the left is a private bar that Sean told me was for members to use away from the general public, either before or after they’d partaken in the VIP rooms. I turn to the right and see a dimly lit hallway lined with low hanging red tinted lamps, and heavy wooden doors line each side of the walls with colors fading from black at the beginning to scorching hot red at the end.

When I reach the very end of the corridor, I pause for a moment, resting my head against the cool wood as I try to collect my thoughts and prepare myself for whatever might happen in the office I’m about to enter. Will he be angry? Or will he be eerily calm in a way that is all Sean?

I stand up straight, looking down my body to check that I’m presentable before pushing my hair back behind my ears and knocking once firmly, then softer a second time as my momentary bravado starts to lose steam.

A few seconds later, the door opens and my vision is filled with Sean—shirt loose and unbuttoned at the top, his eyes tight, his expression indiscernible.

“Samantha,” he murmurs, not taking his eyes away from my face which is telling.

“Can I come in?”

“Do you want to? Or are you just in need of a ride home? I just watched your friend leave alone,” he sneers.

“Sean, please. We need to talk.”

He steps aside and I walk past him, the small space forcing me to turn sideways as I brush past him. My br**sts graze his chest and I gasp as sparks ignite between us. I slowly look back up at him and see his stormy eyes full of heat, so I quickly step into his office and stop in the middle of the room, turning around to face him. I’m not feeling as drunk as I did downstairs. The importance of the next few minutes acts like the most potent cup of coffee I could ever drink.

He shuts the door, turning the lock before facing me and leaning back against the door. His head drops and he takes me in, starting at my black strappy heels up my legs and working his way slowly over my curves. His intense gaze feels like a gentle caress full of heat and promise. I shudder and I know he doesn’t miss it. I’m so turned on right now; I swear he could breathe on me and I’d climax instantly. It feels right to be with him. Despite my misconceptions about his strength and his power over me, Sean is the most in control man I have ever known.

So why am I shaking like a leaf in anticipation?

Sean

“I shouldn’t want this,” she murmurs quietly, unsure of what she is saying. I watch her body, looking for cues to prove what I already know. She’s lying to herself and more importantly, to me.

Staying grounded where I am, my back to the office door, I watch her face and the inner battle ensuing between the need to stay and the desire to run. And it is a need; even if she hasn’t realized it yet. “But you need it, Samantha. You need me, don’t you?”

I take a step toward her as she steps back until her body hits my desk. I continue to advance and her chest rises and falls quickly, her breathing labored as her body tells me what she is not yet prepared to admit.

When I stop the heat from her body radiates through mine, and I have to stifle a groan at the sheer magnetism of the woman in front of me. Her untapped compliance that she still refuses to acknowledge after all of these years draws me in.

Closing my eyes I stand and simply breathe her in. Her coconut scent, the same body lotion she used to use back in college, brings back memories of our bodies entwined, our lips meshed together as I brought her to climax time and time again. I shake my head and open my eyes, meeting hers full of latent heat and desire.

“Sean, I—”

No. She’s not getting another moment to talk herself out of this, out of us. She’s been running for way too long. This time, it’s for keeps. This time, I’m not letting anything come between us. Not her mother. Not my brother. Not her job. Not some convoluted idea she gets in her head that she is not the submissive I need her to be. I’m sick of the bullshit and this time, I want what is mine. And Sam is mine.

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pull her body tight against mine and slant my head, slamming my mouth to hers as she gasps in shock. My hand grabs her blonde ponytail, holding her in place, and her tight muscles relax as soon as my tongue rolls over hers.

I set out to rediscover the beauty that is Samantha Richards.

Her taste is intoxicating and I find myself wanting to consume her, to lose myself inside of this gorgeous woman whose mind continues to deny the never ending connection between us. In this moment, I want to show her everything I am, everything I can do to her, every possible way I can make her feel. I know I’m losing control, but with Sam …