Bossman’s Baby Scandal (Kings of the Boardroom #1)(33)
Author: Catherine Mann

His muscles twitched from the effort, almost impossible with Lauren watching and touching him. “Aren’t you out of syrup yet?”

Lauren stood naked just outside the small shower belowdecks while he “posed” inside the aqua-tiled stall. Halfway through their Belgian waffle breakfast, she’d eyed the remains of their food with glee. The next thing he knew, she’d scavenged a basting brush from the galley kitchen and returned with a bowl of warmed syrup. When she pointed to the shower, he hadn’t argued.

She waved the brush, a droplet of maple syrup landing on top of his foot. “Don’t move or I’ll stop.”

“You’re wicked.”

“Just indulging in another fantasy.”

“Have your way with me, then.” He winked, imagining a lifetime spent exploring more fantasies together. “I’m all yours.”

The bowl rested in the sink and she dipped the marinating brush in the rich brown liquid. She swirled the heated glaze over his heart, slowly along his pecs, circling tighter and tighter until she flicked his nipple. His heart kicked up, harder, faster. He pulsed hot and ready to flip her onto her back and plunge inside her. Her eyes, however, warned him again she would stop if he so much as flinched.

With a sweeping stroke, she trailed lower, the sugary scent coating the air. She traced his ribs, dipping lower again until his abs contracted. He bit his lip.

“Are you ticklish?”

Not that he would ever admit. “No. What are you painting, anyway?

“A big, powerful tree.” Her teasing touch brushed closer to his sides with branchlike sweeps. That sure was one leafy tree. “I think you are ticklish. I think the big strong guy has a weakness, after all.”

He held still through sheer force of will. “It’s only a weakness if I let it affect me.”

“Is that a dare?”

He simply arched an eyebrow. Then he saw the impish intent in her eyes and prepped himself to hold still. She moved. Stroked.

Lower.

Not tickling at all, but boldly painting a bristly path over the hardened head of him straining up his stomach. He slumped back against the tile wall and this time she didn’t rag him about moving. Lauren smiled with womanly power, continuing down, coating him all the way to his base.

Her grin broadened before she knelt and took him in her mouth. At the slick glide of her tongue, he forgot how to think or form rational thoughts. Sensation swept over him as she suckled and laved away every last bit she’d so torturously applied. Her moan of appreciation echoed a deeper one rumbling up his chest. Need pounded through him until his blood turned as thick as the syrup in the bowl beside them.

The brush fell from her hand and clanked against the tile floor a second before her cool fingers cupped him, massaging. His jaw clamped closed, and he planted his palms flat against the stall wall to keep from falling to his knees. And he couldn’t even blame the rocking of the boat under his feet. Much more of the dual torment and he would lose control—before he made sure she was every bit as turned on as he was.

Jason gripped her waist and drew her away from him with more than a little regret. Regret quickly dispersed as he saw her dilated pupils, the flush of arousal tinting her skin, all signs that being with him affected her on a deep and visceral level, a level he intended to take even deeper. He cranked on the shower and plunged them under the spray. Icy pellets needled along his oversensitized skin, then quickly warmed.

Fitting his mouth over hers, he tasted syrup and desire and heat, and he couldn’t get enough of her. They were messy and sticky, but nothing with Lauren had ever been simple. And he did so enjoy showering with her afterward.

Maybe after they finished in here, he could wring a promise from her to stay longer…then longer…until they settled into a life together.

Water rolled down them in a syrupy whirlpool spiraling into the drain. He hooked her leg over his hip until he nudged the moist core of her. Lauren dug her heel into his butt, leaning against him for balance. She writhed against him harder, her need for release evident in her insistent wriggles and breathy moans echoing with the call of early-morning birds outside the portal.

“Stay, stay here in San Francisco.” The command fell out ahead of his brain. Damn. He’d meant to wait until after.

Jason sealed his mouth to hers, determined to distract her. It was just one lame-ass little sentence, after all.

Lauren went still against him, water streaming from her sopping-wet hair.

“What did you say?” she whispered, water spiking her eyelashes.

“We can talk later.” He splayed his hands over her shoulders, down to cup her slick br**sts, hoping to distract her and cursing himself. He knew timing was everything in an ad presentation, and winning her over was the most important campaign of his life.

She angled back, water sealing them together for a moment before giving way. “I heard what you said.” Her face was wary and closed and offered little clue to her thoughts, but she’d sure as hell put a stop to getting busy. “I just don’t understand why you’re changing the rules.”

“You’re the one who rescinded the no-sex ban.” He palmed her back, keeping his touch low-key while reconnecting. “And I don’t know about you, but for me, what we’ve done together changes everything. I want more.”

She nibbled her lower lip, uncertainty clouding her eyes as she stared back in the narrow space. Hope steamed through him and he guided her between his legs.

She slid her hand up to cradle his face, her expression sad. “Why? Why do you want more?”

Not the answer he’d been angling for, but she hadn’t slammed the door in his face. He scavenged for arguments to change her mind and came up blank. He’d used his best ammo from the minute he’d stepped into her apartment a week ago. Still, there had to be something—

His BlackBerry chimed softly, rattling against the galley-kitchen counter. He let it play out. Seconds later it chimed again.

Lauren stepped away, snagging a towel from the hook and wrapping it around her. “Just answer it.”

“No—” he clasped her elbow “—we’re in the middle of something important. I want you and the baby with me. I’ll pay the relocation costs to move your business here, anything I can do to make the transition easier for you, because bottom line, New York is just too far away for the life I want us to build in San Francisco.” Frustration clawed up his throat as he searched for the right way to persuade her. “Damn it, Lauren, this is the logical thing to do.”