Leave Me Breathless (5 page)

“God, why?” He mumbled the question into her hair.

“Emma.” Callie now hated that name.

With the gentle touch of his palms, he lifted her head and stared down at her. The gaze from deep brown eyes searched her face. The rapid beating in his chest thumped against her as his eyes grew soft.

“I don’t cheat,” he said in a husky whisper. “If I were with Emma I wouldn’t be kissing you.”

Callie knew she should pull back, but she rubbed her hands up his back instead. “But, I saw—”

“Evidence of a lifelong friendship.” He traced her cheekbones with his thumbs. “That’s it.”

“You’re not—”

“No.”

“Does Emma know that?”

His chuckle vibrated against her from everywhere their bodies touched. “Definitely.”

Relief washed through Callie. She balanced her head on his chin as she tried to figure out what it all meant. “Now what?”

“You invite me to your house.”

“That crosses a line.” She could recognize that over her misfiring brain waves and damp panties.

“I’d carry you to mine right this second, but Mark will be there eventually to screw everything up.” Ben dropped a quick kiss on her mouth.

“Oh, yeah. Your brother.” And her boss.

“And we’re going to need hours of privacy.”

She debated the pros and cons for all of two seconds. The temptation proved too great. “Well, as you keep telling me, you’re the one in charge.”

Ben’s smile lit up his face. “About time you admitted that.”

E
mma finished her afternoon docket and left the bench in time to see Mark storm into the back room of her suite and grab her clerk by the arm. He dragged Scott MacAllister behind him down the hall to her private office, and was not too subtle about it. Scott’s high-octave screaming didn’t help, either.

Everyone came running. Emma waved off her bodyguard and reassured her assistant as she followed in Mark’s footsteps. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked in a harsh whisper as she shut her door.

Mark barely spared her a glance. “Get out of here, Emma.”

“Absolutely not.” She used her best judge tone to convey her anger over his disrespect.

If Mark picked up on her mood he didn’t let on.

“This is between me and young Scott here.” Mark’s face flushed with fury as he dropped Scott into the nearest chair and held him there.

She feared he’d kill Scott if she moved away. “This is my office,” she said, trying to break through the irrational mood that gripped Mark.

“This is my case.”

Dread settled in her stomach. “What has happened?”

“Your clerk has the starring role on the security tapes of Ben’s office.”

“No, Judge Blanton. I didn’t. I wouldn’t.” Scott shook with fear as he tried to get up.

Mark grabbed Scott by the collar and shoved him down again. “Shut up.”

“But you’ve got this all wrong.” Scott’s voice grew louder as he tried to reassure Mark of his innocence.

“I have eyes, Scott.”

And the strength of the devil.
Emma stepped up, hoping to calm both men with her presence. “Tell me what’s going on,” she said as she unwrapped Mark’s fingers from Scott’s shirt.

Scott rubbed his arm from the spot of Mark’s earlier viselike hold. “Someone gave me the note.”

Mark scoffed. “Nice story.”

Mark’s anger and Scott’s fear still didn’t rise to the level of an explanation for her. “I don’t understand why you’re all over my clerk.”

“He’s there on the security tapes. I watched it myself. He came down the hall and slid the threatening letter under Ben’s door.” Mark turned his wrath back on Scott. “I want to know why.”

“I just delivered a message. I do that all the time.”

“It’s true, he does,” she said.

Mark wasn’t ready to calm down. “If that’s true, why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

Emma shifted through the information in her mind. “He was probably afraid you’d kill him.”

“I might yet.”

They barely made it inside the front door of her apartment before Ben pinned Callie against the wall. In their rush of entwined legs and arms, they knocked over a small table in the entry, sending something glass crashing to the floor. He heard the shattering fall as he shoved the front door shut with his foot.

He hoped whatever had broken didn’t matter much to her, because he couldn’t stop to investigate even if he wanted to. And he didn’t. The sole purpose of his wanting stood locked in his arms with her hand on his ass.

Everything moved in a haze of color and light. He remembered making a somewhat clumsy pass at her in his office and then struggling to drive his car while she shouted out directions and slid her hand along his inner thigh. The only thing that saved them from an accident where he wrapped his car around a tree was the desire to get her home and naked. No way was he checking out of this world before he got that opportunity. He stayed focused for that reason alone.

But they were home now. In her domain, where she would be comfortable and in charge. Where he could learn every inch of her skin without worrying about Mark busting in or anything stopping them. Where he could run the live version of the movie that had been playing in his head, the one where she could give free rein to the energy burning through her and use that hot mouth of hers for something other than giving him shit.

The threats and frustration faded into the far distance. Whatever or whoever plagued him and wanted him dead could wait. He concentrated solely on Callie—the eager touch of her hands and fierce heat of her kiss. Nothing else mattered but that.

Their bodies rolled against the wall until he moved them out of the way of the broken glass. Sharp breaths mixed with searching hands as their mouths slanted over each other again and again. Need flushed through Ben until all he could think about was getting her onto any flat surface and peeling that navy suit right off her.

Blond hair spread over white sheets as he pushed deep inside her. Yeah, he had been dreaming about that one since he met her.

“Lock the door,” she whispered against his lips.

This was one order he didn’t mind her giving. “At your service.”

He left her for the second it took to throw the bolt, then he came back even more eager to pull her close. Fingers dove through her hair and knocked the barrette loose. Silky strands fell over his hands and across her shoulders. Long and smooth. Just as he imagined.

And he wasn’t alone in searching. Her hands moved to his belt, shifting and tugging until he felt the tightness around his waist loosen. The belt hit the floor. When his fingers returned to the button at the top of his pants, his stomach dipped, giving her easier access to ripping the clothes right off him. The kiss in her hair, the brushing of his palms over her collarbone, all of it allowed her to take the lead. To be ready on her terms.

The clicking of his zipper got him moving again. He chanted her name as he stripped off his jacket and dropped it to the floor. Without breaking a kiss he reached for her blouse. One, two, three. The pearl buttons slipped from their holes, revealing miles of creamy skin and a pink lace bra that begged for sex.

But he didn’t need an invitation. He rubbed his palms over her breasts, learning every curve and caressing until her back arched and her nipples puckered. A finger eased under the material’s thin edge, giving him access to her bare skin. When he folded the silk back and slid a thumb across the plump top of her breast, she broke off the kiss and stared down at her chest.

Every time his thumb passed over her nipple, her body jumped in response. Her high, round breasts lifted and fell on harsh breaths.

“Bedroom,” she said in a breathy voice.

He wanted to do the romantic thing and carry her to the bed, but his erection pounded too hard to let him do it. “Can’t make it.”

She glanced over his shoulder, her eyes wild with need. “Sofa.”

“Yes.” Hell, the wall worked for him. He still couldn’t believe they made it out of the car and up a flight of stairs to the front door without peeling their clothes off.

She grabbed his hand and dragged him into her small living room. A couch and a chair and…some other piece of furniture. He didn’t really give a shit what. All he wanted was her. He could do an inventory later. Maybe after they had sex six or seven times and his dick no longer threatened to burst.

But all of his good intentions fled when she dropped down on the cushions in front of him. The sexy move put her eye level with the part of him that was most desperate for her. She didn’t play games or hesitate. No, she knew exactly what they both wanted. She slid her hand inside his pants, under the elastic of his briefs and straight to his cock. Her fingers squeezed, caressing his tip before sliding down the length of him.

His knees buckled.

Seeing her hair fall over his lower body made him rock hard. He wondered how he would survive the delicate torture of her exploration. When she took him between her lips and down her throat, he knew he wouldn’t. His body bucked and trembled. Every time she eased him back out of her mouth, his hips tensed and pushed forward as if his lower body could not tolerate the separation from her.

The gentle assault of hands and tongue continued until his mind crashed. All the fantasies about taking her long and slow vanished. Something primal and raw replaced them. He wanted her naked and panting, spread out on the floor before him while he pushed deep inside her.

“Protection.” Ben forced the word with a groan.

She glanced up, her mouth wet and her eyes glazed with longing. “What?”

“We need a condom.” If she didn’t have one, he would go door to fucking door of the condo complex until he tracked one down.

“Right.” She placed a kiss on the tip of his cock and stood up.

He immediately regretted speaking up. A flaming heat gripped him. With her gone, his muscles refused to relax. Rather than waste time standing there with his erection pressing against his pants, he started to strip. Off came the tie and shirt. He shoved his pants and briefs down and stepped out of them. There he waited, naked and still in the center of her living room.

Callie reappeared in the doorway with a box in hand and wearing nothing but her shirt. Slim feet with bright red painted toenails showed off the bit of sexy whimsy she hid under her sensible bodyguard shoes. Her lean legs went on for miles, disappearing right at the dark edge of her crisp dress cotton. If she had panties on under there, they sure were tiny.

And he damn well planned to solve that little mystery in the next few minutes.

“You should wear skirts to the office,” he said, thinking they’d never get any work done if she did.

“I can move better in pants.”

“I can get to you faster in a skirt.”

She shot him the sort of knowing smile women had used throughout the ages to signal a flashing “yes” sign to their lovers. “Why don’t you concentrate on getting to me now?”

That was the type of invitation she only had to issue once. “Come here.”

She threw a box on the couch next to him and walked over to stand in front of him. Her arms curled around his neck as her body slid next to his. Skin met skin. Sweet curves touched tense muscles. Everywhere he was hard, she was soft. Firm and athletic, but very womanly.

His hands settled on her ass. It took only a shocked second to flip up her shirt and find skin. “You’re not wearing underwear. Not that I’m complaining, because I’m not.”

“Seemed unnecessary,” she said as she kissed her way along his jaw.

“Smart woman.”

Trying to imagine her panties had been bad enough. Now he’d have to deal with the idea of her going without. He felt a sudden surge of gratefulness that he sat behind a big desk in his courtroom. Seeing every inch of her body and thinking of her bare under her conservative suits would make the barrier to wandering eyes a necessity.

“Please tell me you weren’t like this today at work,” he said, half hoping she was.

“Would that upset you?”

“I may die from it.”

“Poor baby.”

“If I start thinking about this—” He squeezed her ass in his palm. “We’re never going to get through a court docket without at least two breaks to go back to my office so you can show me.”

“The naked part?” Her lips moved against his throat. “That’s all for you.”

“Sweet Jesus.”

“So is this.”

She tried to step back, but he held her close. With his hands on the small area of warm flesh between the tops of her thighs and bottom of her ass, he kept the connection. His head fell forward, his gaze glued to her fingers as she slid the shirt off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor behind her.

She wasn’t wearing a damn thing underneath there, either.

Ben’s gaze wandered over the tops of her breast to her tight rosy nipples. Down her flat stomach to the soft flare of her hips. Ending at the thin strip of hair covering her very core. She didn’t try to hide or talk, but her skin flushed pink under his inspection. Soft breaths skimmed his cheek as he trailed his fingers past her waist and kept going.

When his thumb slipped into her heat, her legs opened in silent invitation. He pressed and brushed until her wetness bathed his skin. With each pass her inner muscles clenched, as if trying to drag his fingers deeper inside. The more he touched, the more he wanted to taste. To accomplish that, he slid to his knees. Her salty scent filled him as he widened her legs to fit between.

Her nails scraped down his back as he found her clit. Licking and sucking, he whipped her into a frenzy. Her thighs tightened against his shoulders as her lower body swayed in time with the rhythm of his mouth.

She begged. She pounded on his shoulders. Still he held her steady and swept his tongue over her clit while he stretched her open with two fingers. A husky moan rumbled up her chest and echoed in his ear.

Her pleasure only made him work harder. The taste of her on his lips and feel of her against his hand fueled his needs. His body ached and strained. Pleasure mixed with pain as he held back and concentrated on her pleasure. Faster and harder he caressed and inflamed until her lower body pulled into a tight spring. With one last pass of pressure on her clit, she exploded, arching in open-mouthed ecstasy.

Callie shouted his name as the muscles in her legs gave way. Her body collapsed. Damp skin and soft hair fell against his back. Heavy breaths forced her body up and down as she fought to regain her breathing.

The romantic thing would be to let her mind calm and her body cool, but his cock twitched with the need to get inside her. As gently as possible, he put his hand on the small of her back and eased her to the tan carpet. At this angle he hovered over her, able to see every delicious inch of her heated skin.

The back of her hand rested against her open mouth as her legs fell open in welcome.

“Callie…”

“Now, Ben.”

As far as he was concerned they were fifteen minutes past the point of comfort. His lower body had pulled tight enough to make the blood pound inside him. She was ready for him and he couldn’t get enough of her. With his hands on her knees, he moved between her thighs. He didn’t even remember ripping open the box and fishing out a condom, but he wore it, which meant nothing could stop him from fulfilling the fantasy now.

The tip of his cock entered her tight passage, pushing and stretching as he slipped deep inside. Her body clamped down on his as he pulled out and then thrust back in again. He tried to set an even pace to let her body adjust, but she wouldn’t let him go slow. Her palms grabbed his ass and brought him in even tighter against her. The shocking sensation sent his stomach tumbling as if he just raced the highest point of a roller coaster.