The Sextet - Entanglements [The Sextet Anthology, Volume 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (14 page)

“Me neither.”

He grinned but pulled back even more, dropping his hand from Hannah’s face.

“I lost control. I’m sorry.”

In Marcus’s world, loss of control was the ultimate no-no. Hannah closed her eyes in frustration.

“I think it’s just the costume. And the bed prop that made me lose it for a minute. But that’s no excuse. We’re coworkers. Partners. Not lovers.”

But we could be, Hannah thought, biting her lip to keep the words inside. She wanted to weep with the disappointment of his withdrawal.

Marcus reached up, careful not to touch her as he untied each wrist restraint. “I’m sorry.” He bent to untie her ankles and held out his hand to help Hannah step off the wheel of disappointment.

“No apology necessary. I’m not offended in the least.” She was playing it cool. “It was one kiss, and we’re both single adults.” Hannah shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. But inside her heart was pounding, and her body still pulsed to the rhythm of his kiss.

“Good,” he said. “Good. It’s not that I don’t want…We’re a great team, Hannah. I just don’t want to screw that up.”

“I know.” She sighed, wondering if he caught the note of disappointment in her words. “I’m going to go change.”

Hannah walked back to the changing room. Frowning at her reflection in the mirror, she wondered if anything was ever going to happen with Marcus. Or was he right to keep that professional distance between them? This was the best gig she’d ever had. Whenever sex entered into the equation, it got tricky. But on the other hand, they were adults. And it wasn’t like she wanted to drag him down to the nearest all-night wedding chapel or something, She just wanted his body. Badly. It was obvious he felt the same.

There had to be some way to make him see that they could have each other without wrecking everything. In fact, it might even enhance their stage chemistry if they were to become lovers offstage. That was one argument. And then there was the fact that the sexual tension between them was starting to become too intense to ignore. It was a distraction that needed to be eliminated. That was argument number two.

And then there was just old-fashioned lust. Hannah wanted Marcus, and he wanted her, too. They were both of age, unattached, and mature enough to separate a physical relationship from a professional relationship, right?

Hannah carefully removed the filmy costume and the body stocking and stood before the mirror in nothing but the high heels and a suntan. Marcus was a man, after all, and Hannah knew it wouldn’t take very much more stimulation before he forgot all about the reasons “why not” and his baser animal instinct took over. She’d seen it night after night in the clubs she’d worked in before she’d come to work for Marcus. Men were ruled by their carnal natures, and once they crossed a certain line, they were willing to part with their morals, their money, and their pride to satisfy the need.

Maybe Marcus just needed a little push. Maybe it was time to put all her cards on the table and bank on Marcus’s legendary control failing him for once.

Hannah fluffed her hair a little and applied more lip gloss. Then she arranged herself in an old red velvet club chair and called Marcus’s name.

* * * *

Marcus pressed the lever that lowered the bed back to a horizontal position, wanting to kick himself—not the easiest maneuver to accomplish with a raging hard-on. He never should have kissed her. Never should have satisfied the curiosity about the feel of her lips or the texture of her skin or the taste of her. It had satisfied nothing, only made him want her more.

Marcus put his tools away, but the only image that was in his mind was that of Hannah all bare and golden except for that teal costume that offered teasing glimpses of the paradise that lay beneath. Even through two layers of fabric her nipples had thrust out in hard little nubs as she was bound to the wheel. That hadn’t helped keep his libido in check, either. Knowing that the only thing separating them was a couple of flimsy layers of fabric and even flimsier excuses for why they shouldn’t go at each other like animals had his control in tatters.

In his business, control was everything, and Marcus had worked hard to cultivate ultimate mastery. His safety and that of his staff depended on it. But Hannah was the one area where his control was shaky at best. His mind was saying
no
, his body
yes, yes, God yes,
and Marcus was pretty sure that unless he did something drastic, his body was going to win out. Soon.

He tried to put the vision of Hannah tied up and sexy out of his mind when he heard her call his name. Instantly, he let the tools clatter to the floor and sprinted for the dressing room. Fear shot through him as he remembered the intruder at the theatre. Had he followed them here, too? Or maybe she’d fallen. Maybe she was quitting and leaving him altogether.

Marcus pushed through the door expecting the worst, and his breath left him in a rush when he saw what awaited him.

Hannah. Naked. Totally naked. Except for the sexy high heels he’d picked out himself. Instantly his semierection grew rock hard and ready, impossible to hide or to deny.

“I….” Marcus swallowed. “Are you all right? I thought…” He let out a relieved sigh. “You’re fine.”

“I’m not fine, Marcus.” Hannah stood up and sauntered over to him. Her curves were made to be touched. Licked. Worshipped. Her breasts swayed, her pink-brown nipples hard and begging for his hands and mouth to sample.

She stopped inches away from him, and Marcus clenched his hands to keep from grabbing her again. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, barely getting the word out around the need that coursed through his veins.

“I need you,” she said. Her voice was low, just above a whisper, and there was no mistaking the tone in her voice and the gleam in her eye.

“I’ve needed you for a long time, and I think it’s time you gave me what we both want. Don’t you?”

Chapter 4

Hannah hoped the tremor in her knees didn’t show as she watched the play of emotions cross Marcus’s face. Need, surprise, and longing were the main ones. But she could see him holding back, still. He was so close to giving in. All he needed was one final nudge.

Hannah reached out and ran a finger down the line of buttons on the front of his shirt, popping each one as she went. Beneath was all that tan, copper skin she saw onstage every night. Like every woman in the audience, it had been available to look at but not to touch. Well, she was going to touch all of him today. Right now.

“Hannah. I don’t know if we should…”

“Shhh. I want you, Marcus, and you want me.” She waited for him to argue, but he didn’t.

“It’s not that simple.”

“It is, actually,” she said, pushing the unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders and down his arms.

“What if we do this and things get…sticky?”

“Life is sticky. We’ll deal with it.” Hannah pushed the shirt the rest of the way off his arms and onto the floor.

“But—”

Knowing there was only one way to silence all his concerns, Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him.

It took all of about two seconds before his arms went around her waist and he was kissing her back with all the pent-up desire and need that she’d been feeling, too. For way too long.

Hannah pressed herself against his long, lean body, the button on his jeans scraping her bare belly. She reached between them to pop the button, but he was one step ahead of her and used both hands to fumble with the snap until it was undone. Then he buried his hands in Hannah’s hair and tilted her head to go deeper with the kiss.

Sensation exploded inside her mouth as he used his tongue to explore and tease and drive her quickening pulse into a full gallop. Her nipples grew hard and pressed into the warmth of his hard chest.

“Marcus. I need you.”

His grasp on her tightened, and he swung her around so that her back was against the wall. Pressing himself into her, he dragged his mouth away from hers and pressed hot, hungry kisses along the sensitive column of her neck.

One hand slid lower, over her breasts and soft belly until it found her damp heat. Hannah squirmed under his touch, wanting more. He didn’t make her wait long, tracing her opening with one long, confident finger before plunging inside to test her heat and wetness.

“Marcus…” His name came as a sigh on her lips, and her nails dug into the flesh of his shoulders.

She hitched up one knee to give him better access.

Marcus’s thumb teased her clit, and he added another finger to her wetness.

“You’re so hot. So wet,” he said. “Just like I dreamed you would be.”

Delicious sensations erupted at his words. Warmth spread throughout her, stretching her nerves to the limit. Blood rushed through her body at an alarming rate, making her breath come in small, gasping pants.

Hannah slipped her hands into the opened front of his pants and beneath the waistband of his underwear. She needed to feel him, hold him and stroke him and taste him. And above all have him inside of her, filling up all the empty spaces.

He gasped when she wrapped her fingers around his hard length, her fingers not able to meet when she did. Her knees nearly went weak at imaging all that man buried deep inside of her. She teased the tip of him with her thumb, mirroring his action on her clit.

“Oh, my God,” he breathed. “Hannah. Wait.”

She looked up at him, praying to whatever god that was listening he wasn’t going to put on the brakes at this juncture. She wouldn’t allow it.

“Not here. I’ve waited too long to have you to take you here, against the wall.”

“Your place?” she wasn’t sure she could wait that long, but it would be good to have a place to stretch out, relax, and explore each other’s bodies at leisure rather than have years of longing culminate in a few moments of hurried, awkward coupling like two teenagers in the back of a Miata.

“Too far. Come on.”

He took her hand and led her to the workroom where the round bed waited.

“It’s not the most comfortable thing since there’s not a real mattress, but…”

“It’s perfect,” she said, pushing him toward the bed. “Absolutely perfect.” Hannah shoved his pants down his hips, and he stepped out of them and smiled, looking half bemused, half in pain with his need.

In a flash, he was completely nude, and Hannah feasted on sight of him. He was all planes and angles, from the slant of his jaw to the muscle-clad expanse of chest to the jut of his cock. And she wanted it all.

When she met his eyes again, the last trace of his smile disappeared beneath a look of pure animal lust. Their bodies and mouths and hands came together all at once as they slammed into one another with a force bordering on violence. He was a sensual feast Hannah wanted to consume all at once—his taste, his smell, the texture of his skin, the silken strands of his hair between her fingers, the sensation of his hot, hard cock pressing insistently against her soft belly. All of it. All of him.

He walked her backward toward the bed and then stooped to lift her, not breaking their kiss until she was lying in the middle of the bed and he was sprawled half on top of her.

“You’re beautiful,” he said. “I’ve never wanted another woman more.”

Hannah pulled his head back to hers and kissed him until she could feel his heart hammering beneath the breastbone pressed to hers. His skin was hot and smooth and felt so right pressed against her flesh. The sheet beneath her was cool like a caress to ease her fever.

And then she felt him stretch her arms above her head and secure a wrist with the silken ties there. Her eyes flew open.

“Is this okay?” he asked, pausing to look into her eyes. “It seemed like you liked this…before.”

She smiled as best she could, desire pulsing through her veins, making coherent conversation difficult. “Yes.”

He returned the smile. “Good. You looked so sexy like this. Bound and spread-eagle. Completely at my mercy and ready to take whatever I chose to give.”

She nodded, writhing as he secured her other wrist. Testing the knots, she found she was tied securely but not so tightly that it caused her pain.

Marcus kissed his way down her throat, his hands skating along her ribs and hips. He paused to lick at her breasts and take the swollen nipples into his mouth, sucking gently before moving lower. He knelt between her thighs, pushing them apart.