C H A P T E R 4 6 : W H E N H E G O T H U R T , H E W E N T R O U G H
E L L A S T A N F O R D
The brush of something warm across Ella’s shoulder brought her out of a sound sleep. Her lids fluttered open and she turned to stare into a pair of brilliant blue eyes a few inches from her face. Smile lines appeared in the corners as he lightly bit her shoulder. “Good morning,” he said against her skin.
She closed her eyes again, smiling. She could not believe that this was actually real. Since that dinner which led to another session in his bedroom, she gave up fighting a lost battle. There was no point of trying to deny the connection between them. As she stretched her body on the mattress, she asked, “What time is it?”
“A little before noon.”
“What?!” Ella immediately sat up, the dark grey sheet slid to her waist. “It is late.” A sudden knot of panic kicked up the beat of her heart and tightened her stomach. It was not a weekend. Today was a Wednesday and there were so many things she had to do in the office. She pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts and glanced back over her shoulder at him. He looked at ease and relaxed in a white T-shirt and a pair of loose shorts. “You are dressed but not exactly for the office. Why?”
“I ran five miles on the treadmill.” He brushed off the beads of sweat off his forehead.
“And you did not think to wake me up?”
Javier rolled onto his back on top of the thick black paisley comforter and stacked his hands behind his head. “You were deep in sleep.” His gaze ran down her bare back. “You did not get to sleep until around five.”
“Neither did you.”
“I do not need a lot of sleep to function.”
With one hand she held the sheet to her chest and rubbed her face with the other. Her heart pounded in her throat as she looked around the room at the sparse oak furniture and the blinds closed across the huge, arching window. “Don’t you have meetings this morning?” She was thirty minutes from office if the traffic was good. But even so, there was no way she would use yesterday’s clothes to go to work today. People would know and there was no doubt that several eyebrows would be raised. Who would have thought having a sleepover at his place in the middle of a week was such an appealing idea? What had seemed like such a fine idea last night felt like a horrible mistake in the harsh light of day.
“Not for a while.” He sat up and pushed her hair behind her shoulder. “I thought I would drop you off your flat on my way there and once I am done with my meetings, I could pick you up afterwards.”
Her heart pounded in her ears as she looked about the room. She could not even find her panties. Anxiety tightened her forehead and she feared she was going to have a panic attack.
“Miss Stanford?” When she had not replied, he called her again by her first name. “Ella?”
She looked at him. “Yes?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“You have to go to work.”
“I know.” He lowered his mouth to her shoulder and softly bit her skin. “But I want to pick you up after I finished with my meetings. Maybe take you to a Mexican restaurant Maxon brought me to the other day. Though the service sucks, but the food is great.”
“No!”
His head snapped up and he looked into her eyes. She had to think. Had to get control of her life and herself. She could not date her boss. This was not right. She could tolerate them sleeping together casually but if they started dating and people would point fingers. They would judge and look at her differently especially people from work. She could care less about his family — for all they knew, they both were engaged anyway. But her coworkers would surely judge and it would not be pretty. Call it cowardly move but Ella was not sure she was ready to face that.
After several agonizing heartbeats, he said slowly, “Okay.”
“I meant—” What did she mean? She was so confused. She did not know. “I did not mean that the way it came out. I just meant—”
“I know what you meant. You just want to have sex and that is it.”
Was that what she meant? No. Yes. She could not think beyond the confusion tightening her skull.
She opened her mouth to speak, but could not think of one thing to say besides, “Thanks. I think.”
“Don’t thank me. It is not over yet.”
Then he lowered himself and shoved his hard penis into her body. The force of his thrust pushed her up the mattress, and the oxygen whooshed from his lungs. “It’s not over until I say it’s over.”
She looked up into the harsh angles of his face and ran her hands around his shoulders to the sides of his head. He might be mad at her, but she could not be mad at him. Not after the intense orgasm he had just given her, and not while the head of his hot penis stroked her inside and started another fire only he could put out. “Okay,” she whispered and rocked her pelvis, contracting and releasing her muscles around his thick shaft.
His breath hissed from his lips and he swore as he pulled out and drove into her. Over and over he plunged deep inside, stroking her, pushing her toward orgasm, making the air around her thick and hard to breathe. She wrapped her legs around his waist and met him thrust for thrust until a fiery climax pounded through her veins as he pounded into her body. She arched her back and held on as he rode out his own storm.”
When it was over, they dressed in silence. He took his usual suit and a pair of black pants to go along with it while Ella put on her blouse and skirt. Neither spoke on the drive to her house. He turned on the music player and flooded the rich interior with classic Claire de Lune music, relieving them both of awkward conversation. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, and she was still so confused she did not know what to say anyway. Even though he had denied it, she knew that in actuality, he was angry. She had hurt his feelings although given his hard exterior and surly nature, seemed bizarre.
He pulled over in front of her building. As Ella put off her seatbelt, he called her name. “Ella.” His finger reached out and turned off the music. “I am sorry if I hurt you.”
“You did not.” She felt a little tender in certain areas, but she was not hurt. Quite the contrary. “Look, Jiev, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
“Miss Stanford, I am not a girl.” His blue eyes looked at her through the deeper shadows of the car. “I do not get my feelings hurt when a gorgeous woman like you tells me she just wants to use me for sex.” He laughed without humor. “Although I have to admit, you are the first. It has never happened before. It has always the other way around. Women usually want something from me. But not you.”
“Aren’t you just using me for sex too?”
He ran his gaze across her face and pushed the button to unlock her door. “Yeah. I am. Thanks.”
Ella got out of his car feeling puzzled. As she was walking up the stairs and into the building, she could not help but try to analyze her own feelings. Whether she was hurt or not by his comment, she had no clue. But there was one thing for sure, she did not like the sound of it. She did not like hearing him saying it. And that was actually the answer she needed if only she knew.
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