Chapter5

She knew that he was right. She knew that it had to end. They couldn’t carry on in New York the way that they had on the island. They had been in some kind of dream, some real life fantasy where all the things they could wish for would be true. They had to come back to the real world sometime.

He was still her boss. They still had to work together in the same office. They still had to act like nothing had changed between them. She understood. It didn’t make it any easier, but she understood it.

Eva dressed as sexy as she dared the next day, and she admitted to herself that it was in some small way a little bit of revenge, looking as good as she could for a man who was going to keep his hands off of her. She knew that it was a taunt in some ways, but it was really the only way that she could get back at him without actually hurting him. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she told herself that she could make it sting a little bit. Her black sweater dress was a little high on the hemline and had a low scoop neck that showed off the upper swells of her breasts just enough to tease. The rest of it fitted her like a glove. She pulled on thigh high stockings and black satin panties and topped it all off with black high heels. She knew that she looked incredible, but it was still satisfying to her to see Derrick’s reaction when she arrived.

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He stopped short when he saw her walk in that morning. She was riveting, looking as good as she did, and he felt the familiar need for her stir in his groin. He kept himself in his office all morning, trying to distract himself with whatever he could. He left for lunch, and when he came back, he hardly looked at her, disappearing into his office again.

She was frustrated with him a little, disliking his distance from her. Even in their normal pre-island affair state, he had been open and friendly with her at the office. She knew that it was going to be tricky redefining their roles at work again, but she wasn’t about to put up with him being so far from her.

Eva went into his office later that afternoon and found him sitting on the leather couch near the window. He had an amazing view of the city below him. He looked up from the paperwork that was laid out before him. She saw his eyes move over her, and his cheeks turned pink as he made himself look away.

She felt a small sense of satisfaction in seeing him respond that way to her. She decided to take it a little further, and she went up to him and leaned over directly in front of him, setting his file on the table before him.

“Here, you’ll need to look this one over,” she said in a velvet voice. He nodded and turned toward her, only to be faced with a clear shot at her chest as she smiled at him and slowly stood back up. He rose from the sofa and turned his back to her, planting his hands on his hips, closing his eyes, and drawing in a deep breath.

He let it out slowly and turned to face her. “Eva… we’re going to have to try to make this work. I can’t…” he began, forgetting exactly what all of the reasons were for making things the way that they had been. He reached his hand to her face, gently touching the tips of his fingers to her cheek. “I can’t let things change here. It would be selfish of me.”

She wanted him more standing there in the office with him than she had ever wanted him on the island. Taking a step toward him, she gazed up into his eyes. “I don’t mind if you’re selfish, Derrick, because I want you too.”

He groaned softly from his chest and leaned forward, his eyes locked on hers until their lips met, soft and sweet, and he closed his eyes and kissed her tenderly. One long slow kiss, and he lifted his mouth from hers and looked at her again.

“One last kiss. That was it. That’s all we’re going to have. Now we have to get back to work… we have to get back to normal. We have to-” she raised her hand and placed one dark finger over his red lips.

“Is that all you want? Just one last kiss? Because I want one last kiss, too,” she whispered, leaning up and kissing him in return, slowly and tenderly, sucking softly at the end of his tongue as a moan sounded from him and she felt his hands close around her body.

Their kiss deepened, and they each grew hungry. His hands closed around her hips, and he pulled her body against him. She felt his hardened need for her, and she kissed him even more passionately, slipping her fingers into his hair as she tugged on it.

“Oh god… Eva… I can’t…” he mumbled as he kissed her and moved his fingers and hands over her body, feeling every part of it that he was longing for.

“Oh yes, you can… if you want to… if you want me,” she murmured back to him, kissing him deeper as one hand moved to his groin and she began to touch him and stroke him with her fingers over his pants.

“God, I want you so much…” he moaned softly as he slid his fingers up beneath her dress. She smiled as he discovered her thigh high stockings and she heard a sigh of resignation from him. He touched her body and pulled her panties from her. Her fingers flew over the closure and belt on his pants as he squeezed her curves and her hips.

She sank down with him onto his couch, and he pulled her onto his lap, pushing her dress up her thighs just enough that he could feel her skin in his hands. She slid her body down over his erection, swallowing it whole with her core, and they lost their breath as they began to move together, slowly and gently, savoring every moment of it.

“This is the last time…” he gasped as he pulled the top of her sweater dress down and lifted her breasts to his mouth. “This has to be the last time.”

She swayed her hips, rocking them slowly and deeply over him. “It is, baby; it’s the last time. I just had to have you once more…” she whispered as he closed his mouth and teeth over her hard dark nipple, teasing it with the tip of his tongue.

“Make it last as long as we can…” he barely managed to whisper with her flesh in his mouth. He squeezed her firmly and pulled her down further on him until he was all the way inside her, and then he closed his hands around her cheeks and kissed her as they moved together, painstakingly slowly, enjoying every single thrust and breathless gasp until their passion overtook them and they finally came together, kissing and holding each other tightly, promising one another that it was the last time.

When she was dressed again, he took her in his arms and held her, kissing her once more, a long and slow sweet kiss, before he let her go. “Okay… that was it. One last time. Now it’s all business,” he said half-heartedly.

“All business,” she agreed, more serious than she had been. She knew they couldn’t keep it up. “That was the last time.”

“Okay,” he agreed. He turned and went back to his desk, and she made herself walk out of his office.

She went home that evening and tried to get her mind on anything else. She called her best friend Jamie to talk with her about everything that had happened. No one else could ever know, but her best friend would be just the right place for her to share all of her joy and misery.

Jamie answered the phone nearly right away. “You’re back! I can’t believe it. You were gone longer than you said you were going to be. I’m glad you’re home. Now, tell me all of the details! How was the island? What was it like?”

Eva smiled and thought back to it. “It was amazing. It was like I’d stepped into a postcard… a picture perfect postcard, and the rest of the whole world didn’t even exist anymore. I felt like I was awake in a dream.”

“I’m jealous. I’ll admit it. I’m jealous. I’m happy for you, though! So, tell me everything!” Jamie gushed excitedly.

With a sigh, Eva began. “Well, you know I told you how my boss Derrick and I were flirting? Like… a lot?”

“Oh, no you didn’t…” Jamie began, her tone growing serious before she squealed. “Did you?!” she exclaimed in disbelief. “With your boss?”

“Girl… he’s beautiful! If you saw him, if you saw how he is… you would have done exactly the same thing. He’s just… damn girl. He is one fine man.” She chuckled a little. “So… yeah, it happened. It happened on the very first night there, and it was so good that it didn’t stop.”

“Nooo….” Jamie giggled wickedly.

“Oh yeah. It was all the time… just about everywhere we went. On the beach, in the ocean, in the shower, in the bed, in the rain, at the club… everywhere. We just couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. I kept wondering what it would be like, and I can just tell you, there’s no way I could have imagined how incredible it was. He is so good, I might never be okay again.” She laughed softly as memories of their time on the island flooded her mind and happiness filled her.

“That’s unbelievable. So, now what… are you guys a couple and you’re working for him still or what?” Jamie asked, bringing reality back into it.

Eva pursed her lips. “No,” she said quietly. “It’s not like that. We just had a good time, you know. That’s all. Just a good time while we were away out of the city. We both have lives here. He is my boss here, and I work for him, and he still signs my paychecks, and he’s got his world and I have mine, and the two of them don’t really… blend. It’s all back to business now. Mostly.” She thought of that afternoon and the way he had needed her, the way that they had both needed each other so desperately, right there on his leather couch in his office. They had almost set fire to each other the passion was so sweet and so hot. Even the thought of him and what he did with her made h

er close her eyes and draw in a long slow breath to calm herself.

“Wait… what? You went crazy with him in the Bahamas, and now you’re back here and things are supposed to just go back to the way they were before? That’s not okay, Eva. That’s him using you for a piece of ass.” Jamie grew defensive.

“No, Jamie, it’s really not. I used him too… we both wanted it. We both agreed to it, and it happened. We both agreed to things going back to normal here, too. So that’s what has to happen.” Eva hoped she sounded convincing because she wasn’t entirely convinced herself.

“That’s just… wrong. Are you sad? How are you doing? Are you feeling down about it at all?” Jamie asked curiously with a worried tone.

Eva shook her head. “No, not really. I mean, I really like him, and I’ll admit I’m still crushing on him, but at least I got to go to a tropical island with him, and we got to have all the fun we had, and now it’s just done. We had a hot time. I get to keep my job, and my paycheck, and my great apartment, and I had a hell of a good time. It’s not really like there’s a downside to this.”

“If you say so.” Jamie sounded unconvinced, and Eva decided it was high time to change the subject.

“Well, we’re going to have to have coffee or lunch soon because I did manage to get a little shopping done while I was down there, and I bought some really cool things for you.” She smiled, thinking of the little bag of gifts that she had brought back for Jamie.

“You did? Honey, you didn’t have to do that! Now I can’t wait to find out what they are!” she replied. Jamie and Eva talked about the gifts and lunch or coffee, and then the conversation took a turn to what she was doing in school. Eva was relieved that they weren’t talking about her and Derrick any longer. She was glad that she had gotten to share her secrets about what had happened, but she didn’t want to drag it out into a long conversation because there was no way that it was going to end well. There was nothing to move forward to. It was over. They had had a great time, and they were done.

Now she needed to focus on work and find a way to stop wanting her boss as much as she did. It had been a fling, and nothing more. They could work past it.

***

Derrick was sitting at their spot at the bar when Garrett walked in the door and waved at him. They shared a hug and a shoulder pat, and Garrett waved at the bartender for a beer.

“Hey, nice to have you back in town! Did you bring me a bottle of rum or something?” Garrett asked in a joking tone.

“Yeah, actually, I did. Here you go.” Derrick reached down at his side and picked up a small brown bag with handles. Garrett’s eyes grew wide as he took it.

“Really? I was kidding! That’s awesome, dude!” He looked inside it and grinned at what he knew was a very expensive bottle of island rum. “That’s the best! I’m going to save this for a special occasion.”

He tucked into his beer and then wiped the foam from his upper lip as he turned to look at Derrick. “So, how was the trip? Did you find your business deal guy and get it all finished up?”

“Yeah, I did,” Derrick said, looking down at his beer and feeling his cheeks turn pink.

Garrett frowned at him slightly. “What’s this look? What is this? Are you… are you blushing? What are you hiding from me? What else happened down there on that island?”

Derrick took a deep breath and looked over at his best friend. “Things got a little… hot… with my secretary.”

Garrett’s mouth fell full open. “You mean that lady at your front desk… what’s her name…” he tried to think, and Derrick beat him to the punch.

“Eva,” he answered quietly.

“Yeah… Eva….” Garrett trailed off and stared at him. “You… had a fling with Eva? You did that with your secretary?” he asked in amazement.

Derrick nodded and pursed his lips closed.

“You must be kidding me. You never do that kind of thing! Like… never ever! You didn’t even get wild in college. How on earth did that happen?” Garrett asked in utter amazement.

Derrick sighed. “Well, if I’m being honest, and I should be, it’s kind of been building up over the last few weeks, or even longer. I guess it’s been building up since I hired her. She’s beautiful. She’s smart… she’s funny and sweet, and damn is she hot. I just… kept thinking about her like that. I kept trying not to, but it was hard. When we got down there, we had all this champagne, and one thing led to another, and then there we were, and it… pretty much lasted the entire time we were there. It was incredible. It’s never been like that for me.”

Garrett stared at him. “I can’t believe you did that. I’d never have guessed it. Not in a million years. Wow.”

Derrick looked over at him. “Think I’m going to hell?”

Garrett scoffed and shook his head. “No. There’s no way you’re going to hell. You might have a difficult time here, though… you never do anything like that. Ever.”

“I know… I just… couldn’t stay away from her. I wanted her too much. She wanted me too, just as much I wanted her. It just… happened.” Derrick took a long drink of his beer.

“Soooo, I hate to bring this up, but what are you going to do about Felicia?” Garrett asked in a low voice.

Derrick felt his stomach twist in a knot. “I’m going to marry her. We’re officially engaged. I gave her my mother’s ring. You’re still my best man. I haven’t slept with her or anything. In fact, she and I haven’t done anything since college, and even then I was drunk and it wasn’t intentional; it just happened.”

“You and Felicia haven’t done anything since you got engaged to her?” Garrett asked in amazement, with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes.

“No. I’m not going to do anything with her until we’re married. I don’t want to,” Derrick admitted in a quiet voice.

“But you couldn’t keep yourself away from Eva,” Garrett asked, looking skeptical.

“That’s about the size of it, yeah,” Derrick admitted.

“What are you going to do about Eva? Are you keeping her on the side or something?” Garrett’s face took on a dark look.

Derrick shook his head adamantly. “God, no, I’d never do that. It just kind of… happened with Eva, and we’ve both agreed that while it was incredible, it can’t continue to happen. I mean, she works for me. She’s my secretary. I don’t want to fire her; she’s the best secretary that I’ve ever had. We just have to… change the nature of our relationship and make sure that it’s strictly business down the line. She works for me. I get married to Felicia, that’s it. That’s the end of it. I have a responsibility toward her as her boss. We’re going to focus on work and nothing else, and that’s it. Straight down the line. I don’t want anyone getting hurt here, and I sure as hell don’t want to lose her.”

Garrett narrowed his eyes again and studied his friend closely. “You mean Eva.”

“Of course I mean Eva…” Derrick looked over at him. “I mean, I don’t want to lose her as a secretary. I don’t want to lose Felicia either, I guess. She’s who my dad wanted me to marry and spend the rest of my life with.”

“Uh huh,” Garrett said with a lowered brow. “Well, that was one hell of a last hurrah you had then.”

***

Eva and Derrick both worked hard to keep their eyes and their hands to themselves in the days that followed. They stayed in their own areas of the office most of the time, and when they were around each other, there was less eye contact and no body contact. They both reminded themselves several times a day that they should not flirt or say anything that sounded even remotely like a flirtatious comment. They had to give themselves space, at least as much as they could, and though both of them struggled with it every single day, they both tried their best to stay true to what they had told each other that they would do. They would keep their relationship strictly business.

A week had passed since the afternoon they had made love on the leather couch in his office. A week with no touching, no flirting, and no innuendos. Eva had begun to feel empty and sad, and she could see that something was bothering Derrick as well, but she knew she shouldn’t ask him about it at all.

She was sitting at her desk trying not to think about him when the phone on her desk rang. She picked it up and answered it. “Derrick Madison’s office, how may I help you?”

“Is Derrick in, please? I need to talk with him.” It was a woman’s voice. Light and airy, and sounding not at all like a business call.

Eva frowned slightly. “May I ask who’s calling, please?”

There was a slight scoff at the other end of the line. “Yes, if you must. This is Felicia Van Buren. I’m his fiancé,” she replied smugly.

Everything in Eva came to a halt. Her heart, her mind, and every cell inside of her. She blinked finally and tried to draw in a breath.

“Hello? Are you there? Did you hear me? This is his fiancé, Felicia. Please put me through right away. This is a very important phone call,” she insisted.

Eva could barely breathe or move. “Yes… of course,” she answered in a monotone voice as she placed the call on hold and sent it through without telling Derrick who it was on the line. She set the phone back down

in the cradle and rested her hands on her lap, sitting perfectly still as she stared straight ahead and tried to process the information.

He was engaged. She couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around it. She hadn’t even known that there was a girlfriend in his life, much less a fiancé. It was the last possible thing about him that she ever would have guessed.

Her stomach tightened, and she closed her eyes as one tear escaped the cage of her thick black lashes and rolled down one cheek, and then another tear rolled down her other cheek.

Derrick picked up the phone and answered it distractedly. “This is Derrick,” he said lightly as he tapped away at his keyboard, wondering at the back of his mind why Eva hadn’t bothered to tell him who it was that was calling.

“Derrick! Darling. This is Felicia! How are you my love?” she cooed in his ear.

His head jerked up, and his eyes stared straight forward. “Felicia… what are you calling me for?” he asked in confusion, trying to wrap his head around the fact that she had called him at his office.

“Well, why shouldn’t I call you? You’re my fiancée. We’re going to be married. I’m going to be calling you at the office regularly, I would venture to guess.” She laughed a silvery laugh. “Anyway, that’s all for later. Today I’m calling to talk with you about our wedding. You’ve been gone, and we have planning to do! Now that you’re back, we need to talk about it.” She sounded as if she was laying out a mandate for him.

“No, we don’t,” he answered steadily.

She laughed at him as if he had just told her the funniest joke she had ever heard. “You silly, why of course we do! Now, I wanted to have the ceremony soon. I know you said just a small occasion, but I do have a growing list of people that I just have to invite. It’s kind of like dominoes, you know. You invite this person, and then that person hears about it, and of course you can’t leave them out, and then someone else hears and fully expects to be invited, and before you know it, you have the social event of the season on your hands!” She laughed again with a light tone, as if it was no big thing at all and nothing to concern them.

“Felicia, it has to be a small ceremony. I’m not going to have a big wedding. If you want a big reception at some point in the future, we can talk about that later, but for the official ceremony, I really do just want something small. Family and very close friends only. I mean, less than twenty people. Maybe less than fifteen if we can manage it.” His tone was serious, and he hoped that she would understand.

She sighed. “Alright, I will see what I can do on this end. We do have to set a date, though. I want it right away. As soon as we can. I don’t want to wait to be your wife, especially if we don’t have a big ceremony that takes ages to plan and organize. If it’s just going to be something small, then we can do it right away.” She sounded as if she had never been happier. “Now, about the colors,” she began, but he stopped her.

“Felicia, I mentioned this to you before. I’m not interested in the planning of it. Do whatever you want with it, as long as it’s small. Just let me know where to pick up my tux, and when I have to show up at the church, and you can take care of the rest. Please. That’s all I want to do with it.” He knew that sounded harsh, but he had to be honest with her. He didn’t even really want to marry her, let alone sit in on the planning committee for it. He knew that her parents would be working with her to get it all arranged, and the last thing he wanted to do was sit with them and go over flowers and cakes and colors and locations. He truly could not have cared less about it.

“Listen, it’s your day really, so just make it however you want it to be, as long as it’s small, and tell me where to show up. That’s it. I’ve got to run now; you caught me right in the middle of something.” He was only partly lying. He was working, but it was right in the middle of his workday, so that part was honest.

“Oh darling, couldn’t you pretend to be a little bit interested in our wedding day? Couldn’t you try to be at least a teensy bit romantic for me? After all, it’s our first day together as man and wife for the rest of our lives! It’s one of the most special days we’ll ever share!” He could hear her trying to smile and be positive through the phone.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, holding his hand over his forehead. “I’m sorry, you just caught me at a bad time. Please, just go ahead with whatever you want to do.” His voice was kinder, but he had no more interest in any of it than he had had a moment before.

“Oh, alright my dearest. I’ll take care of it for you. I know you’re busy. I’ll handle all of it.” She laughed lightly again and added, “I forgive you, my darling. I love you so much. Toodles!”

She hung up the call, and he sighed and set the phone back down, reaching his hands up to rub his temples. He was trying to stem the headache that he could feel coming on.

The door of his office burst open, startling him. He looked up with wide eyes and saw Eva crossing the room to him with a dark look on her face.

“You’re engaged?” she demanded furiously.

He sighed and stood, pushing himself up from his desk. “Yes, I am.”

“You asshole! How could you be engaged and not bother to tell me? After everything that we have shared? You couldn’t be bothered to tell me that you’re planning on marrying another woman? Maybe that slipped your mind? I didn’t even know she existed because she hasn’t even called here once since I started working for you!” Eva met him face to face in front of his desk.

Frustration began to bubble in him, and he told himself not to raise his voice. “I am engaged, but it never occurred to me to tell you that I was engaged because I don’t feel like I am! It’s a business marriage that my father arranged, basically, and I’m just there to show up and be the stand-in groom! I don’t love her, I don’t even really want her, and I have no real interest in marrying her! I just got… stuck with it, I guess, so no… I don’t think of myself as engaged, even though I am, and I didn’t mention it to you because it doesn’t mean anything to me! She and I aren’t even a couple, and I don’t want her! I want you! I want you more than I ever wanted her!” His voice was getting louder as he grew more passionate about what he was saying, not thinking at all about the words that were coming out of his mouth.

“Listen, I’m sorry if I hurt you! I never wanted to hurt you! I just… I couldn’t keep away from you because I wanted you so much!” He realized he was shouting, and he closed his mouth and stared hard at her.

She was not even a foot in front of him. A gasp escaped her, and she closed her eyes and bowed her head, covering her face with her hands. “Oh Derrick! How could you?” she asked through her hands as she began to cry.

He felt worse at that moment than he had ever felt in any other moment of his whole life. He shook his head once and then reached for her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his chest. She wept on his shirt and tie and silk vest, breathing in the scent of him as she cried.

“Please, don’t cry,” he whispered softly in her ear as he rubbed his hands over her back to comfort her. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I wasn’t trying to hurt any of us. You and I… we just happened. I didn’t intend for anything serious to happen between us. You’re just… god, you’re so irresistible to me, and I feel like you must have been just as drawn to me, and it happened. It happened at the same time that I was giving her a ring. She and I aren’t dating. We aren’t a couple. Are you listening to me?” He moved his hands to her cheeks and turned her face up toward him, looking into her eyes deeply.

“I don’t love her. I don’t even like her that way. We are not a couple. We are not dating. She is the daughter of my father’s business partner, and I guess it was my father’s fondest wish that I marry her. I’d never have even considered it if it hadn’t been my father’s request. I’m doing it for him, not me. I don’t want her… Eva… all I want is you, and now I can’t have you, ever again, and it’s tearing me up inside!” He felt tears stinging the back of his eyes, and he moved his thumbs to wip

e away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

“You still want me?” she asked in confused whisper, staring at him through her wet eyelashes.

“I want you more now than I ever did before, but there’s this engagement, and I won’t hurt you. I won’t use you that way. I care about you,” he said quietly. “Please don’t cry…” he pleaded, wiping at her tears again. The tears kept coming, and he gave his head a little shake and leaned close to her, kissing one of them away slowly and tenderly, before lifting his head and leaning in close again to kiss another away.

The nearness of him, breathing in the scent of him, feeling his skin against hers, his lips on her cheeks, made her catch her breath. His words echoed in her mind. He still wanted her. He wanted her more than he ever had. She wanted him just as much as she ever had, if not more, and she knew just how difficult the struggle was to keep things separated between them.

She closed her eyes and lost herself in the feel of him kissing away her tears. “Oh, Derrick…” she whispered softly, holding him in return as she slowly tipped her face up and let her lips brush his for a moment. He hesitated then, hovering near her mouth, trying to remember what every reason was why he shouldn’t take her in his arms right there and then and kiss her, but every solid reason he had slipped away from him like a shadow in the light.

One kiss, he told himself. Just one. He lifted her chin and brushed his lips against hers in response to her kiss, feeling at once a rush of emotion wash over him. Her soft lips moved beneath his as she kissed him back, slowly and gently at first, tentatively, but as the familiar feel of them warmed her, she slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his. He parted her mouth open with his and began to twist his tongue around hers.

Their kiss deepened, and he moaned softly as his hands held her tightly to him. He moved his mouth from hers across her cheek and over to her ear. “I’ve missed you so much… god… I’ve missed everything about you… the way you feel in my arms, the way you smell, the way you taste… everything, I missed it all so much. You have no idea how much I need you, how much I want you!”

Derrick’s lips trailed along her jawline back to her mouth, and their kisses became urgent as the sadness between them served as kindling for the underlying passion they had been denying themselves.

Fire began to burn deep in them both, and it wasn’t long before his hands were cupping and squeezing her curves and she was tugging at his tie and buttons.

“We can’t do this…” he mumbled as he kissed her deeper and held her to him tightly.

“I know… I know it…” she answered in a haze as she kissed him back hungrily and he began to walk her over to the sofa in his office.

“We’re not going to…” he said in between drinking in her lips and moving his mouth down her neck to her chest. “We can’t…” he murmured as she pulled his shirt from him and slipped his belt from his pants.

“I know… we aren’t going to… we’re just…” she answered as she moved her mouth over his chest and he pushed her skirt up over her hips and slid his fingertips gently back and forth over her core, making her gasp and moan softly against his neck.

“I just want to touch you, that’s all… just for a moment…” he breathed heavily, slipping his fingertips beneath her panties and into her body. She gasped and clung tightly to him, growing breathless as she felt him massaging her.

“Oh god… Derrick…” she called out in a pleading whisper. “Derrick… I need you… I need to feel you…” she moaned as he touched her in just the right way and she cried out, coming for him as he brought his mouth to one breast, revealing it and closing his tongue and teeth around it.

“Just this once…” he answered, pushing his pants down and bringing her to straddle him as he sucked on her breasts. He moved his erection back and forth across her panties as he began to pull her dress off of her, followed by her bra and his shirt. “Just this once… are you sure?” he asked, hesitating only a moment as he looked at her seriously.

“You know everything now… are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Yes…” she whispered, bringing his mouth to hers. “I want this one more time with you. Just once…” She ached for him with every fiber of her being, and she didn’t care that he was engaged to another woman. He was hers right then, all hers, and he was going to make love to her again, and even just one more time would be enough. She had to have him. She needed him, and she knew that he needed her just as much.

“If this is going to be the last time that I ever have you, then I want all of you,” he said thickly, pulling every stitch of clothing from them both and laying her back on his sofa. He moved down between her thighs, pushing them apart and driving his tongue into the depths of her, tasting her, teasing her, and bringing her to full orgasm over and over again as she held tight to his shoulders and twisted her fingers in the locks of his hair. She rocked her body against his mouth and came for him over and again, and finally he could not wait to be inside her a moment longer.

When she was trembling beneath his lips, gasping for air, he moved up between her legs and thrust his solid erection into her, filling her suddenly and making her eyes open wide, but then he began to move slowly in her, sliding in an out with a gentle rhythm that she matched, both of them trying their best to make it last.

“Take your time, baby. I want to feel every single second of this that we can savor. I want it to last as long as it can,” he whispered in between kisses as they arched themselves together slowly and deeply. He wanted it to last much longer than the time they would have in his office that day. He wanted it to last indefinitely.

They made love for a long while, pausing anytime it felt as if he might come, waiting to stem his tide of passion for as long as they could until he could hold it back no longer and he buried himself inside of her, filling her with his ecstasy, calling out her name as he became weak and rested himself on her breast.

Breathless and sated, blissful and heartbroken, they held each other for a long while. Finally, he looked up at her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it before. It just didn’t mean anything to me, but I can see now that it means something to you, and I should have told you. There’s nothing else that I have hidden from you.”

She smiled at him and touched his cheek tenderly with her fingertips. “I understand. At least I know now, and we had this last time together. This time was more precious to me than any other time we’ve had. This one means the most. Thank you for it,” she whispered, leaning to him to kiss him again, moving her lips slowly and softly over his.

“It means a great deal to me, too,” he answered. “Thank you, baby. Thank you so much.” He kissed her in return, and reluctantly, they parted and redressed. After another lingering sweet kiss, and a long silent moment when they held each other one last time, both of them turned away and did their best to return to their stations in the office; each to their desks, to their assigned positions.

Both of them could think of nothing else but the fiery passions that they had shared, and both of them felt as if a gaping hole had been left in them where the passion had once burned so brightly.