He leaned over me and kissed me, taking my hands into his and holding them above my head.
"You're mine," he said, his voice gruff.
"I am," I replied, a catch in my breath at the sound of possession in his tone. I was his -- all his. Every part of me.
Then his mouth claimed mine in a blistering kiss and all conscious thought fled, replaced by pure pleasure.
When we were both spent, we lay on our backs staring at the ceiling, catching our breath.
"That was so good," I said and glanced at him.
"It was," he said and reached over to stroke my cheek. "You can expect more of that in the morning. Maybe at lunch, too, if I can weasel out of my one o'clock meeting. If I'm going to miss three nights of you, I expect to make it up in the next twelve hours before Steph comes."
"I won't compla
in," I said and smiled.
"Somehow, I knew you wouldn't," Josh said with a laugh.
Josh kept to his promise of making me weak-kneed with lust twice more before the next afternoon. We met in the apartment during lunch and had sex standing up in the living room, with me leaning over the sofa and him behind me, both of us half-dressed. This was after an early morning bout in the shower as we prepared for the day.
As Josh pulled out of me and removed his condom, I closed my eyes and remained standing as I was, thighs spread.
"I'm going to need an afternoon nap," I said with a smile. "Do you think the boss will mind?"
"I think the boss will have to call in and cancel his one o'clock meeting," Josh replied and did just that. "You should ask for the afternoon off and we could spend it on the sofa or in bed."
"I can't," I said and stood up finally, pulling up my thong and pulling down my skirt. "I promised I'd get some work done for Sharon before the weekend, so I could take Monday off and spend it with Steph. But given you have an in with the big boss, you definitely should take the afternoon off and lie around like a sloth."
I turned around and watched as Josh fixed his own clothes. "Nope. Boss is a damn slave driver so I better not. Besides, I wouldn't enjoy it without you." When he was finished buckling his belt, he came over and pulled me into his arms. "I'll go back like a dutiful CEO and do my meetings."
We kissed.
"Text me later when Steph is in bed if you want to talk. Or anything."
"Or anything," I said with a grin. "Like I can't guess what that means..."
He smiled back. Then he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black Ritz-Carlton keycard.
"This is for you and Steph. Indulge your every womanish whim. The spa. A meal in the restaurant. Room service. Whatever you feel like."
"You are far too sweet," I said and took the keycard, shaking my head. "I can't believe you did that."
"Believe it, use it, and enjoy it. Thinking of you two having fun will be what keeps me from being sad without you."
We kissed, and then kissed again and again. Finally, I pulled out of his arms and left the apartment, taking the elevator down to my office. I planned on eating my lunch alone in my office, so I could leave early and meet Steph at Penn Station. While I was happy as a lark to see Steph, her visit was unexpected, and it seemed to break the momentum of Josh and my relationship, which had reignited when he returned from California, feeling even more substantial since then. We were inseparable and didn't want to be apart. While I had finally felt right about seeing Josh after my initial reluctance, now I was certain that he was who I wanted. Everything about him was perfect. I couldn't think of a single thing that I didn't like and while I knew it was probably still a large dose of infatuation, I liked to think it was also just a serious compatibility between us.
We fit together so well in all things.
I left work early and took the car service to Penn Station, my stomach all butterflies at seeing Steph again. I waited by her gate and checked to see if the train was on time. Luckily, it was and soon, there she was, the same old Steph I'd known since we were both in our Freshman year of high school in Concord. Two of the nerdiest nerds in our schools.
Steph was tall and lanky, and often said she reminded herself of a giraffe but to me, who was on the shorter side of female height, she was like a thoroughbred with her mane of long blonde hair and blue eyes. The only thing that kept her from being a model was her love of all things scientific, otherwise, she could have been on the catwalks of New York and Milan. She'd even done some modeling when she was a girl for local stores in Concord but when her mother pushed her to consider becoming a model, she'd rebelled.
She hated being looked at. She felt ridiculously tall and lanky and had knock-knees and was pigeon toed. Otherwise, she was very attractive in a Daryl Hannah sort of way.
"There you are," she said and hugged me, almost picking me up in her glee. She pulled back. "You look great. I see Mr. Big has been good for you. You've got that rosy-cheeked hue you lost when Jerkface betrayed you."
I patted my cheeks dramatically. "You like my hue?" referencing a favorite Seinfeld episode.