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  "Ride it, Alexis. Ride it," he grumbled against my center as I made the mistake of glancing down.

  He brushed his tongue over my flesh as his eyes met mine and lust seared me. He was going to have me beneath him, screaming for more if I wasn't careful.

  Why me? Why, of all the women in the room beyond us, did this bastard have to choose me? I was a recovering sex-addict, the type of woman that wanted to behave, but just couldn't seem to deny the delicious promises that lust provided.

  "So good," he whispered and pulled his fingers from my body, licking them clean and helping me down.

  "You're not at all who people think you are." I pulled my panties back into place and fixed my skirt before turning toward the mirror and pretending to wipe at my eye makeup. "You’re a wolf in sheep's clothing."

  "Because I want to fuck a hot woman senseless?" He laughed and moved up behind me, pressing his thick erection to the curve of my ass and gripping my hips tightly. "You didn't have to get on the sink. You did it because you wanted to."

  "That's true. I'm just a whore." I stood up and shrugged before moving around him. "It's a mountain in my life that I haven't figured out how to move. Thanks for setting me back a few steps."

  "Ouch." He pressed his hand to his chest and moved to stand in front of the door. "Come here to me."

  "No. Move. You got what you wanted. Go out there and smile and pretend to be a good guy. It's what you get paid to do." I didn't know where my anger was coming from. I'd just had the best two orgasms of my life and yet I was acting like a complete bitch.

  "You're not mad at me. You're attacking me, but it's not me you're angry with." He gripped my wrist and pulled me to stand in front of him.

  I glanced down, unable to help myself. "Move. Please. You don't know me."

  He touched my chin and forced me to look up at him. "I want to."

  "No, you don't. You want a quick fuck and then to move on to the next woman. It's all good. I get it, but whatever happened in here or last night... that's all I have to offer." I reached around him and unlocked the door. "Move please."

  "Give me control, Alexis. You think you want it, but it's breaking you down." He slid his strong hand down my neck and cupped the side of my throat tightly before leaning down and brushing his lips by mine.

  How quickly I could come to worship a man like him. Fear raced through me and I pulled back.

  "Thanks for the fun." I moved around him and pulled the door open just enough that I could slip through. I'd made another mistake, but it was the last one I'd make.

  The wetness between my legs was a quick reminder that if he wanted more, I'd most likely go down with a weak fight. I kept trying to forge a new woman out of the old one that I hated, and yet I hadn't figured out how to give up the addiction I had to pleasure. Not just physical, but the pleasure of being adored, wanted, coveted.

  "Alexis. There you are." Jackson Markham moved to stand in front of me and gave me a fatherly smile. "Have you been enjoying the conference?"

  "Absolutely. Some of the speakers have been incredibly insightful."

  "Agreed. Where is Heather?" Jackson glanced around. "We should all have dinner later tonight with the rest of the group. Do you have plans?"

  "No. Dinner sounds great actually." I checked my watch. "I'm going to run up to the room to make a quick phone call and then I'll be back down."

  "Yes. Of course. We could meet for dinner about an hour after the last presentation today if that sounds okay?" He moved back and slipped his hands into his slacks.

  "That sounds great." I gave him a warm smile.

  "Oh, real quick. The bidding is still going on, but keep your fingers crossed. I'm praying like hell that we can get Cole Alexander to come visit us."

  Ice water ran through my veins. "Why Mr. Alexander? I would have thought you would want one of the more business-focused speakers to come out to Vandrake."

  "No. We can get those guys anytime. Cole is top notch. The kind of guy that can motivate just about anyone to do anything."

  "He has a way with words, doesn't he?" I swallowed hard and glanced over my shoulder, half expecting him to come out and join the conversation. I had no doubt that he had plenty to add in the way of self-worship. Fucker.

  "He does." Jackson shook his head and smiled. "His story is honestly amazing. Have you read it?"

  "Can't say that I have. I'm usually to be found with my face stuck in a marketing book." I chuckled as Jackson reached out and squeezed my shoulder.

  "Of course you are. You're going to be a rising star in no time. Your transcripts and resume already speak volumes for you."

  "Thanks, Mr. Markham. I'm nothing too special."

  "It's Jackson, and everyone is special." He released me. "Okay, go make your call and promise me you'll read up on Cole. He's a great character and someone that we can all learn something from."

  "Will do, Sir." I turned on my heel and walked quickly to the elevator, trying hard not to make it obvious that I was trying like hell to get out of the lobby before being caught by someone. Not just anyone.

  Mr. Special himself.

  "Stop it," I grumbled as I got on the elevator and hit the button for my floor.

  "Hold the door." The cute guy from earlier slipped into the elevator with me. "Oh, hi Alexis. You already heading out for the day?"

  "No, just making a quick call and then getting back to it." I wrapped my arms around my chest and turned to face the front of the elevator. "You're one of the organizers of the event did you say?"

  "Yep. I love these things. Motivational speakers changed my life, and I love seeing it help other people too." He shrugged.

  "Are you just helping with the conference in general or here with one of the speakers?"

  "I'm Mr. Alexander's assistant."

  I turned and lifted my eyebrow at him. "Really? Did he send you in here after me?"

  I sounded ridiculous and yet I couldn't help myself.

  "Um, no? Should he have?" Sam lifted his eyebrow at me, leaving me to feel like an idiot for asking.

  "No. Sorry. Wishful thinking?" I gave him a girlie smile and moved up as the elevator opened. "See you around. Good luck!"

  "You too, Alexis."

  I waited until the door closed to turn and walk down the hall to my room. His tone said that he knew more than he should, or was I being paranoid? I shook it off and jogged to my room for a quick clean up.

  As much as I hated to, I needed to get back downstairs fast. Heather would be looking for me and with my luck, Cole would be looking for her.

  Surely he was done with me. I'd given up the goods. It was time to find another victim to help sate his lust.

  Chapter 6

  Cole

  "Damn." I closed my eyes as I pressed my hands to the cold marble sink in front of me. The taste of her release lingered on my tongue, and as much as I hated to wash it off, I still had a good chunk of the day to walk around and mingle with people.

  I leaned over and rubbed soap over my lips before splashing cold water on my face.

  My body ached painfully for far more than she'd given me, but the moment was about building trust. She might be pissed that I'd gotten into her panties, but she seemed like a logical woman. She'd come to the conclusion that our little rendezvous was far more giving than it could have been. She was the focus of the moment, not me.

  I patted my face dry and slipped out of the bathroom, leaving the sign on the door and walking toward the main lobby to find Sam.

  "Hey. About last night." The blond from the night before stopped in front of me with a frown on her pretty face.

  "Heather, right?" I smiled and slipped my hands into my slacks.

  "Yes, but I wanted to apologize. I haven't drank since graduating college, and last night was the reason. I feel like shit for what happened."

  "For going home with me, or getting sick?" I gave her a smirk and chuckled as her cheeks turned pink.

  "Both?" She glanced around. "I shouldn't have done it, a
nd yet I can't stop thinking about how good you look without all these bothersome clothes on."

  "Oh yeah?" I tilted my head to watch her closely. She was pretty, but Alexis was stunning. Had Heather not seen me and Alexis locked together against the wall when she walked out of the bathroom, or had she been too out of it?

  "Absolutely. I should make it up to you. You know, me fucking up the night last night." She shrugged and bit her lip, trying hard to look cute.

  Cute didn't win a spot in my bed.

  "I appreciate that, but I think I learned my lesson last night too. I hadn't let myself relax since my wife died, and I think maybe I made a mistake in trying to." I let out a tight chuckle, telling the truth and yet feeling the painful effects of doing it. "Wine leads people to do crazy things. Enjoy the conference, Heather."

  I patted her arm and moved over to a large group of guys, hoping for a better conversation than one where I had to explain why I wasn't willing to pull out my cock and hit replay on one of life's jokes.

  I'd promised myself my whole fucking life that I would fall in love because of my mother sleeping around on my father, and the one time I messed up... I found the woman of my dreams. The diagnosis for stage four cancer was a post-wedding shocker and within six months, all I had was a memory to keep me warm at night.

  Everyone had a mountain to overcome and I would help them do it. As long as it meant I didn't have to stare mine in the face ever again.

  *

  "What's the plan for tonight, boss?" Sam patted my back as we walked through the lobby later that evening.

  "We're having dinner with the people from Vandrake. Their CEO is a great guy and quite a character, though you couldn't tell it by looking at him." I smiled over at Sam and moved up to the hostess stand.

  "Mr. Alexander. Glad to have you this evening. Are you meeting-"

  "Cole. Over here." Jackson moved up beside the hostess and motioned for us to join him.

  "I'm meeting him." I gave the girl a smile and followed behind Jackson as Sam moved up beside me.

  "Am I coming to this dinner too?" He lifted his eyebrow at me. He was antisocial like a motherfucker.

  "Yep. You are." I turned back to see Alexis already seated at the table, looking like the temptress she was. Her long hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and her lips were a dusty pink that beckoned my attention.

  Where fucking was the word I would have to use for what we'd done over the last two days, I couldn't help but feel the desire to make love to her. She was struggling with her past and whatever shitty decisions she'd made, but I couldn't fathom letting that stop me. If I had to break her down to build her up, I was going in as deep as she could fit me.

  "Look who's joining us tonight!" Jackson laughed loudly as the other people at the table perked up and started to welcome me.

  Poor Heather looked ill that I was there, and Alexis simply gave me a sweet smile and extended her hand.

  "Nice to meet you, Mr. Alexander." Her voice was firm. She was in business-mode, and I was surprised by how much it affected me. A pair of black-rimmed glasses and a sexy nightie underneath her tight skirt and button down shirt and I'd blow with nothing more than a touch.

  "Please, call me Cole." I pulled her hand to my mouth and kissed her fingers as everyone at the table ogled her.

  Her cheeks turned pink as she tugged her hand back. "Great. Nice to meet you Cole."

  "Alexis is single." One of the girls beside her perked up. "And such an awesome catch."

  "Stop it." Alexis swatted at her as everyone chuckled nervously.

  I turned to Jackson and leaned back in my chair. "So you won the bid today, hm?"

  "I did. I'm incredibly excited. What's your schedule look like?"

  "Wait." Alexis spoke up. "Did you bid on Cole?"

  "He sure did, and he won." Sam picked up his glass and turned his attention on the rest of the table. "I'm Sam by the way. I do Cole's heavy lifting. I tote around his ego."

  I gave him a look and turned my attention toward Alexis. "I might have to take the sweet single girl out for a drink when I come to visit."

  She shook her head and laughed. "Not a chance, Mister."

  "Damn," I mumbled, winked at her and turned back to Jackson. "My schedule is up in the room, but we can figure that out later. Tell me instead what your answer was this morning when I asked what you wanted more than anything else. We can go around the table. You guys are going to love mine."

  "You already said yours." Alexis pulled my attention from Jackson again.

  "Right, but I kinda got that already. I have something else in mind now."

  *

  The dinner was great, and the company even better. Alexis seemed to calm down a little after everyone joined into the conversation and I stopped pushing her buttons. I was sad to see her go just before dessert, but understood it all too well. She wanted something she was afraid to reach out and grab. Whether that was me, or the right to feel comfortable with her sexuality, I wasn't sure.

  We wrapped things up with Jackson and walked to the bar to join another group of people who called us over. Sam was being his usual cheeky self, and I tried to stay interested in the conversation, but it was a moot point.

  I wanted her. More than I had wanted anything in a long time. It should have been the first sign to run from the room screaming, but I'd never been one to back down from anything I wanted.

  "She's over there." Sam nodded toward the bar and smiled at me.

  I found her and pursed my lips as I breathed in deeply. "Tell me no."

  "Would it work if I did?"

  "Fuck no." I turned my back to the group and caught her eye before she turned and put her back to me. It was endearing. "Why do I want her so fucking bad?"

  "Is she denying you?" He turned and pressed his shoulder against mine.

  "Not really. She wants to, but she's bending with a little bit of pressure."

  "Have you guys fucked?"

  I glanced over at him and rolled my eyes. "I'm not kissing and telling. Idiot. This isn't college."

  "Thank God. College was way worse than this. Now we only have a million women to beat off of you with a stick. Back then it was a hundred billion."

  "At least." I handed him my drink. "I'll find you later."

  "Good luck," he called after me.

  "I don't need it," I mumbled and moved up to stand just behind her, whispering softly against the back of her hair, "come upstairs and let’s finish what you keep starting, tease."

  "Tease?" She turned and smirked, stealing some part of my resolve to just let lust lead us where it may. I was going to fall for this one. I'd seen the moment I fell for Mina a million times in my head since losing her. I was standing at the edge of something terrifying, and yet I would keep pushing until she belonged to me. Even if it meant losing her too.

  "Here." I handed her the extra key to my room. "Now."

  "I'm not this woman, Cole. I know I've done a few stup-"

  "What woman would you be referring to, exactly?" I licked my lips and took a step toward her, not really giving two shits about who might be watching us. We were single, consenting adults.

  "The kind of woman you're looking for." She handed me the key back and walked off, leaving me standing there with my heart racing due to her nearness.

  I breathed in deeply, turned and followed her to the other side of the room, stopping beside her and handing her the key again.

  "I was the one pressed into you last night, Alexis, remember? The one you rocked against? Trying to take more of me inside of you." I turned to face her as she looked up at me with a mixture of anger and red-hot passion in her eyes. "I know what you want. Come try to make it fit. I won't tell anyone about what you're after. One more night. You can give up one more night for massive amounts of pleasure."

  Her eyes moved down to rest on my cock as she growled. "Stop. You’re preying on my weaknesses and you fucking know it."

  "Grab it. Feel how fucking thick it is. Think of how
nice it would be to be stretched open for the first time in your life. To wonder if you can take something so fucking huge and fit it inside your tight little-"

  She stepped closer and grabbed my erection, surprising me a little. Her eyes fluttered closed as she bit out her response through clenched teeth, "One more night, then never again."

  "One more night." I jerked her hand off my cock and gripped it tightly as I walked with her to the elevator. She'd promised the night, but I was going to make damn sure she woke up with nothing on her mind but the next time she could find herself pinned to the bed beneath me.

  She only thought she wanted control. She just needed the right man to remind her of how fucking good it felt to give it up.

  Chapter 7

  Alexis

  Bastard. Cole Alexander was a complete bastard and that's all there was to it. His sweet, kind, loving disposition was the biggest crock of shit I'd ever seen in my life. Jackson would be mighty disappointed to hear that I had no intention of looking up his story. I could care less what his past looked like. It was a fucking lie at best.

  "Do you have condoms?" I walked into the room behind him and reached out, gripping his belt as I pulled him to me. He hovered over me, clearly far too big of a man to be pushed around by a small woman like myself, but I was going all in. He wanted a night to remember? I was giving it to him. He might have gotten the bid to come to Vandrake for a couple of days, but he wouldn't be seeing me unless I was required to be there. It was tonight and nothing else.

  My past was too tainted to have me pulled back into the far end of the cesspool, where he seemed to enjoy watching me drown in desire.

  "I do. I bought them this morning in hopes that I could talk you into coming back up here and spreading your legs for me." He reached out and gripped the back of my neck tightly, pulling me in and leaning down to consume my mouth.

  His words were naughty, but the soft sweep of his tongue into my mouth was tender as if there were something beneath the surface that he wanted me to tease out of him.