Reluctant Pleasure Ch. 06

Amethyst stretched her cramped muscles as she looked down at the ruined dress. The threads that had kept the dress this side of decent had snapped in the night with her restless slumber. She slid out of bed making her way swiftly to the bathroom and was stopped short by her reflection in the vanity. Her mussed hair and bare thigh were bad enough, but it was the red puffy raccoon eyes that made her realize she was in over her head. She couldn't remember doing it, but she had obviously been crying at some point in the night.

She raced to the bathroom and threw herself into the shower completely disgusted with herself. This kind of soul destroying emotion was why she hadn't wanted to get involved with him – with anyone – from the start. Seeing the signs of her distress reminded her all over again of the months her eyes had shown red every day. The months her mother had battled and lost to cancer. The same months that Amethyst had nearly worked herself into her own grave between work and endless hours at the hospital. Until her mother took that very last breath, Amethyst had never stopped believing that she might pull through. And it was ultimately the destruction of that senseless belief that had left Amethyst so utterly unwilling to have her heart broken again.

And here she stood again after having already fought so hard to put her life back together throwing it away. This time by getting emotionally involved with some man, and what a man! He wouldn't die, she knew that much by the disgusting amounts of vitality he radiated. But he would cast her to the side when his desire for her had been sated and she would be shattered by his rejection. Oh foolish foolish heart, she castigated, to long for such a man.

Amethyst felt the prick of tears as she tore the wet dress from her body. She wouldn't cry for him, she vowed, she wouldn't! The silent stream of tears blending with the water made a lie of her anguished protests. It was the sound of her own high sob that dragged her back from the brink of despair.

Against her best wishes she had fallen in love with him. An overbearing, controlling, demanding louse who had stolen her heart on top of all his other faults. Made her care how he treated her, what he thought of her, where he was. Already she could feel a throbbing pain in her chest at the thought of leaving and yet she knew she must.

She finished washing quickly and dressed. Grabbing her purse she hurriedly fled the house. She was ensconced in the warm familiarity of her own home when she heard the gentle ringing of her phone.

A quick check of the display showed Damien's name and number. She switched the phone to silent and let it roll to voicemail. She checked her message bank as soon as the phone signaled there was a new one available. His angry voice demanding to know her whereabouts caused her heart to lurch a bit more. In a word she would describe his voice as possessive.

I don't love him, she silently vowed, repeating it again and again in her mind. Anything to silence the demands of her heart. It longed for him in a way she found frankly alarming. She hadn't even known him that long.

Her weary head relaxed back against the sofa as she gave in to her body's demand for rest. She waded through the weekend in a sort of fog meandering from room to room doing mindless tasks.

Monday dawned bright and clear and Amethyst made her way to the office with a heavy heart. She couldn't bear to see him, but knew she must if only to work her two weeks notice. She had typed her resignation letter and was staring at it in her outbox when he walked in.

"Damien," she greeted, giving him a cursory glance before dragging her eyes away from his imposing figure.

He looked so good standing there. His broad chest and rippling muscles had her mouth salivating at the thought of touching her tongue to his aroused flesh. Her eyes dropped to her hands ensuring that he was blocked from even her periphery. She apparently couldn't even bear to be near him and not want him.

Even to fold herself into his arms and luxuriate in the comfort of his presence would make her feel good. She wanted him too much...loved him too much. Her face dropped further as her heart once again led her mind away from the direction she willed it to stay.

Damien looked at her down bent head wanting to crush the dark curls in his fist and force her gaze to meet his. At the same time struggling with the desire to bend her across her desk and remind her why they were so good together.

"Look at me." His cold voice brooked no argument.

Amethyst raised her face towards his, but kept her eyes downcast so that his shoes were in her line of sight and nothing else.

"Look at me." The frigid words were snapped out in such short clipped tones she was sure they would be frozen in the air if she dared to raise her head, but she didn't.

The defiant line of her jaw and the mutinous set of her lips acknowledged and disregarded his demand. "Looking is not required for hearing. Is there something you wanted to say?" Her tone reeked of insolence and her words even more so. Looking at them now it would be hard to tell they had ever been lovers unless you looked to the hard ridge of his arousal or slid your hand between her thighs.

That unique fragrance that was wholly Damien drifted into her nostrils and it was all Amethyst could do not to reach for him. She dropped her head again so that she could no longer see his expensive handmade shoes. Shoes that made her angry all over again. She had climbed 18 floors in her favorite pumps and was in no mood to indulge him when it was his fault she couldn't enter an elevator without having erotic flashbacks.

Her ears picked up the sound of his feet moving towards the door and she breathed out a sigh of relief. His chuckles hit her ears next.

"Your sigh of relief is hurtful and a bit premature," he said, pushing the door closed and locking it.

Not a good sign.

"You don't answer my calls and now you refuse to look at me. Am I to assume I've lost my mistress for the next 4 months?" His words in that cool tone offended her as nothing else could have. If it was a response he wanted from her he had gone about the right way of getting it.

Her rebuttal was swift, "3 months. And yes."

He laughed. "3 months. Of course. How remiss of me to assume a longer time frame."

Amethyst observed him with an obvious air of mistrust. He had a mind like a steel trap and made millions off of it a year. There was no way he had forgotten how long they were slated to be together which meant his slip of the tongue had been deliberate. If she hadn't been so busy trying to avoid him she would have caught the deliberate slip before she had got caught up in it.

"If you know the time frame so well, how is it possible you have forgotten the terms?"

Amethyst sucked in a deep breath and willed herself not to respond giving a slight shrug in response.

"We made a deal, but for some reason you seem unable to honor the terms for even a week. Am I too much man for you?" His question was casual, as if it had happened before and was bound to happen again. As if she was some wilting flower who just didn't know what to do with a man or his passion.

Again he offended her with his seemingly innocuous comment. He could have taken a course in it he was doing it so well and so often. She reacted without thought.

"You are not man enough!"

He grabbed her before she could draw her next breath, hoisting her from her chair and pressing her soft body again his intimidating hardness. She moaned before thinking better of it, but the damage was already done. He knew how he affected her.

"Do you like that?"

Hey eyes answered him very clearly. Yes.

Her tongue was a little slower in forming a reply, and significantly less honest. "You pig! I hate it! Why do you think I ran away?"

Damien's jaw hardened. He could easily tip her onto the desk and make her take those words back, but he wanted her to admit her feelings freely without sexual influence. And yet the feel of her flesh made him want to start snapping buttons.

His eyes dropped to her nipples. He could clearly see them straining against her blouse. Without thought his hand dropped and slid up under her skirt. She stood spellbound in his embrace not even fighting him as his finger dipped into her wet heat.

Her eyes stayed locked with his silently begging for more. Her love-sick mind even dared to ask her isn't this ok? Was it so wrong if this was all he could offer her for as long as he could offer it? The degrading thoughts snapped her back to reality. And just in time if the growing ridge against her belly was any indication of where things were headed.

"Let go." The tight words were barely audible, but she heard them, which meant he did too. His hand released her and she slid from his arms dropping heavily onto her desk.

"Please leave." A weary sigh fell from her lips before she could continue. "Leave and don't come back. You'll have my resignation by the end of the day."

When he would have spoken she cut him off continuing with the words she felt were necessary.

"I'm not pregnant so there is nothing else between us. Just stay away." Amethyst felt damned the second the deliberate lie slid from her lips, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't afford to have him swarming around her with expectations for another moment. She called her tear ravaged face to mind to give her strength.

With silent movements she moved over to the door and opened it since he showed no inclination to leave.

"Please don't let me keep you." Her words might have sounded the height of politeness to any passerby's, but the look he gave her told how he had received them.

As she had seen fit to open the door he saw no reason to close it and continued their previous conversation as though all and sundry could not hear it. "Do you think your pregnancy status or the fact that you're quitting will keep me from wanting you? Do you think it will stop me from trying to woo you into my bed or get you out of my mind?"

Amethyst's attention was fixed so completely on Damien that at first the shocked gasp from her left didn't register. When it did she looked up into the equally shocked and crestfallen expression on Cameron's face. Before she could more than formulate some weak denial he had turned and walked away.

The look she passed Damien's way could have killed him flat out.

She didn't abandon her post by the door, but resolved not to let him win through intimidation. After all, she would only be working here for another two weeks. Who cared what gossip abounded about her? "Are you satisfied?"

Amethyst should have known better than to ever ask those words of a lover. Especially a lover as highly sexed as Damien.

"Not by a long shot." He gathered her into his arms and dropped his lips to her own before she could do more than squeal in shock. His firm lips pried hers apart and his tongue swept in to claim its reward. He reveled in the taste of her, his hands dropping to her hips to press her close against him as his weight forced her back against the door frame. Amethyst's hands lifted against her will and settled around his neck. Unaware of their audience she pressed her body closer to his lost to all reason.

His head dropped to the curve of her chin as he smoothed kisses down the silky column of her throat. Her head fell back and a mindless moan of pure bliss fell from her lips. "Yes," she moaned.

Someone cleared their throat and she turned in Damien's embrace to see half of Marketing standing around gawking. A flush of pure fire spread up her cheeks that had nothing to do with lust and everything to do with mortification.

Before she could scuttle back into her office Damien pulled her in front of him in a smooth move and secured her in place with a very possessive hold.

"I apologize for that display." His voice was very even and controlled. Amethyst wondered what words he would use to explain his practically having sex with an employee in public.

"I've just asked Amy to marry me and I'm afraid I anticipated her answer before she could quite get it out."

His words were met with a light chuckle and all eyes flew to her as they waited to hear her response.

A satisfied smirk crossed her mouth as she thought of their reaction if she slapped his face and walked away. The more she thought about it the wider her smile grew. She felt his teeth lightly nip her ear and his soft words infiltrated her mind. "Behave, or I'll have to spank you and it won't be playful."

Amethyst flushed again, a brighter shade of red. Maybe she'd ask him to spank her anyway as a reward for good behavior.

She breathed in deep, still not sure what she was going to say as she opened her mouth to reply.

"While I'd like nothing more than to marry you Damien, I hardly think we've known each other long enough to make that kind of commitment." She tried to gently ease her way out of his arms; they tightened around her.

"I love you. Please marry me." Amethyst was afraid to turn. The words sounded so beautiful coming from his mouth and so unbelievable. She tried again to free herself.

"Marry me Amy."

This time Amethyst did turn. She had to see for herself. Amethyst nearly did a double take at what she saw.

"Damien?" Was he for real? He looked serious, but how was it possible? She was just a sexual convenience for him. Wasn't she? "Damien."

He gave a slight nod in the general direction of the waiting crowd, "Excuse us."

They ducked back into her office closing the door again.

"Marry me," he repeated.

Still not quite trusting him she said the first thing that came to mind, "Because of the good sex?"

"Because of the great sex," he rejoined.

She rubbed her throbbing forehead before turning away completely. "Right. Because of the great sex."

Damien observed her hunched shoulders and dejected air for a short second. Did she love him too?

"And because of who you are Amethyst."

She turned back with the barest glimmer of hope shining in her eyes.

"Although we've only known each other for a short time, this past weekend showed me what it would be like to spend the rest of my life without you and that's not something I'm willing to do. Yes, I love the sex." He gave a self-depreciating laugh before continuing. "A lot actually. But I also love your smile, your laugher, spending time with you and waking up to you. I love you. The beautiful person that you are both inside and out. And I want to spend the rest of my days proving it to you if that's what you want also. I know I behaved badly this weekend and I apologize. I was mad with jealousy. I couldn't bear the thought of anyone else seeing your exquisite beauty. I couldn't bear the thought that you would one day leave me for another man. I shouldn't have–"

"Shh." Her finger pressed against his lips cut him off. "You've monologued long enough. I get it; you love me." She slowly removed her fingers from his lips planting a brief kiss there in the interim. "I love you too."

They stood that way for a moment, within touching distance but not touching. Only staring into each other's eyes and luxuriating in the moment.

Her hand connecting with his cheek shattered the silence. It was by no means as hard as the slap she had given him on Saturday, but it had a little sting to it. His hand immediately came up to cover the hot area. "What the hell?"

Amethyst's hand covered her mouth and stifled what sounded suspiciously like laughter.

"Sorry. That connected a little harder than I intended." Her eyes dropped shyly to the floor. "I just—I thought—I was hoping, um. Sorry." Her cheeks tinted pink but she said nothing further.

He lifted her face up until her eyes were level with his. "What is it?"

Her cheeks took on a darker hue, but she rallied the courage to speak her mind. "Earlier you said if I didn't behave that you would spank me and I kind of hoped slapping you counted as not behaving. Not that I'm using you for sex or anything."

Damien released a deep roar of laughter. "To think I would have missed that tempting proposition if I had left when you told me to earlier." He dropped a kiss on her cheek before tangling their fingers together and drawing her towards the door. "Let's get out of here."

As her office door opened there was a noticeable halt to all conversation. Staff from each of the different floors was represented in force positioned strategically within viewing range of Amethyst's door. Damien noted his P.A. was among the gossipmongers most closely positioned to the door wanting to get firsthand knowledge of the mini drama unfolding in their midst.

Damien dropped a brief kiss on Amethyst's forehead before turning towards the crowds. His face split into a big grin. "I'm getting married."

THE END