Chosen for Power (Women of Power, #1) (4 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

Elle didn’t want the night to end. She had been lost in her own fantasy with her dream man and wasn’t ready to come back to reality. When he pulled her near him and started to slowly dance on the back edge of the dance floor, all thoughts of her life and responsibilities left her mind.

Instead of dancing the steps, they swayed together as he ran his strong hands up and down her back. He spun her and dropped his hand lower, cupping her bottom and giving it a squeeze as he kissed her neck. Elle wanted to moan, but the people who were whirling around them on the dance floor would surely hear her.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as his lips worked their way up to her ear. His tongue traced the delicate shell before nipping at her earlobe. “Look up. Mistletoe.”

“We can’t break tradition now, can we?” Elle said with a grin.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as she tilted her head, giving him access to her lips. Elle shivered with pleasure and he tightened his hold on her. She felt his hardness pressing against her and grew warm in response. Unable to stop herself, she rubbed against him as his lips descended onto hers.  His tongue caressed hers, leaving her breathless. Pulling away, their gazes locked and Elle saw his desire. And then he shot her a wicked smile that had her heart pounding.

Looking around the crowded room, she saw only a few people in the hallway leading to the Renoir exhibit. She looked back to him and nodded in the direction. Words were unnecessary. Without a doubt, she was going after what she wanted tonight. And what she wanted was him.

Drake’s breath caught the second she rubbed against him. The need to be inside her was almost painful. When she gave him the look and nodded toward the exhibit, he had to restrain himself from dragging her down the hall. Instead, he laced his fingers with hers as they strolled across the marbled hall toward the exhibit. They passed other couples returning from the brightly lit gallery that held the prized Renoir paintings.

They stopped to admire a painting and when no one was looking, he hurried her through a set of black drapes hiding the exit and into a darkened hallway off the gallery room.

“Where are we going?” she whispered, her voice full of excitement.

“There’s a small atrium with a glass ceiling just around the corner.” Drake looked around and pushed open the doors. When no alarms went off, he led her through the door and walked into the small courtyard filled with plants. It had a small water fountain and two benches. Small white lights cast a magical glow around the room.

She twirled around and looked up at the night sky above them. “Shall we dance?” Drake asked as he gave her an elegant bow.

She laughed and he grasped her hand. His body was strumming with desire, but he willed himself to slow the pace. With no words, he led her in a dance around the fountain. He let his hands explore her body as they moved to the music in their heads. He felt the curve of her hip and the soft swell of her breasts as he ran his hands up and down her sides.

“I’ve never wanted someone as much as I want you,” Drake confessed to her before he claimed her lips. She opened her mouth to respond and his tongue dipped in to taste her. Her hands tightened on the lapels of his tuxedo as his kiss deepened.

He dropped his hands to clasp her bottom. She wiggled closer to him and pressed against his hard length. Drake fought for control, but he knew it was a lost cause.

Elle’s heart was pounding. Oh God. She was going to do this. Elle Simpson, Little Miss Proper, was going to have a one-night stand in a cute little courtyard tucked away but not too far from a roomful of people. Wearing the mask gave her a wild sense of freedom. As she rubbed herself against his unmistakable erection, she felt empowered. She had done that. Not her money, not her power—just the woman she was.

His hands were at her breasts, cupping them, caressing them. He traced her nipple with his finger before pinching and rolling it between his thumb and finger. Elle gave up any pretenses of slow seduction. She wanted him naked. Now.

She loosened his bow tie and started unbuttoning his shirt in a haze of passion. He was doing things to her that had her flushed from head to toe. But then she felt the air against her bottom. As one of his hands massaged her breast, the other had found the zipper to her dress.

Elle had exposed his smooth, defined chest when he unfastened the necklace at the top of her dress, causing the two swaths of fabric to fall to her waist, baring her breasts to him. With one finger, he pushed the fabric at her waist and the dress pooled at her feet.

“You’re perfect. A walking dream come true,” his graveled voice said, his mouth coming down on hers with raw hunger. Their tongues sparred as his hands explored her naked body.

Elle grew wet with need as his fingers danced along the top of her thighs. She could no longer stand it. She had to feel him right this instant. She quickly discarded his shirt and ran her fingers over the ridges of his abs before feeling his erection through his pants.

“Off. Now,” she ordered.

“Yes, ma’am. Your wish is my command.” He had no idea, she thought. He, too, was a walking, talking dream and she was about to pinch his perfect behind to find out if he was real.

He quickly kicked off his shoes and unfastened his pants while he kept his mouth on hers. Elle became daring as she sucked his tongue and elicited a ragged moan from him.  As soon as he was free, she wrapped her hand around his shaft and caressed it before slipping on the condom he handed her.  He moved his mouth to her breast and pulled her taut nipple into his mouth. His fingers slid to her center and she lost what little control she had.

As if reading her mind, he moved her toward the bench. Taking a seat he pulled her to him. She straddled him, feeling his hard head probing her wet entrance. In one quick motion, she took him inside her.

“Oh, God. You feel better than anything I could have dreamed of,” he said as he grabbed her hips, bringing her down on him again and again as he thrust inside her.

Elle thought about responding, but no words would come. She whimpered her pleasure as she tossed back her head. He cupped a bouncing breast, bringing her nipple to his mouth as she rode him. Pleasure shot through her body as she moved faster and faster upon his hardened length. He scraped her nipple gently with his teeth and the rolling waves overtook her. She shattered, screaming her pleasure into the night sky.

Seconds later, she felt him stiffen underneath her, his hands gripping her hips as he ground into her one last time.

“That was . . . I don’t know what that was, but . . . it was amazing,” he whispered as he pushed back a loose strand of hair that had gotten tangled in her mask.

Elle agreed with a nod of her head, not being able to find the words to express what had happened. She lingered a moment before leaning forward and resting her head on his chest with a smile. His fingers ran lazily up and down her spine as they sat quietly together in the courtyard trying to regain their breaths.

“I think the time has come to truly bare all.” He reached up to his mask at the same time a loud ringing broke the tranquility of the courtyard.

CHAPTER SIX

“Oh my gosh . . . what time is it?” Elle scrambled off his naked body and grabbed her purse.

“I don’t know. It’s probably a couple hours past midnight. How about breakfast after this party breaks up?” Elle was too busy fumbling for her phone to answer.

“Hello?” she spoke into the phone.

“Elle, are you all right? Did something happen?” she heard Finn asking.

“I’m fine, why? What time is it?” she asked, looking around for her clothes.

“It’s ten minutes until two. You're twenty minutes late and you’re going to miss your conference call with the Swiss bankers if you don’t get your butt out here right now.”

“Oh no, I’ll be there in just a second.” Elle hung up the phone and tossed it on the bench as she tugged on her dress. She reached behind to grab the zipper. “Can you get this?” She lifted her hair and turned her back to her naked dream. Reality had just called and shattered her fantasy.

“I guess that means no to breakfast?” he asked with good humor as he fastened the top of her dress.

She shoved her breasts back into place and slipped her feet back into her heels. “Sorry. The real world called and I’m needed.” She leaned down and took one last kiss. She hated to leave but if she didn’t run out and leave him right this instant, she was going to blow a huge deal. With regret, she turned and ran back into the gallery as fast as she could.

Elle raced down the corridor and over the dance floor. People stared at her, but she didn’t care. She pushed the heavy glass door open and rushed onto the sidewalk. She looked around wildly for Finn. She heard a sharp whistle and turned to see him half a block down the street. She picked up her dress and ran.

“Come on. It’s almost two. Haul ass, boss,” Finn yelled as he held the door open for her.

“Get the car started,” she shouted back between alternately gasping for air and cursing her high heels.

Finn nodded, jumped into the driver’s seat, and started the car just as she leaped into the backseat and slammed the door closed. Tires squealed, horns honked, and the big limo shot out into the street, tossing her around on the seat.

“Looks like someone had a good night,” Finn teased from the front seat.

Elle flushed. Could he tell she’d just had the most mind-blowing sex ever with the man of her dreams? “What do you mean?” she tried to ask innocently.

Finn laughed as he took a corner so fast that it sent her sailing to the other side of the limo. “Only that your hair is a mess and your shoes are on the wrong feet.”

Elle looked down at her feet. This was so much more embarrassing than being caught with her bunny slippers on.

Drake sat stunned. The woman of his dreams had just disappeared into the night. He panicked and nearly chased after her until he remembered his nakedness. Damn, he didn’t even get her name. She had to be an on-call doctor the way she ran off. He had to find her before she left.

Drake shot to his feet and tugged on his pants. He slipped on his shoes, not even bothering with his socks. Instead he stuffed them into his pocket and went to work on his shirt. Getting it halfway buttoned was good enough, he thought, slinging on his jacket. He looked around to grab his bow tie and saw the small black phone sitting next to it on the bench. She’d left her phone.

He grabbed it and hurried through the thinning crowds as people made their way to their cars. Lines of limousines stretched down the street. But it was the one half a block away with the squealing tires that made his heart plummet. He’d lost her. He looked at the phone in his hand. It was the only lead to find the woman of his dreams.

*     *     *

Drake sat in his office and stared at the phone. He tried turning it on, but the battery was almost dead and it was password protected. Good thing he happened to have a lot of phones around. He went into the lab and found the right charger. He plugged it in and started trying to guess her password.

“Dammit.” The most common passwords didn’t work. He shouldn’t be surprised. There was nothing common about this woman. He found a USB cord and connected the phone to his computer. It was time to get serious. There was no way he was going to lose this woman. He would find her no matter how long it took.

Elle gave Finn a quick kiss on his cheek and wished him a merry Christmas before punching the elevator button in the secure parking garage below her building. She looked in her purse for her phone to check the time and froze. No phone. The elevator dinged and she hopped in, pressing the top floor.

She had to have left it in the courtyard. She’d have to call security and have them check. Crap. That phone had her life in it. At least her brother had talked her into putting a state-of-the-art security system in it. She knew no one would be able to hack it. She would go pick it up later.

The doors to the elevator opened and she hurried through the dark hallway maze to her office. She flipped on the lights and glanced at the clock. She had two minutes. She kicked off her shoes, untied her mask, and slipped out of her dress. She then grabbed some tissues to wash the makeup from around her eyes. She applied some light brown and beige eye shadow as her computer hooked up to the videoconference.

She pulled a cream-colored blouse out of the closet and slipped it on. Her computer started beeping, indicating an incoming videoconference call. She grabbed a blazer and buttoned it up. Her bare bottom sat down in the leather chair by the third ring. Elle tucked her hair back and pressed Accept.

“
Grüezi mitenand
,” she said in Swiss German as the bank’s board of directors appeared. The men looking back at her all said hello as well, and they got to work.

*     *     *

Elle smiled and said good-bye to the group of bankers all heading home for Christmas. The three-hour conference call had wiped her out. Further, she struggled for the first time in her life to pay attention. She’d be listening to someone and the image of looking down at her masked-man’s face as she sat naked upon him took over her mind.

She wished she could kick herself as she slipped on her panties and a pair of jeans. She'd left the only man she’d had crazy chemistry with sitting naked on a bench. One thing she knew for sure—he wasn’t out for her money. Add to that the fact that she instantly trusted him, and the feeling of being in his arms made her decide with surety that she couldn't settle for one-night stands. She wanted the rest of her life filled with nights like that. The sadness that wrapped her like a blanket tightened. She’d met the
one
and she’d never see him again.

With tears trickling down her face, she wrapped up the Swiss bank deal, made her way to her car, and drove forty-five minutes to her mother’s house.

Drake cursed and sat back in his chair. Who was this woman? She had top-of-the-line security on her phone that most people didn’t even know about. How did he know that? He’d invented the damn thing. The good news was he could hack it. The bad news, it was going to take a while and he didn’t have the time now. He was due at Children’s Hospital to hand out presents. His perfect woman’s identity had to wait a bit longer.