The clock on the bedside table said nine forty-five in the morning. Panic surged through me, followed immediately by apathy. I’d just slept away over eighteen hours that could have been productive, and it felt great, so I just didn’t give a shit.
I closed my eyes and exhaled, simply basking in the luxurious feeling of being rested. I was a shower and a cup of coffee away from being human again.
First things first, though, I grabbed my phone off the nightstand. Unsurprisingly, I had two texts from Rick:
Get some rest. Looking forward to seeing you.
Also bring a toothbrush. Not letting you go home tonight. ;-)
Oh God. Yes. Finally.
Giving orders now, are we? I wrote back.
When my phone buzzed again, it was a call, not a text, and Rick’s number on the screen made me grin.
“Hey,” I said. “Calling to give orders this way instead of via text?”
He laughed, sounding sheepish even over the line. “No, nothing like… I mean, I—”
“Relax. What’s up?”
He cleared his throat. “So how much time off is your boss giving you?”
“Today and tomorrow.”
“Well, the invitation is definitely open. I have to be in the office tomorrow afternoon, but I’m yours until then.”
My skin prickled with goose bumps. Jesus, the idea of having him all to myself made my mouth water. Pity my body was so fucking tired. “Full disclosure, though—I am fucking exhausted. Much as I’d like to, I can’t promise much tonight.”
“It’s okay.” The smile in his voice made me dizzy. “I’ll be home around six. Why don’t I make some dinner, and we can just kick back for a while?”
“I am one hundred percent on board with that idea.”
“See you tonight.”
Chapter Seventeen
I forced myself to stay awake the rest of the day so I didn’t screw up my body clock even more than it already was. When Rick texted me to say he was on his way home, I didn’t fuck around. After a quick shower, I grabbed my overnight bag and hurried over to his place.
As he always did, he came out the front door before I was even up the walk. Our eyes met. We both smiled the way we didn’t dare when we saw each other at the office, and barely contained excitement swelled in my chest. When was the last time the sight of someone made me giddy like this? I had no idea, but the sight of him was damn sure doing it now, and I couldn’t get to the top of those steps fast enough.
I’d just cleared the top step before we were in each other’s arms. I didn’t know or care who was in charge right then, who initiated or led that deep, hot kiss. All the domination and submissive games could wait until I wasn’t so tired, and until I’d just spent some time with him. Some time like this—arms around each other, lips and tongues meeting for the first time in too long. My head spun and my heart pounded, and it wasn’t because my heels were precariously close to the edge of the top step.
We finally came up for air, and I whispered, “I needed that.”
“Makes two of us.”
I let my lips graze him again. “Pity we can’t do this at the office. It’d be enough to keep me going for days.”
Rick laughed, running his hands down my sides and drawing me closer. “Sorry, I only use this power for good, not evil.”
“Keeping me awake at work is evil?”
“Giving you a reason to spend more time in that office and less time on top of me is definitely evil.”
Yep, I was awake now. “I can’t argue with that logic.”
“Didn’t think so.” He kissed me once more, and then gestured for me to come inside. “I can’t believe how long it’s been since you’ve been here.” He laughed. “Guess I should’ve made sure you could still find the place.”
I followed him inside. “Find it? It hasn’t been that long.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure how badly your job had eaten your brain.”
I chuckled. “And points for not bringing my advanced age into the equation.”
Rick laughed. “You do recall I’m not that far behind you, right?”
“Fair point. And hey, zombie or not, it’s kind of hard to forget where this place is, fortunately. And it’s—good God.” I’d been here a handful of times but never really taken the time to drink in my surroundings because I’d been too preoccupied with their owner. Now, though… “This house really is amazing.”
He laughed quietly as he shut the door behind us. “Thanks.”
I gazed at our surroundings. Though the exterior was distinctly Tudor, the interior wasn’t. The foyer in which we were standing had clearly been designed with Roman architecture in mind, from the meticulously tiled archways to the intricate mosaic on the floor.
“Did you design this?” I asked.
“Are you kidding?” He snorted. “If I could design something like this, I wouldn’t be pouring money into Mitchell & Forsythe.”