Chapter Sixteen
Claire was awoken from a peaceful sleep by the morning sunlight streaming in her window. She winced as her body ached in unusual places. Memories of the previous night came flooding in and Claire looked around her bedroom, wondering if it had all been a dream. Claire noticed the bathroom door was shut, and the shower was a distant sound in the background.
She couldn’t believe what had happened. She’d actually slept with her boss, the hot guy she’d ogled from afar for years but never seriously considered a romantic prospect. As the sound of the water stopped, Claire felt herself tense up, the morning after was unfamiliar ground for her. Buck up girl, here comes the walk of shame. She grabbed a night shirt from her drawer and slid it over her head before returning to the bed.
After a few moments, the door opened and Jason walked out in his boxer briefs looking good enough to eat. Claire felt her mouth go dry at that thought. With her eyes averted in embarrassment, she felt the bed dip as Jason sat down beside her. His hand lifted her chin, and warm lips descended on hers for a long, mind numbing kiss. He gave her a lazy smile and said, “Good morning. You looked so beautiful lying there; I almost didn’t have the strength to get up.”
Claire blushed and replied shyly, “Um, good morning.”
Jason slid his hand in her hair massaging her scalp and said, “I’ve a meeting downtown at ten. I need to go home and grab a quick change of clothes before I go. I’m leaving tonight for Charleston for the rest of the week, why don’t you come with me? Personnel can direct my calls. Anything else that needs to be dealt with can be sent to another office for the rest of the week.”
“I thought Grayson was coming here this weekend?”
“That’s somewhat up in the air right now; I was planning to go there for a few days, and then he was planning to come here for a few. Hopefully, his schedule will still allow him to do that. He’s trying to finalize a big deal so that takes precedence.”
“I would love to go to Charleston, but I would need to check on my mother and there isn’t time for that today,” Claire said sadly.
Jason leaned down to give her another quick kiss and said, “Take today and use the time to make sure she has everything she needs. I’ll pick you up about seven tonight, Ok?”
“O…Ok, I guess I could do that.”
“Good girl, don’t worry about the office, I’ll have that covered today.”
Jason turned to pick up his shirt and Claire caught sight of his back and gasped, “Oh no!” Long red marks where fingernails had raked his back were clearly visible.
He looked at her inquiringly, “What’s wrong?”
“Your back, please tell me I didn't do that to you,” said a horrified Claire.
With a laugh Jason said, “Well the only other option is someone else did it so, which would you prefer?”
“I’ll take the credit… Does it hurt?”
“It did sting a bit in the shower, but it's nothing a kiss wouldn’t help,” said Jason with a wicked grin.
Claire laughed at his hopeful expression and slid down to the end of the bed. Tentatively, she stood on her tip toes and hooked her arms around his neck. He lowered his head but left the next step to her. Claire ran the tip of her tongue across the seam of his lips, seeking entrance. Jason obligingly opened his mouth, and she slid her tongue inside, hungry for the taste of him. With a groan Jason took charge of the kiss and deepened it. Soon, they were both wrapped tightly around each other; the feel of Jason’s erection pressed against her thigh. His big hands cupped her breast, rubbing the nipple to a hard pebble.
They were both reaching the point of no return when a shrill beep sounded. Claire looked around in confusion, wanting to destroy whatever had broken their embrace. With jerky motions, Jason pressed one more kiss against her swollen mouth and walked over to her dresser to pick up his phone. “It’s my alarm; I set it before bed last night so I wouldn’t miss the meeting this morning. I didn’t trust myself to give a damn otherwise.” As Jason clicked the alarm to silence, he grabbed his abandoned shirt and pants, making quick work of dressing.