Illicit Affairs by Holly Dixon

Eighteen

Bands of ambersunlight flooded through the blinds hiding the garish fluorescent light and contaminating the rest of the office space. Nate’s heart pounded out of his chest as he stood from his chair, his legs feeling weak from the blood that was engulfing his centre. Winding the red silk tie tightly around his clenched hand, he fixated on the woman he would soon ravage as he struggled against letting the out-of-place lock of hair that sat across Ava’s eyes make a mess of him.

Ava didn’t utter a word as she faced the door again and twisted the lock in place, her eyes down on her feet as curls hung and curtained her face.

Nate stood like an uncut bull behind his desk; this was his domain and Ms. Archer knew it. His burning gems tracked her delicious silhouette as she did as instructed, her submission intoxicating. He took a step, and then another, pacing towards the gorgeous Aphrodite, a polished leather toe leading each deliberate movement. His stride was slow but confident as the taps of his soles against the tiles echoed their heartbeats and matched in cadence. The sweet scent of her flesh filled his flaring nostrils once more as he breathed her in, her luscious blonde hair now touching his chiselled face. Only his earthy cologne and the mint upon his breath was her way of knowing just how close he was, an air of caution between them both as the lion closed in on its prey.

“If we do this…” Ava warned, her voice a pitiful volume as though she was scared to confess her lust. She wanted to fight this impulse in her but already her brain was rationalising that sleeping with your boss or your father’s business associate wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be. It was only her reputation and morals that were on the line, that and her self-respect.

“If we do what?” Nate quizzed, standing perpendicular to her as he dragged his fingertip lightly down the centre of her back, following the silver zip from the nape of her neck, down to her panty line, his other finger delicately moving one section of her hair down her back so to expose the side of her thin neck. “On-the-job compliance training?” he teased with a smirk.

Shivers ran down Ava’s arm, her spine straightening from his touch as she took a step back until her bottom pressed up against him, his embrace oddly familiar yet exhilarating at the same time. Nate’s lack of concern over what they were about to do irked her, spurring her on to push his buttons.

“I think you know what,” she challenged, lifting her arms into the air and looping them behind Nate’s neck. Her entire body was at his disposal, stomach flattening as she stretched upwards, her sinful curves flowing down her sides like a piece of sculpted art as her supple breasts sat higher up on her chest plate. Leaning the back of her head against his shoulder, she turned her face up and into the base of his throat, feeling woozy on his spicy aroma as she whispered against his flesh, “It’s the thing you’ve desired since that moment in the stables, the thing that pisses you off more than disorder, the thing that fuels your thoughts right before bed…”

Nate’s eyes widened before closing over, his jaw clenched as he listened to the sultry words come from her delectable lips, trying not to lose his damn mind as she idly skimmed her nose up over the slight peppering of stubble on his neck.

Her suggestive words bound his wrists tighter than any rope, his knees wanting to kiss the floor and yield to this golden deity.

“Guilty as charged,” he confessed, his hands cupping her tiny waist. “I know what I want,” he whispered into her ear before wrapping her small frame in his strong protective arms, holding his prize securely in place as he breathed, “You.”

The white shirt he wore contrasted sharply with her black dress, his dark hair with her blonde, the entangled pair resembling a human yin yang.

The smooth baritone of Nate’s voice reverberated through Ava’s bones as he slid his strong arms around her and claimed her body as his. He confessed his sins, the low rumble of his voice comforting as it wrapped around her and carried her off to a place where sound had the power to change everything wrong in the world.

Nate’s curious fingers explored her outstretched body like a teenaged boy touching a girl for the first time. Yes, he was an experienced lover, but something was different about Ava. He had never been with anyone like her—driven, intelligent, feisty, fearless, yet soft and submissive at times. Imperfectly perfect.

Taking his time, he traced the jutting bones of her hips, crossing the soft expanse of her tummy, exploring every valley and curve, and playfully lingering on the barely noticeable elastic band of her panties, his fingertips sliding slightly further south. Nate was meticulous and thorough; with enough practice, he would know her body like he did his files. She was like an uncharted map, his hands explored every city, town, and village, mapping her body as his lips chased her soul. He kissed her forehead first before turning his head to the sensitive part of her inner arm and planting kisses.

Admittedly, he was getting drunk on her pheromones, his temperature reaching a fever from the small whines he elicited from her lips, his heart rate accelerating with excitement raging through his veins.

From her left shoulder, he plotted a path to her neck, taking his sweet time with each kiss to cover every inch of her, and then moving from her clavicle to her ear.

Craving Ava had been the most delicious ache he had ever felt, worth the torment and worth any repercussions that were now pushed to the back of his mind. The only thing that confused him was how this didn’t feel wrong; the sin he was committing felt heavenly.

Ava felt as though her blood was replaced with steam, her legs barely keeping her upright. She had been with many lovers but none as attentive as Nathaniel Brooks. His touch was intensely intimate from the delicate strokes on her stomach to the touches down her sides as though his fingers were paintbrushes upon a blank canvas, her legs like that of an easel. A small hiss pulled through her teeth as his touch ghosted just south of her panty line, her lashes fluttering closed as she became lost in a haze of sensation that was growing a fiery wet mess between her milky thighs. He made her blush in all the right places.

Nate’s fingers sensually ascended her sides, all the way up her raised arms until he gently turned her around to face him, dropping her hands when he saw those sapphires and looking at her in a way he had never looked at a woman before.

Her hands landed like two butterflies upon his shoulders as he reached to cradle the back of her head. He knew this was the worst thing he’d ever do, knew he was about to throw caution to the wind, but just the thought of her body and the whisper of his imagination left a fully grown man completely incapacitated. With Ms. Archer, there were no thoughts, no concentration, only desire and the ache of waiting for something that should never happen.

His head tilted slightly, eyes closed as he advanced, but he stopped just before his mouth pressed to hers, deliberating on if he should go through with this. That single remaining thread of morality was stretched so tight that one breath from Ms. Archer’s tempting lips snapped it and blew it away.