against mine. Everything about him surrounds me as he kisses me like he’s starved—like he’s not had human touch for an eternity. The solid muscles of his chest push against my breasts as my back is forced into the counter behind me. Large strong fingers wrap around my face, tilting it so he can kiss me deeper, and the scent of his skin reaches down into my senses and evokes a deep, raw urge to pull him closer and succumb.
Succumb to everything that is Griffin Parker.
“Griff—” I pant.
“Don’t,” he says, his lips still against mine. “Don’t say anything. Just kiss me, Maria. Stop fucking fighting me.” He strokes my cheeks with his large hands, and I oblige, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him back as fire ignites low in my stomach.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he groans as he sucks my bottom lip between his teeth and then dives back into the kiss that’s making every cell in my body tingle. I tighten my arms around his neck and allow my body to sink further into his.
God, this man. I never stood a chance.
“Um, Maria?” There’s a giggle from over near the door.
I try to jump back, but Griffin has me pinned firmly in place, his hands never leaving my face.
“What do you need her for, Harley? She’s busy,” he answers, resting his forehead against mine, his eyes blazing into mine.
My heart is about to beat right out of my chest by the way he’s looking at me.
“Nothing. I was just checking everything was okay. I got the security alert upstairs. But I can see it’s all under control,” Harley says.
“Yes. All under control,” Griffin growls, his eyes dropping to my lips as his fingers caress my cheeks.
“I’ll head back upstairs then.”
“Goodbye, Harley,” he says, then he presses his lips back onto mine and slides his tongue into my mouth.
I dive my hands into his hair as my tongue finds his and I kiss him back with an urgency that matches his.
He infuriates me, struggling to relinquish the tight control he has over everything. He’s both my worst nightmare in business, and my heavenly daydream in pleasure. Because one thing is obvious—when it comes to the physical, Griffin Parker has complete and utter control over me. And what’s more, I can’t get enough of it. It’s as though giving my trust to him with my body is the freest I’ve ever felt in my life.
“What did Todd mean?” I ask between kisses.
Griffin’s shoulders tense beneath my arms. “Why are you thinking about that fucker?”
“I’m not… I…” His lips travel to my neck and kiss down to my collarbone. “He said he saw us in that room. Was he following us?”
“Following you,” Griffin murmurs against my neck. “He’ll never come near you again, Maria. I guarantee it.” He pulls me closer.
What was Todd planning to do if I had been alone that night and not with Griffin?
He must feel my body stiffen, because his attention leaves my neck, and he pulls back to look at my face.
“I’m fine,” I reassure him. “It’s creepy. But he’s gone now.”
Griffin looks at me like he doesn’t believe me.
“I’m fine,” I murmur, pulling his lips back to mine so I don’t have to talk about it.
He’s more than happy to play along with my denial game, kissing me back deeply. I could get lost in his kisses. Come up for air days later and still want to dive straight back in for more.
How could anyone ever have enough of a man as passionate and sensual as Griffin Parker?
“The team, they’ll be here soon,” I whisper as his lips travel over my cheek, gently kissing where my bruise is carefully covered with makeup.
“I know they will. But every time I let you go, you run.” His warm breath flows over my ear, and a shiver runs up my spine.
“You’re a lot to handle.” I look into his eyes as he brings his face back in front of me.
“I’ve been waiting my whole fucking life for a woman like you to handle me.”
I gaze back into his clear blue eyes. His lids grow heavy, and he sucks in a breath as I slowly brush my lips back and forth over his, a smile growing on them.
“I need to start work.” I press a last kiss to his lips and remove my arms from around his neck.
Despite how aroused I am with him being here, I am here. At work. About to be joined by my entire team for our morning meeting.
“And my boss is a total control freak,” I add. “He’ll have a heart attack in his designer suit if he thinks I’m using company time to—”
“To what?” Griffin steps back, but instead of moving away, he rests his hands on either side of me on the counter, leaning forward so I’m pinned between his arms.
Heat flushes my cheeks as I stand mute, locked in place by the gleam in his eyes.
“To make that pretty cunt of yours happy?” he rasps, looking down at my lips. “Using company time to spread her wide open so the man that’s been dying to touch you since he first laid eyes on you can finally fill you with—”
I gasp and his gaze darkens with a sinful smile.
“Tell me you don’t want that as much as I do, Sweetheart. Tell me I’m wrong.” He slips a hand under my dress and one lone finger tucks inside my panties, swiping through my wet, swollen flesh.
“Griffin,” I whimper, half of me shocked at what he’s doing when anyone could walk in, and the other half battling the urge to grab his hand and sink myself down onto his fingers.
Amusement dances in his eyes. “You’ve run out of reasons. What are you doing tonight?”
“Tonight? I’m not sure yet,” I say, my legs trembling as I force myself to stay still and not grind against the finger still inside my panties, stroking my clit in teasingly slow circles.
“The answer you’re looking for is me.”
Cocky bastard.
I look into his eyes, biting back my smile.
”Is it?”
He pulls his hand back and lifts his fingers to his nose, and his eyes hold mine, his pupils dilating as he inhales.
“Definitely.”
My mouth waters as he slips the soaked finger past his lips and sucks the glistening wetness off, a deep groan vibrating his throat.
“I’ll pick you up at six.” He turns and strides off, leaving me staring after him. “Oh, and Maria?” He looks back from the doorway.
I arch a brow at him in answer.
“Pack an overnight bag. I’m not letting you out of my sight this time.”
I smooth my hands down over my dress and take a deep breath as he leaves.
What the hell am I getting myself into?
Six o’clock takes years to arrive. Maybe it’s because all I’ve thought about all day is Griffin. He told me he’s been dying to touch me since he first laid eyes on me. All this time that I thought he was an insufferable moody jerk, he’s actually been what? Lusting after me? Admiring me? It doesn’t make sense. Just like the fact that I’ve packed my best silk lingerie in my overnight bag. No sense at all.
I always said don’t mix money and business with personal relationships. I learned the hard way with my dad, and then my ex. When the two things cross, it rarely turns out well. Yet here I am, waiting for my boss to pick me up to spend the night with him. And we both know there won’t be any going back or escaping for me this time.
He will have me exactly where he wants me.
And if I’m honest, it’s exactly where I want to be.
There’s a soft knock at the door and my stomach leaps into my throat. I take one last glance in the mirror, then rush to open it.
The expression taking over his handsome features as he drinks me in—first my face, then my fitted cream dress and stilettos—is enough to make me flutter with nerves. Forget the looks predators give their prey when they’re about to sink their teeth in for the kill. They’re nothing compared to the heat in his stare. It consumes me all the way to my toes.
“Where are we going, then?” I ask, studying his open-necked shirt and rolled-up sleeves. I was expecting him to be in full suit, like usual, for a restaurant for dinner.
“You’ll see.” He kisses me on the temple, his lips lingering long enough to make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Then he reaches behind me and picks up my overnight bag. “Ready?”
“I think so,” I falter.
His lips curl into a breathtaking smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I murmur as I step out into the corridor and close the door behind me.
He laughs, a deep delicious sound as his eyes crinkle at the corners. He seems different tonight—looser, lighter.
“Come on. We should get there before sunset.” He takes my hand and leads me to the elevators.
“Before sunset? How far are we going?”
He doesn’t answer, just smiles in response. He lets go of my hand and swipes a key card against the panel, lighting up the highest two buttons and pressing the top one.
Figures. His apartment must be on the top floor. But if we’re going there for dinner, then why did he say we need to get there before sunset? It only takes minutes to get upstairs.
The lift climbs and stops on the highest floor. The doors open and Griffin takes my hand again and leads me out into a smart hallway with deep cream carpets and fresh flowers. I look at him, puzzled, and he smiles, opening a door that says Roof. We climb a small staircase and Griffin opens the door at the top, bringing me out into New York’s evening air.
“What are we doing up here?” The rooftop is so high it makes the sounds of the city seem miles away below us.
“I’m taking you somewhere.”
“On the roof?”
It’s then the sleek, black shape behind him comes into view.
“Somewhere on that?” I fight to keep my mouth from dropping open.
A helicopter.
He has a helicopter. On his roof. I should roll my eyes. It screams billionaire. The rest of us mere mortals hail a cab. But Griffin? Griffin has his own private helipad one staircase away from his front door.
As if a private jet isn’t enough.
”Is it even safe?” I eye it warily, chewing the inside of my cheek. I’ve never been in a helicopter in my life.
“It’s perfectly safe. Especially with the pilot we have.” Griffin shakes the older man’s hand, who’s approached us. “Bruce, this is Maria.”
The tension in my chest eases and I smile gratefully at him. He looks safe and dependable. He must have hours of flying experience, probably an ex-military helicopter pilot or something.
Thank God.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” I shake Bruce’s hand, clinging to it a second longer than is probably polite.
“Thanks for getting her ready for me,” Griffin says.
“No problem, Mr. Parker.” Bruce extracts his hand from mine with a reassuring smile and then steps back, away from the white markings on the floor.
“Where’s he going?”
“He can’t stand too close, or he’ll lose his head,” Griffin says, leading me over to the jet-black sky bird.
He puts my bag inside, next to the tan leather holdall he took to The Bahamas, which is already loaded, then turns to me and holds out his hand.
“I’ll help you strap in.”
I glance back at Bruce, who’s waiting patiently. “Isn’t he flying us?”
Griffin frowns, his brow wrinkling. “No.”
I allow myself to be placed in the front seat of the helicopter as my head spins. Griffin fastens me in and hands me a headset.
“Put this on.”
My mouth gapes as realization sets in. His lips quirk, and he places a kiss on my temple.
“I told you, Sweetheart, I’ll take good care of you.”
He rounds the helicopter and gets in on the other side, strapping himself in and putting on his own headset. I copy him as his lips move by the microphone. “Can you hear me?” His voice carries down my headphones, and I nod back.
“I think I might be sick.”
He laughs and the moonlight catches his dark hair. I swear this is a side of him I’ve never seen before. Who is this smiling, laughing imposter? And where is the suited, ruthless businessman I’m used to? But as he flicks switches and carries out whatever checks he’s doing, I realize—I have seen him like this before. That night in The Bahamas, at dinner on the beach. For a few glorious hours, we weren’t Maria Taylor and her billionaire boss, Griffin Parker. We were just Maria and Griffin, two adults relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. No work, no business talk. Just two people being open and sharing parts of themselves. The parts that other people don’t get to see.
My stomach lurches and I instinctively reach out and grip Griffin’s arm as we rise into the air, swaying a little as the rooftop sinks away below us.
He turns to me and smiles, before setting us on a course flying straight ahead. The life of the city buzzes below us as we carve our path through the sky.
It’s probably a beautiful sight. But I barely notice any of it.
Nothing is as captivating as what is right in front of my eyes.
Griffin Parker.
Calm, strong, in control.
Him.
