A Mile High Rendezvous Read online

  Sarah stood in front of the full-length mirror, naked as a jay bird except for the exquisite diamond necklace from the blue velvet case. It was an amazing piece of jewelry—one hundred and ten (she'd counted) small diamonds nestled at the base of her throat. The diamonds shimmered, demanding attention in a subtle, sophisticated kind of way.

  If she wore this necklace in public, every person she met would notice, it was that exceptional.

  And Tyler had bought it for her.

  Her. The girl who hadn't even owned a piece of jewelry until her high school graduation.

  She hadn't opened the box right away. Three weeks was a long time to be away from the man you loved and lusted for and they'd spent almost the entire day in bed, tasting and touching and exploring. Only later, as they lay side by side, exhausted, their skin sheened with the sweat of their lovemaking had he once more offered her the box.

  She'd squealed like a little girl when she saw what was inside. She, tough as nails, trailer trash Sarah, had squealed like one of those idiots in the movies.

  But it seemed the only possible reaction to such an overwhelmingly gorgeous gift.

  And then they'd made love again. And again.

  She was exhausted this morning, her limbs rubbery, her body bruised in places she hadn't even noticed she'd hurt the night before.

  But she was happy.

  Too happy. Dangerously happy.

  Tyler threw open the curtains and came to stand behind her as the sun rose over Paris, his naked body pressed against hers.

  She wanted to turn away as their eyes met in the mirror.

  She loved her curves, she did. She'd never wanted to be some stick-figure without hips or boobs. But standing in front of a mirror with the perfectly-sculpted man she loved behind her, she noted every single imperfection. The belly that was just a little more than a belly should be. The thighs that pressed together, the flesh dimpled with cellulite. The boobs that sagged slightly, pulled down by their own weight.

  "Stop." Tyler kissed her neck, just below her earlobe, sending a shiver along her spine.

  "Stop what?"

  "Stop thinking you are anything less than magnificent."

  She turned in his arms and gazed into his eyes. "I'm comfortable with myself, you know that. But…I'd rather you saw me naked when we were in the midst of…you know. Less time to notice the flaws."

  "Is that so?" He pulled her body against his, his hand resting against her lower back, his erection throbbing against her thigh.

  "It is." She stretched, arching her body against his, luxuriating in the feel of skin on skin.

  "Well then. It seems to me that maybe I need to show you just how much I love that beautiful, amazing body of yours. Every…" He kissed her collarbone. "Single…" He kissed the base of her neck. "Inch…" He kissed the spot where her jaw met her neck. "Of it."

  His mouth claimed hers, demanding and urgent. She responded, matching him fire for fire as she pressed herself against him, wanting to melt into his body and never ever leave this room again.

  * * *

  That night as she boarded the plane to head back home, she actually smiled at the picture-perfect stewardess, Daphne, not caring one whit that the woman was flawless looking as usual. How could she envy any woman right now when she had the perfect man in her life?

  And she'd get to see him in less than a week. He was staying in Paris through the next weekend so she was going to fly back and join him.

  Maybe this time they'd actually leave the hotel room for an hour or two…

  Or not.

  * * *

  Sarah dragged herself through the week, never quite recovering from the fatigue of two international flights in the space of three days. That and going straight from work on Monday to her mom's where she had to listen to the "they demand too much from you" lecture once more.

  Of course, that was Sarah's fault for claiming the trip to Paris was work-related. She hadn't yet found a way to tell anyone about her and Tyler. It was just…

  Too fragile to share.

  As real as what they had was, she fully expected to wake up one morning and find it had all been some crazy dream, so she kept it to herself like a precious treasure and hoped it would last another day or another week before it died.

  She was just about to head out of the office on Friday when Mr. Horowitz called an emergency meeting to discuss the auditor's report. Five more minutes and Sarah would've been gone—headed back to the airport to see Tyler. Instead she found herself crowded into the conference room, trying hard to stay focused but losing herself in dreams of what the weekend was going to be like.

  "Sarah," Horowitz snapped.

  Sarah sat up straighter. Had she been sleeping? No. No, she'd never fall asleep at work no matter how hot the conference room was or how tired she was.

  "Yes, Mr. Horowitz?"

  "I asked if you could please explain to the auditors the changes we made to the period one to period two waterfall calculation for the ALLL. It was your idea after all."

  "Of course. Yes."

  Sarah spent the next hour buried in the minutiae of loan allowances, wishing she was anywhere else. But it had to be done. If the auditors weren't comfortable with the changes they'd have to roll them back and start over from scratch and no one wanted that.

  Especially not Sarah. Because it would almost certainly mean the entire weekend spent in the office.

  She somehow managed to explain herself to the auditors' satisfaction and stay awake through another forty-five minutes of discussion about three new notes they wanted added to the financial statements.

  Honestly, why had she chosen this career?

  (Because it was steady and stable and had the potential to pay well. And she was good with numbers.)

  It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but she kind of wished there was a way to be paid to travel the world and stay in expensive hotels instead.

  Tyler had offered her a monthly stipend if she wanted to quit her job and travel with him…

  Fortunately, before she could take that thought any further, the meeting ended. It was 6:45. Two hours later than she'd planned on leaving.

  "Good work in there, Sarah." Mr. Horowitz patted her on the back as they walked down the hall next to one another.

  "Thank you, sir."

  As she raced to her desk and grabbed her overnight bag she marveled at the fact that just three months ago she would've been on cloud nine hearing Mr. Horowitz say something like that.

  Now all she cared about was getting to Paris as soon as she could.

  * * *

  "Ready to see the sights?" Tyler asked once they reached their hotel room. He'd switched rooms to the penthouse suite of some old classic hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower framed by the balcony window. It was like a postcard. Picture-perfect.

  Sarah laughed at herself. When had she become the girl who thought everything was perfect? She turned to watch Tyler casually strip off his shirt.

  "Don't," she said.

  He paused, a new t-shirt in his hands. "Don't what?"

  "Don't put that on. I just want to admire you for a moment."

  He laughed. "Admire me? Am I a work of art to be admired from afar?"

  She shook her head, her lips curling in a smile as she slowly walked towards him. "Oh no. Not at all. You are meant to be touched and explored and devoured."

  She ran her hand down the line on his six-pack abs, marveling once more that he managed to stay so fit with all the traveling he did. She wouldn't be surprised to know he had a personal trainer on speed-dial in every city.

  Well, the trainer could have the weekend off, because she was about to put Mr. Tyler Corrigan through a hefty workout.

  He watched her with that wicked half-grin of his she loved so much, his eyes shining with humor.

  "We're not going to make it out of the hotel again, are we?"

  She shrugged. "Maybe for dinner. We'll need to refuel at some point."

  She grabbed the
waistband of his pants and pulled him closer, running her other hand along his firm bicep. She followed the hand with her mouth, kissing her way down his arm to his hand, running a firm tongue along his smooth skin.

  She inhaled the scent of his skin, so clean, so crisp.

  When she reached his hand she held his eyes with hers as she slowly traced circles along his palm and took each finger into her mouth, sucking and licking. He watched, the tension in his body building, but didn't reach for her, letting her set the pace, letting her tease and taste until he was almost quivering with anticipation.

  She placed one last kiss on his palm and dropped his hand, turning away. "Ready to go?"

  "What?"

  She laughed as she glanced back at him. "Oh, did you want something more than that, Mr. Corrigan?"

  She sauntered back towards him, swaying her hips deliciously from side to side as his eyes roamed her body. "Beg for it," she said, softly, when she was just inches away from him, the heat of his half-naked body radiating towards hers.

  "Beg for it?"

  She nodded, trying to hide the smile that threatened to break across her face.

  "Like this?"

  He knelt before her, his touch deft and sure as he moved his hands up her thighs. A moment later he ripped off her panties in one quick jerk.

  "Hey!"

  "I'll buy you another pair." He kissed the inside of one thigh and then another. "Hell, I'll buy you a hundred pairs. A thousand."

  He sucked and kissed his way up each thigh, alternating between the two, his head buried under the fabric of her dress. Sarah grabbed the hem and yanked it over her head. She wanted to see him, wanted to watch every movement of his luscious lips as they kissed and caressed her skin. Wanted to catch glimpses of those piercing green eyes as he glanced upward, checking to see what effect he was having on her.

  She buried her fingers in his jet black hair and he looked up at her, his green eyes glinting with desire. She shivered at what she saw there. This man was her undoing.

  He grinned his wicked little grin and buried his face between her legs, his tongue working its magic, probing and tasting and licking. He was demanding, greedy, like a pig at a trough; his fingers dug into her ass as he pulled her to him, the wet, sucking noise as he ate her out filling the room.

  She tightened her grip on his hair as waves of fire started to course through her skin. Jags of electricity shot through her, leaving her tingling, buzzing, on the edge of an explosion. He kept going, harder, faster, his fingers digging bruises into her flesh as he pressed her pussy to his mouth and consumed her.

  She threw her head back and closed her eyes, letting the sensations overwhelm her. She was lost, suspended in a sea of sensation, her only anchor the feel of his hands on her body.

  She whimpered.

  She wanted to beg him to stop, to let her take control back, to break this connection they had that obliterated all sense of who she was and where she was.

  But she didn't. She couldn't.

  She wouldn’t.

  Because as much as she wanted control back, she wanted to succumb to him. She wanted to be his, completely and utterly. Let him take her where he would, do what he would. As long as it felt like this. As long as she could soar above everything, her body on fire, she was happy.

  And then the orgasm came, pushing her over the edge and she fell, plummeting, soaring, lost, disconnected, a ball of pure sensation.

  She lost all track of time, of thought, of everything. Her world turned black and she felt like she was going to pass out as the waves of pleasure pulsed through her body, building and building until she screamed out her pleasure in an agonized, strangled cry of ecstasy.

  Tyler laughed, pulling back from her at last. "Liked that, did you?"

  He kept hold of her as he stood. It was a good thing, too, as she swayed in the aftermath of the powerful sensations passing through her body.

  "Do it again," she whispered, pulling him close for a soft kiss.

  "Oh no. Now it's my turn. Well, our turn, I hope. Come on."

  He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards a bathroom the size of her childhood bedroom. In the back corner was the most massive shower she'd ever seen. It could easily fit five or six people. Tyler hit a set of buttons on the wall and the shower burst to life, water shooting from every wall.

  "How many showerheads does that thing have?"

  He shrugged. "Enough. And look, you can set it to just the right temperature. How cool is that?"

  She shook her head. Leave it to her billionaire boyfriend to find a hotel shower that met his every need and whim.

  Not that she minded.

  In less than a minute, the shower beeped letting them know the water was the exact right temperature.

  Tyler pulled her into the onslaught of water, his mouth hot on hers as water coursed over every inch of their bodies in a pulsing, steady stream of warmth.

  It was amazing. She luxuriated in the feel of the water against her skin as he pressed his body to hers, his erection throbbing against her thigh in urgent demand.

  He ran his hand from her ample breasts down along the curve of her hip until he finally cupped her more than adequate ass in his palm.

  He turned her around until her hands were braced against the slick tiles of the shower wall and pressed his hard body along the length of her soft flesh.

  And then he was inside her, filling her, completing her in a way that no man ever had before. They moved together, in perfect synch, their bodies fitted together as if made for one another.

  He buried his teeth in the soft skin at the base of her neck as he thrust inside her, his fingers sneaking around to the front to work their magic until she was once more gasping under the powerful assault of another orgasm, her body shaking and quivering under his expert maneuvering.

  He gasped in her ear as his body stiffened against hers, a small groan escaping him as he came inside her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face against her back, holding her to him as the water continued to pour over their bodies like a benediction.

  He nuzzled her ear and said something, but she didn't hear it. She was so lost in the haze of their coming together that she could barely stand.

  Finally, they pulled apart and stepped out of the shower. Tyler wrapped her in a towel and kissed her on the forehead. "I wish…"

  He shook his head and turned away.

  "I do, too, you know."

  He leaned back against the bathroom counter, beautiful in his wet nakedness. "Then…"

  She stepped forward and kissed him, resting her hands on his chest. "Because it's not that simple, Tyler. You know this. I have to be my own woman. I have to take care of myself."

  "But you don't have to. I'd give you anything you want or need."

  She met his eyes, those gorgeous green eyes that threatened to steal her will away every time she looked into them. "Yes. I do. And…would you really want a woman who did nothing except wait in your hotel room for you to finish working?"

  "You could leave the hotel. You could shop or sightsee or…"

  She raised one eyebrow. "Oh, yes. Sounds like a fascinating woman to come home to. What did you do today, honey? Oh, I bought five new minks. Look."

  She rolled her eyes and stepped away. "Just take me out back and shoot me if that's what my life is going to be."

  He sighed. "I know. I just. I'd love to have you with me."

  "So come back to the States. Work remotely. You don't need to travel the world on your jet. You could pick up the phone just as easily."

  He shook his head. "No. My dad taught me that the personal touch really does make a difference."

  She finished toweling off and threw him the towel. "Well, then this is it, isn't it?"

  He caught the towel and stared back at her, at a loss for words.

  * * *

  The rest of the weekend was fantastic. They spent the afternoon in a little café drinking coffee and people-watching and the evening in th
eir hotel devouring each other's bodies like this was the last time they'd ever see each other. By the time she flew home Sarah was so sore all over she was almost glad to kiss Tyler goodbye.

  Almost. It was going to be another three weeks before they'd be able to see each other again.

  * * *

  On Monday night Sarah went over to her mother's for dinner. Her mother had postponed the normal Sunday get-together just so Sarah could be there. Again.

  Sarah sat down to tater tot casserole with her entire, loud, out-of-control family—her mother, her three siblings and their spouses, and their six kids, the two oldest chasing one another around the front room with toy swords—and smiled.

  "Thanks for this, mom." She kissed her mom on the cheek, trying not to see how exhausted she looked, her skin sagging just a bit more, her shoulders slumped.

  "Of course. Family. It's what matters, you know. Without family you have nothing."

  Sarah nodded as her brother, Paul, handed her the green beans. She couldn't imagine what childhood was like for Tyler, growing up alone, no siblings, his parents driven career types who were always jet-setting around the world leaving his upbringing to one of a series of foreign nannies.

  To think what he'd missed. What he was still missing.

  She may not have had money growing up, but she had something far more valuable than that. People who knew her, flaws and all, and still loved her.

  "Any luck on the job front?" she asked Paul softly, glancing towards Paul's wife who was six-months pregnant with their third kid.

  He smiled. "Yeah. Bobby was able to get me a place on his crew. I start tomorrow."

  Sarah breathed a silent sigh of relief. She still had the necklace Tyler had given her; if it had turned out Paul couldn't find work she would've pawned it in a second to help him out. Not that he would've accepted the money, of course. His pride was as strong as his work ethic.

  Dinner was a raucous affair with everyone talking at once and passing food around and across the table with no apparent order. But it was great to spend time with her family. She didn't realize how much she'd missed them these last two weekends she'd spent with Tyler.