Through the fucking goalposts, man.
Balance was so overrated.
Laura was on the pill, one of the first things she’d done after having Jillian, so he knew he was safe, and he reached down between her legs to find her slick and ready. Her moans as he moved his thumb in lazy, wet circles over her swollen clit told him she was ready, but he wanted to be sure.
“Fuck me, Mike. I want you in me,” she whispered.
Okay…sometimes words worked.
With his arms on either side of her, he steadied himself above her, dipping down for a heated kiss as she lifted her hips up, wrapping her legs around him. She was so soft and tantalizing, a gift that kept on giving, and as she shifted just enough and used her hand to guide him in, he said the only words he could think.
“I love you.”
The moment of pushing into her was like looking up to see a shooting star, as if the heavens made it just for you and you alone. That was how Mike felt as her wet warmth encased him, his head bent down next to her neck as her little gasps and moans fueled him. All he wanted to do was to take, to be free and uninhibited, and something primal pounded through him as a low heat singed his skin, sweat forming on their chests as he thrust into Laura, her body moving up to meet his, her hips tipping in concert.
He pinned her to the bed with each deep thrust, imagining he was burrowing into her soul to combine his and hers, to create a new love that would pulse through them both. Watching her was like seeing the world for the first time, her face glowing and eyes unfocused, brow furrowed with concentration and the epic sense that his body, his will, his touch was driving her to a place no one ever took her before.
And then she clenched deep inside, encasing him, the power of her sex muscles so strong he cried out her name, the deep grooves milking him like a determined hand, the wetness and the warmth and her power making his release so close.
“Oh, Mike, oh,” she shouted, her voice low and smoky, like a woman who knew herself and how to make him hers. He took one rosy nipple in his mouth and nipped, the bite stronger than intended, and she came with a force that made him smile through her orgasm, matching her rhythm, never letting go of her pebbled flesh.
One of the final spasms inside her tipped him over, too, and he finished with deep, almost-frantic thrusts that burst through with a growl, like an animal making his mark on his mate, the feel of his hot seed pouring into her so ungentlemanly that he wondered at the power he possessed, ever at his access, her arms around him and scratching at his back as she tightened around him and came again, this time with God’s name pouring out of those luscious, beautiful lips.
He collapsed on top of her, breathing hard, her breasts sliding against his chest, the feel of her goodness pinned under him like a prize.
He balanced himself on his elbows and looked tenderly at her, the animal instinct all gone, replaced by a slyness.
“What was that?” she whispered, breathless.
“That,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose, “was me.”
* * *
Maybe it was time to hand off the reins to someone else, Mike thought, as Shelly calmly explained that their liability insurance would increase twenty-three percent when they renewed the policy, and that the lodge restaurant really needed to add a gluten-free menu, because their competitor across the mountain had just added one, and customers were asking.
Laura’s scent filled his brain, taking over.
“Earth to Mike? We need some decisions,” Shelly chided. Young and bold, his assistant had this way of being that demanded obedience, even when she was the subordinate.
It was unsettling, but she kept the place going, so he tolerated it. On days like this, he reveled in it.
“You know what, Shelly? It’s time to give you a promotion.”
Her neck pulled back in shock. “A what?”
“A promotion. How about…operations manager? A move up from administrative assistant.” He paused for a second, realizing he had no idea what he would pay her. A promotion had to come with a raise, though, right?
“But the operations manager job…you’re still taking resumes and the interviews start next week. And I don’t have a bachelor’s degree. The job requires one.” The arguments surprised him. She almost didn’t seem to want it. Weird.
Too bad.
“You’re more qualified than any of the applicants, and it’s easier to get a good administrative assistant than it is to find an operations manager who can run this place smoothly.”
She snorted. “You think finding a good admin is ‘easy’?” She brushed a piece of her overgrown red hair out of her eyes. He wondered if she was growing it out. There was a scraggly look to it. Appraising her, he realized she was looking thin and stressed. She was twenty now. No one should be stressed at twenty.
“You want the job or not?” Truth be told, he didn’t want to make liability insurance decisions, or deal with finding cooks who could be retrained to deal with food allergies. All of those issues were important to the ski resort, of course.
But did he have to be the one in charge of making those decisions?
No. Hell no. Time to delegate.
“Uh, yes!” She reached for a file on Mike’s desk and pulled it out. “The job description,” she said, waving a piece of paper in his face. “You realize the salary is…I’d get a sixty percent raise.”
He smiled wide. “You deserve it.”
“You are fucking kidding me.” Her eyebrow cocked up. “What kind of CEO are you, throwing jobs around like candy and hiring someone who doesn’t meet the qualifications on paper?”
He looked out at the fresh powder on the double black diamond trail, the tip of the mountain calling his name.
“The kind of CEO who needs to do quality control on his own mountain.”
“Mike!”
He shrugged into his coat, ignoring the messages and paperwork that would keep him here for ten hours. “You can take over a lot of this,” he said, gesturing at the pile. “Leave the things I need to do. And start your raise and promotion immediately.”
“But—”
“I think that you’re struggling to find the right words, Shelly.”
“The right words?” She looked at him like he was crazy.
“Thank you. Just say ‘thank you.’”
He heard the words in a faint shout as he made his way to the outer doors, texting Laura and Dylan.
* * *
“I am going to die,” Laura said in a low, shaking voice.