The Paris Affair (9 page)
Helmut braced Claire’s hips to keep from dropping her backwards onto the cold hard stone as his breathing slowed. He would never look at a kitchen the same way again.
The musky scents of sex and of Claire mingled with the lightly tropical scent that he’d come to associate with her. His face was buried in her hair, and he wondered briefly if it was her shampoo that always reminded him of coconuts.
Claire wriggled her hips lightly and he reluctantly began detangling their bodies. Gently, he settled her bottom more securely on the counter and eased himself out of her. She uncrossed her ankles, loosening that delicious hold she’d had around his waist. He trailed the pads of his hands up the outsides of long, slender thighs to the backsides of her knees as he slowly lowered her legs down.
“Those are the nicest flowers I’ve ever received,” she said with a contented sigh.
Helmut chuckled. “The coffee wasn’t bad either. Great kitchen...”
She grinned, and he reached up to tuck a stray lock of her hair back behind one ear. Her temples were flushed a pretty pink and her eyes twinkled a naughty shade of blue.
“Why don’t I show you the rest of the place? There are a few more rooms that you might enjoy.”
She placed one hand in the middle of Helmut’s chest and gave him a playful shove backwards, but he stood his ground. She slid down onto her feet, her body sliding seductively against his during the short descent. He felt his cock stir at the full frontal contact.
“Granite is nice, but it’s a little cold.” Her voice sounded breathy, and her lips, still swollen from his kisses, were slightly parted. Helmut grinned again and kissed her hard and thoroughly on that plump mouth.
Helmut gripped her bare bottom and pressed her hips hard against his growing erection as her tongue teased and taunted his. With a moan that sounded almost irritated, she wedged her fingers against his chest and gave him another light shove. He released her this time and stepped back.
“Bedroom,” she panted. “It’s much more comfortable.”
Then she bent down in front of him. Helmut gasped as he felt her fingers on the bare flesh of his inner thighs, and then her hands on his hard cock.
“We aren’t going anywhere if you keep that up,” he said through gritted teeth.
Her hands disappeared along with their beautiful teasing, and she yanked up his pants.
“Better?” she asked with a wicked grin.
“Not really.” Helmut’s gaze lingered on her lips. A tiny hint of pink tongue peeked out to lightly moisten those lips, and he gulped as he imagined that tongue flicking across the head of his penis. “I think you promised a tour?”
His eyes feasted on the sight of her naked ass as she bent over once more to collect her robe and bottoms from the floor. She led the way out of the kitchen, her hips swaying hypnotically in front of him. Helmut felt like a rat following a piper. Right now, he could care less if the stroll ended at a cliff as long as he got his hands on that body of hers again.
The bedroom was separated from the cavernous living space by a series of translucent screens with no door. Claire slipped around behind the nearest one, and he could see the outline of her body silhouetted against the frosted glass. The colors were blurred and he could see only a pink legs beneath the candy red of the little camisole he’d not bothered removing.
She turned, noticing that he still hesitated on the opposite side of the screen wall. She stepped closer, so that he could distinguish the dark shadow of the patch of curls that covered her sex.
He watched, mouth dry, as she slowly lifted her arms and slipped that red camisole up and over her head. The dark pink of her nipples showed clearly, her breasts nearly touching the glass. She crossed her arms to her shoulders, covering her breasts. Helmut began to step away, to come join her.
Her arms dropped. Slowly, seductively, she caressed her own arms until her fingers met at her belly button. And then they slipped upwards, cupping her own breasts. He watched as she ran her thumbs over her nipples, and tilted her head back. Above his own labored breathing, Helmut distinctly heard her soft gasp of pleasure.
One hand left her breast and slid up her neck to her lips. He saw her lick two fingers.
He held his pants with one hand, and his cock throbbed and strained against the cloth, demanding to be freed. But he could not move.
One of her hands squeezed her breast, tweaking the nipple, and the other left her mouth and slid down her sternum. To her belly button. And lower.
Helmut’s knees nearly buckled. He fought alternating urges to work his own cock while he watched her pleasure herself, and to join her on the other side of the frosted glass wall.
Her fingers paused just above her clit. She crooked her fingers at him.
It was all the invitation he needed.
He strode purposefully around into the bedroom area, barely breaking his stride as he kicked off shoes, shrugged out of his sweater, and dropped his still un-buckled pants. Claire had perched on the edge of her king-sized bed, covers swept aside.
Her legs were spread wide open in invitation, and her hands moved restlessly across her bare torso. In two strides, he was crawling on top of her as she scooted backwards across the smooth sheets.
“That’s my job,” he said, capturing her roving hands, and pinning them lightly up above her head.
“I wasn’t sure you were coming,” she gasped as he nipped gently at her neck.
“Won’t be a problem.” Helmut trailed kisses across her collarbone. “Trust me.”
He took one pert nipple in his mouth and sucked hard. Claire ground her pelvis upward against his erection. Helmut released her hands so that he could freely explore her body, stroking down her sides, cupping her breasts, and lightly rolling her nipples between her fingers until she was panting.
He could feel the moist heat of her sex teasing his tip and he groaned.
“Where are you going?” she panted as he pushed himself up and away. She threaded her hands into his hair and pulled his head down to kiss him hard, her tongue thrusting between his lips. His body felt tight, and he had to mentally clamp down on the urge to bury himself inside her.
“Condom,” he said as he wrenched his lips away from hers.
Her eyes, darkened with desire, locked with his, and she nodded. “Nightstand.”
She rolled beneath him, and Helmut kissed the curve of her hip as she opened the drawer and rifled through the contents. Her backside was nearly facing him and he kissed her just above the swell of her bottom, and slipped one finger down and between her legs into her hot, wet opening.
Claire moaned and arched her hips upwards against the pressure of his fingertips, and he thrust them inside her as she writhed against him. But after a moment, she regained control and freed herself from his hand.
She rolled back toward him, opening the condom packet. He took it from her and rolled it on with quick, efficient moves.
He rolled her to her back and positioned himself at the opening of her sex. Claire moaned and writhed as he thrust deep inside her, hard and fast. She wrapped her legs around his waist, urging him deeper. More. He gave it all willingly.
When that wasn’t enough, she looped one of those impossibly long legs up and over his shoulder, and then the other. He had to support her hips, and she was unable to move very far, but the penetration was deep. Claire shivered and moaned beneath him. He took her to the brink, and then slowed, willing her climax to slow and grow.
He watched her face as she shattered beneath him, her blue eyes glowing and skin flushed pink with exertion. She shuddered, and he kissed her hard, and buried himself in her as he took his own release.
Their bodies stilled, and they lay together, no longer joined but with their legs and arms intertwined. Helmut’s head rested in the crook of Claire’s neck. He nuzzled her ear, reveling in her sweet scent. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest as her breathing slowed. They stayed that way for many heartbeats.
Normally, by this point, he was halfway dressed. Making his excuses. Giving empty compliments. Platitudes. Helmut didn’t want to move. And no empty words came to mind.
The soft buzzing of a cell phone broke their reverie. Claire broke away and rolled out of bed to answer it. Helmut lay back for a moment, pretending not to listen as she snatched up her phone from the dresser.
She tossed a frown over her shoulder as she answered it, walking out of the bedroom area. Her voice carried over the open walls, but he really wasn’t interested in eavesdropping.
This was his cue. With a heavy sigh, he got out of the bed, collected his clothes, and went into the adjacent bathroom to clean up.
“We can’t let our personal feelings get in the way of business.”
James Sheffield addressed the built-in camera on his laptop with the same pomp and circumstance that he gave to a conference hall. In a starched white shirt, a single button opened at the neck, and a dark colored sport coat, he was dressed for dinner at the country club. But it was only a yard of silk and a slipknot away from his typical boardroom attire.
From the far side of her father’s home office desk, Claire had her laptop open with the series of boxes littering her screen, each containing the image of one of the board of directors or the top executives of S&F.
“But this is Helmut Forrester we’re talking about. He’s the perfect S&F mascot. I bet the guy sleeps with the quarterly reports,” Nan Thompson, the only female member of the board, said. The woman looked old enough to be Claire’s great-great grandmother, which was made the joke almost funnier. It made Claire’s stomach churn.
Given the sudden fake coughing fits on three other little video feeds, Helmut’s reputation among women was well known throughout the company.
Claire felt a blush reddening her temples, thankful for the moment that her camera was off. It was only this morning that she and Helmut had had sex in her kitchen. He had more than lived up to his reputation as a great lover. And now that reputation was about to bring down his career.
She hoped like hell that her own reputation wouldn’t come crashing down as well.
Sending video from both computers at once, plus all the incoming feeds, was a bit more than her father’s Internet connection could handle, so she and her father had agreed to share the one video connection. Claire wanted no miscommunication or dropped connections. This was too important.
She tapped her father on the shoulder and addressed the crowd, hoping that her rosy cheeks could be attributed to a bad color balance on the camera. “The penalties for this kind of infraction include losing our ability to bid on further government contracts, and even jail time. We’ve been told, informally, that because our company is so new to this arena, that if we act quickly, we will probably get away with a minor fine.”
“All that for one little love affair?” asked Nan. “He has a spotless employment record.” Several of the other faces nodded.
Thankfully, both her father and the head of HR could both vouch for that. Never once in his years at the company had anyone ever lodged a complaint. Thankfully, Helmut had appeared to choose his dates from other departments, never sleeping with anyone in his own chain of command.
Not until this morning.
The thought burned both hot and cold at the same time as she realized just how stupid of a decision she had made. Sleeping with her own employee.
“Everyone please listen to me. What James and I are proposing is because of his spotless employment record. If this accusation were made against just about anyone else, we wouldn’t be nearly so generous.”
James nudged Claire out of the way. “Ladies and gentlemen, you all know that Helmut and I are friends. We play golf together. We have dinner together.”