Her Gentle Capture (6 page)

He laughed, a deep, vibrant sound that thrilled her right down to her stomach. “Oh, you like me. At least in the ways that matter.”

She shook her head but he wasn’t finished. “I see that you need additional evidence for my argument.” He placed the paperweight
back onto her desk and stood up. With surprising swiftness, he was around her desk and pulling her out of her chair, right into his arms. Adriana barely had time to gasp before his mouth was covering hers, his body pressing against hers and she loved the contact. Her body instantly came alert to everything “Mitch”.

He was hard against her softness and she arched her body instinctively, trying
to feel more of him, to appease the ache that had fired promptly to life in her body at the first contact. Her mind stopped trying to figure things out as the kiss became more powerful. She held onto his shoulders, her whole body shivering from reaction and need as his hands slid up her back, then down again, cupping her bottom, pressing her hips against his.

Her body shuddered even as she
pressed herself closer, wanting to feel more of him. She almost moaned when his hands moved higher, sliding around her waist to rest just underneath her breasts. When they didn’t move higher, she shuddered, her hands forming fists with his shirt. She opened her mouth to beg him to move his fingers higher, but the words wouldn’t come out. The only sound she was able to make was a slight whimper
as her body tried to understand what was happening.

“Why are you doing this?” she gasped, but her body still pressed against his in invitation, still trembled with anticipation and those fingers were close, so painfully close but they didn’t move. Unfortunately, Adriana wasn’t experienced or confident enough about her sexuality to tell him what she wanted. This was all so new to her. She
wasn’t sure what had come over her, all she knew was that he couldn’t stop. She didn’t want him to stop. But she didn’t know how to tell him to continue.

“Come home with me,” he urged with his rough, raw voice.

Adriana opened her eyes and tried to focus but he was blurry. Blinking rapidly, she moved against him and shuddered as the pain of her need ripped through her in a blaze of heat.
“Why?” she asked. She didn’t want to go anywhere. She just wanted his hands, those long, strong fingers, to move slightly…higher.

Mitch could feel the trembling in her body. He sensed that her need was just as strong as his at this moment but there was also something else, something he didn’t understand. At the moment, he couldn’t figure it out because she was so responsive, so amazingly
alive in his arms and it was muddling his mind, leaving him unable to figure out that small mystery.

He groaned when she shifted, her soft breasts rubbing against his chest and her slender hips pressing against his erection. “Because we can’t finish this here,” he ground out roughly even as his fingers moved higher, his hand cupping her perfect breast.

When his thumb rubbed gently against
her hard nipple, he swore under his breath. They were on fire for each other but this was not the place to explore this amazing chemistry. “Get your purse and come back with me,” he commanded, pulling his hands reluctantly away from those soft, full breasts. He stepped out of her arms and she leaned weakly back against the desk behind her. He grabbed her purse and handed it to her, then took
her hand in his, about to pull her out of her office.

Now that he wasn’t touching her, reality was slowly coming back. Pulling on the hand that was trying to drag her out of the small office, the trembling she had been experiencing changed. It was still just as strong, but instead of the desperate, aching need, she was trembling with fear. Mitch was a very large man! And way out of her realm
of experience. He was trying to get her to leave? To come home with him? What had just happened?

She looked around, realizing they were still in her office and it was late at night. The cleaning crew had already come and gone, her mind was sifting through the details of the day and coming up with a result that scared the bejeezus out of her! Go home with Mitch? Impossible! She couldn’t
handle him! She was totally out of her league!

“We can’t leave,” she whispered, her eyes wide as she suddenly realized what was happening. “Not together.”

“Yes we can,” he said, coming back to her. His hands gripped her hips while her fingers fluttered against his chest. Hell, he even liked that touch, he thought, wondering if he was losing his mind. Why could this woman’s touch drive him
so crazy? Just the slightest touch or even a look, caused his body to respond and it was driving him nuts! He thought of her glazed eyes this morning during the meeting and he almost growled with the need to possess her, to put his stamp of ownership on her. Even that was a crazy thought because he didn’t want to own anyone. He preferred his freedom, his single status. He’d guarded his freedom
for so many years and had become an expert at avoiding any kind of commitment but he wanted this woman. He wanted her exclusively and he wasn’t sure why but he knew it was imperative. She was becoming as essential as breathing to him.

“I’m not leaving with you,” she whispered as firmly as she could under the circumstances while gritting her teeth to keep herself from giving in and just following
what her body was begging her to do. She wanted this man like no one else she’d ever met. Men came and went in her life. She’d been around men since she’d been small, with all of her brothers and even her father, seeming to be taller than anyone else and bigger than life. Was that why Mitch had gotten under her skin so much? Had she been secretly trying to find someone that met her standards?
A man who was strong enough and powerful enough?

“I have to go,” she whispered, curling her fingers into small fists so she wouldn’t reach out and touch him again. She wanted so desperately to touch his chest, to feel those muscles underneath his shirt and discover what he felt like. And taste? Yes, she wanted to taste him, to feel his skin with her mouth and the thought was so embarrassing,
her reaction so different from all the other men she’d ever encountered, she was disgusted with herself.

With shaking fingers, she turned away from him and gathered up the papers she’d been working on all afternoon and night. “The reports are finished. I’ll e-mail you a copy as well as all the people who were in the meeting.” With that, she rushed out of her office. She didn’t even wait
for the elevator, too afraid that Mitch would follow her and she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t throw herself into his arms and beg him to make love to her.

She was crazy, right? She dated nice guys. She liked guys who weren’t so big and tall, men who didn’t try to intimidate her. Her brothers were big brutes, tall and muscular and always teasing her, driving her absolutely nuts with all of their
stunts. And they’d driven away her boyfriend’s whenever things started to get interesting. Just a kiss witnessed by any of her brothers was a reason for them to torment that guy. And with four males against one, it was never a fair fight. Her boyfriends always became just acquaintances after their hellish experiences with her brothers.

Unfortunately, none of the men she’d dated had done
anything to turn her on either. Not like Mitch could do with just a look or when he took her into his arms and kissed her. Every kiss she’d experienced before today had left her smiling, but not shivering. She’d always thought the kisses of her boyfriends were nice. Mitch’s kisses were not nice. They were the complete opposite of nice! They were naughty and erotic and…goodness, she wanted him
to kiss her again!

She clutched her purse against her chest, racing down the stairs. It was a long walk and her feet ached. One didn’t run down all those flights of stairs without consequences, she thought as she pressed the unlock button on her small hatchback.

When she let herself into her apartment, she tossed her purse and her keys onto the counter, then tore off her clothes, letting
them fall onto the floor as she raced into her bathroom. She stepped into the shower, praying that the cold water would stop the crazy thoughts still running through her mind and ease the intense ache that had formed in her belly.

Unfortunately, all it did was make her cold. She shut off the water and grabbed a towel, shivering as she curled up onto her bed, wishing she’d never met Mitch Powell.

After their midnight encounter, Adriana had considered calling in sick. But when she opened her eyes the following morning, two things occurred to her. First of all, she couldn’t call in sick because then Mitch would know that she was terrified of him. Or even worse, terrified of what he could make her feel when he was touching her or kissing her. No, she definitely didn’t want him
to know something like that.

But a second thought occurred to her. She was actually excited to see him! As she held the phone in her hand, prepared to call in sick, she felt…less alive.

How crazy was that? She was afraid of the man, but still wanted to see him? Was she just trying to torture herself?

What had changed? Two days ago, she’d truly disliked him. She’d resented his presence
and his commands, his obnoxious orders to change a report or dig deeper into her analysis. So why was she now racing to get into the shower and get ready? She stood under the warm water, trying to figure things out, but her feelings and emotions were just too confusing.

Standing in front of her closet, her hair wet and a towel wrapped around her, she contemplated what she should wear today.
She shifted the multiple black, navy and grey suits out of the way, her fingers restless as she tried to decide what might interest her. She pulled out a soft, yellow suit her mother had given her last summer. The cut was excellent with the jacket forming an intricate twist at her waist. And the soft, happy color would boost her confidence. Her mother and father were constantly sending her
clothes or little things to help her career. She’d refused a job in one of her father’s companies as well as her older brother, Dylan’s latest venture. But that didn’t mean they didn’t keep tabs on her and send her things to make her life easier.

Adriana smiled as she laid the suit on her bed. Yes, this suit would look nice with her blond hair and that pretty lipstick she’d found last week.
She almost danced to her dresser and pulled out a pair of stockings, sliding them up her legs and attaching them to her garter. Her brothers would flip if they knew the naughty underwear she wore. But she didn’t care. The pretty slips of nothings were her own purchases and she loved the way they made her feel.

She dried her hair and put on makeup, all with an eye to looking attractive for
Mitch today. Why she was doing that, she didn’t think about. But she loved the way the pink lipstick softened her skin color but still brought a bit more color to her cheeks.

Grabbing a cup of coffee, she was just about to rush out the door when Mitch’s words from the previous day came back to her. Hurrying back to her kitchen, she grabbed a banana off of the counter for breakfast. She was
just about to hurry out again when she went back in and, with a sigh, stuffed an apple into her purse. It wasn’t much, but with the way her stomach was flipping around with butterflies, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to eat much today.

Adriana walked into her office and came to a screeching halt. “What’s going on?” she demanded when she saw four guys with grey uniforms in her office.
They were disconnecting her computer and packing away all of her files. “Why are you…?”

“We got word from the big guy that you’re to move down the hallway to a new office, ma’am,” one of the men said, handing her a piece of paper.

Adriana looked down at it and her heart almost stopped, then picked up so fast that she thought she might just pass out. Mitch was moving her from this tiny office
to the one right next to his?! She’d be right next to him all day? Impossible! She needed her office to be as far away from his as possible. She needed space to recover from each of their encounters!

“Wait!” she said, putting out a hand to stop them. “When did you receive this? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want this to happen,” she told them, thinking of last night and how she’d raced out
of here.

“The order came in around five o’clock this morning ma’am. It was given a red flag priority so we all came in early. It isn’t often that the big guy gives us an order directly.”

Her hand started shaking as she stared down at the paper. Five o’clock this morning? What had he been doing up that early?

She shook her head. It wasn’t any of her business what he was doing. She followed
the men down the hallway nervously, her eyes darting around to the left and right, eager to get her first look at the man in question. She wasn’t sure what her reaction might be. She’d been so excited this morning, spending extra time on her appearance just so she could look pretty today.

But would he be angry? It suddenly occurred to her that this move might be a punishment. Oh good grief,
she thought with rising anger. And then she stomped that emotion down. She wasn’t going there. She had a job to do and she was a darn good analyst. She had a lot of work to do, she told herself firmly. Because she’d sat in on several meetings yesterday as well as all the time it had taken to pull that report together last night, she was now behind on her usual work load. She had personnel
reports to figure out, financial data to compile, and the marketing trends were coming due next week. She didn’t have time to worry about Mitch and his reaction to her pretty, yellow suit.

By ten o’clock in the morning, the tension of waiting to see when he would arrive had gotten to her. She was on her third cup of coffee and feeling ridiculous. Slipping her jacket off, she hooked it onto
the back of her chair, pulled her hair up off of her neck with a pencil holding it in place and focused only on her reports. She had work do to, she reprimanded herself. Better get to it and stop waiting for Mitch to make an appearance!

Her phone rang and she glanced at it nervously. But when she saw the number on her screen, she smiled. “Hi Dylan. What’s up? Still in France this week?”
she asked. Dylan built homes and communities all over the country and often flew to other countries to consult on how to create new neighborhoods from abandoned buildings and areas of cities that had been overwhelmed with crime. After her dad, Dylan was her hero.

“You haven’t been home much lately,” his brotherly voice said through the phone. “Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Adriana leaned back in her chair, deciding to push his buttons just a bit. “I’ve been hanging out at bars, getting sloppy drunk and going home with whatever guy will take me.”

She heard the growl moments before he said, “Adriana, are you okay?”

She loved that he was so protective. “I’m fine,” she laughed. “Just working a lot.”

“You’re not dating anyone? There are lots of men in the city.
I’m sure you could find a nice guy.”

A very large, very sexy and obnoxious man popped into her mind. “Yes well, um…”

Unfortunately, Dylan picked up on her hesitation immediately. “You’re seeing someone. Who is he?”

Adriana swallowed quickly. “I’m not seeing anyone, Dylan.”

There was silence for a moment, then he came back. “Yes you are. Who is he? Just give me his name and I’ll check
him out for you.”

Adriana laughed, shaking her head but he couldn’t see that. “No way would I tell you who I am seeing, big bro. I remember all the horrible things you did to my boyfriends in high school. You’re not going to pull your pranks on…” She stopped before she told him Mitch’s name.

She heard the smile and triumph in his voice as he said, “So you are seeing someone.”

Adriana
cringed. “How do you do that to me every time?” she demanded, laughing because he was so far away and she felt safe enough from his torment. Her father was pretty good at tricking information out of all of them. Dylan had learned from the best. “But no. I can honestly say that I am not dating anyone.” What she was doing with Mitch could never be considered dating, she told herself. What it
was, she couldn’t really define, but she would never put the “dating” label on their interactions.

In typical big brother fashion, Dylan wasn’t dropping the issue. “But there is someone you’re interested in.”

She laughed again, her mood lightening significantly. “Dylan, you’re a great brother, but butt out of my love life, as pathetic as it is.”

“Tell me his name, Adriana. I’ll just do a
background check on him, make sure that he’s not some serial killer or psychopath.”

“No. You’re going to stay out of it,” she replied firmly, determined to live her own life free of her family’s interference.

“Is he a good guy? Where did you meet him?”

“I’m not giving you any details. The last time you wheedled information out of me, you had the police come to the guy’s apartment and search
it.”

“Yeah, and the police found marijuana and cocaine in his dresser drawer too.”

She sighed, giving him a point there. “It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t serious about the guy then.”

“So you’re serious about this guy?”

Adriana cringed, irritated that she’d let something like that slip. “None of your business. Where are you anyway?”

“I’m in Germany, not France. So you met him at work. Where did
he go to school?”

She laughed again. “Dylan, I didn’t say that I’d met him at work. You did. So why don’t you run a criminal background check on everyone who works here. If anyone comes up dirty, just give me their name and I’ll let you know if that’s the guy that,” she paused, trying to figure out her next words carefully, “that I’m flirting with.” Was that a safe description? Probably
not. Mitch would probably be pretty irritated by that description.

She glanced out her office door. He wasn’t here today and she had no idea where he was so it didn’t matter if he was irritated or not. She was irritated by his absence and his silence so perhaps they were even.

“You shouldn’t be flirting with anyone. You should be focusing on your career.”

“Right. Like you spent the weekend
alone?” she taunted, knowing that all of her brothers were hypocrites when it came to her love life. All of them had ladies on their arms, and most likely in their beds, constantly. Dylan was the worst but that was only because he had more money now. Although her other three brothers were just as bad, their charm and intelligence reeling in the ladies too easily.

“That’s beside the point,”
he said.

“How is your love life any different from mine? Why do you get to run a background check on my love life while you charm your way into ladies beds with impunity?”

“You’re different,” he asserted in his typical, hypocritical, brotherly fashion.

“I’m only different because I’m female. You don’t interrogate Davis’ girlfriends or Antonio’s lady loves.”

“Exactly. You have a soft heart
and you trust men too easily. You’re going to get hurt.”

She thought of Mitch and the fire between them. Dylan might not know it, but he probably had a point. She might get burned pretty badly with Mitch, but she couldn’t seem to move away from the fire. “Dylan, you’re a sweet brother with your double standard, but I’m still not giving you any information on any of the twenty or so men I’m
sleeping with.”

She heard someone in the background say, “We’re ready for you,” and Adriana sighed with relief. She loved her brothers dearly, but when they started interfering in her life, she had to put her foot down. “Look, you’re in the middle of something. I’ll let you know the next time I’m heading home to Virginia to visit Mom and Dad and we can race across the fields on our horses,
okay?” she offered, referring to riding the horses her mother kept at the stable for each of them.

“Deal, but you’re going to tell me more about this guy, Adriana. I’m serious about you not getting hurt.”

She smiled, feeling loved. “Thanks big bro! I love you too.”

She heard a grunt in the background which was Dylan-speak for “I love you.”

For the rest of the day, she focused on her reports.
Every time she thought of Mitch or wondered where he was, she pushed that thought aside without mercy and focused more intently on her reports.

A sandwich was once again delivered to her desk at one o’clock in the afternoon and she wondered where it had come from. Even as Mitch’s handsome, smirking, all-knowing features popped into her mind she dismissed the possibility, shaking her head.
Unwrapping the sandwich, she gobbled it down, hungry but unwilling to get excited that he’d sent her lunch simply because he knew her well enough to know that she’d forgotten to get out and eat something.

No, it was probably just his assistant, she told herself and refocused on her work.

For the rest of the afternoon, she was completely unproductive. She kept looking for Mitch to arrive.
She should have just come up with an excuse to ask his assistant if he was coming into the office today. And find out who had ordered the sandwich for her. But she hadn’t gotten up the courage, too afraid of the answers. So by six o’clock, she was irritated that he hadn’t come into the office, irritated that she hadn’t gotten enough work done and irritated that she even cared! Why should she
be concerned about him being up at five o’clock in the morning and not coming into the office all day long? For all she knew, he’d spent the night playing video games and had slept the day away.

As soon as that thought formed in her mind, she knew it wasn’t true. Mitch didn’t strike her as the kind of man who even owned video games, much less burned up hours playing them. No, he was the kind
of man who would own the video company that produced the games. He was the kind who would demand that the gaming company produce bigger and better games…

“In my office,” Mitch commanded, his strong, deep voice startling her out of the mood that was slowly increasing into a real snit against him.

She glanced at her watch. It was six thirty! Most of the staff had already left for the night
and he’d just walked in and ordered her into his office?

Adriana thought about just picking up her purse and walking out. It was after hours and she was tired. She hadn’t been sleeping well, all because of this man!

So no! She wasn’t going to walk out of the office and ignore him! Dumping her purse down on her desk, she stormed into his office, glaring at the….empty desk?