Fervent Desires

Chapter 11 - An unpleasant surprise

It had been a week since I took Erica camping, we had been texting back and forth but she was shy about me seeing me officially. I knew she wanted me as much as I wanted her and I was determined to bring out her hidden desires. She was afraid of what the other employees might think and tried to avoid me as much as possible when we were at the office. I stared out at the city below me pondering what to do next. I needed to see her outside of work. I needed to take her somewhere her guard would be down. I caught sight of the invitation on my desk. I wasn’t really an art fan and I hadn’t planned on going but if Erica was willing to go with me I could suffer through it. I felt my pulse quicken at the thought of her in an elegant dress. I wanted her, needed her and if I didn’t have her right this second I was going to explode.

“Anna,” I buzzed calmly, “could you tell Erica that I need to see her please?”

"Yes Ms. Vanderbilt," she responded through the intercom.

I felt nervous. Why was I nervous? I hadn't spent any time with her since Montana and even though we had been texting back and forth, I couldn't shake the feeling. My palms were sweaty and I quickly wiped them on my thighs. I leaned back in my chair anticipating Erica's arrival. She walked into my office two minutes later “you wanted to see me?” She obviously didn't know this was a social call.

“Are you an art fan? I have invitations to this gallery opening tonight and I would love for you to join me.”

She looked skeptical “Is that what you wanted to see me about?” she asked.

“I haven’t seen you since the camping trip,” I nervously swallowed the lump in my throat.

“You see me every day,”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” I did my best to maintain eye contact.

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea, so if that’s all I think I should go.”

Erica turned to leave; before I knew it I was out of my chair and at her side in two quick strides. I placed my hand on her shoulder and gently turned her to face me.

“Actually, there was one other thing.”

Before she could react I pressed my lips firmly against hers. To my delight she returned my kiss. She leaned against the door as I devoured her with my mouth. “We should stop,” she murmured as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her warm body pressed firmly against mine and her scent only intensified my arousal. She shuddered as I trailed my fingers up her legs.

“Are you sure you want me to stop?” I asked as I slipped my hand between her thighs. She leaned into me as I trailed tiny kisses along her neck. It was the middle of the day and the office was buzzing just outside the door. I pushed my fingers against her panties and felt the wetness I knew was there. “No you don’t,” I whispered into her ear. "You want me."

"Yes," she sounded like she was in a trance.

My fingers roamed to her core and massaged around it. I busied my other hand down the front of her shirt and into her bra, caressing her n****e and squeezing gently. Erica moaned as her body succumbed to my touch.

“Say it,” I demanded.

“I want you,” she obeyed.

“So why are you punishing me?” I asked my voice raw with need “come to the gallery with me”.

She looked into my eyes and whatever she saw there stopped her from saying no. “What time?” she asked.

“I’ll pick you up at ten” I responded thrilled that she finally caved.

“Ms. Vaughn your 12:30 is here,” buzzed Anna through the intercom.

Erica stepped back and straightened her dress “How do I look?” she asked.

"Sexy as hell," my voice was low and husky.

"Taylor," she whined. 

“Not the least bit suspicious,” I responded with a smirk.

I watched transfixed as she sauntered out of the office, adopting an overtly sexy walk for my benefit. The rest of the day moved at a snail’s pace and I was thrilled when I finally pulled up to Erica’s building. I had made sure to send over an outfit for her earlier and her dress fit her figure perfectly.

“You look stunning,” I commented, opening the door for her.

“Well aren’t you chivalrous?” she joked as she slid into the front seat.

The gallery opening was in Chelsea and as we drove we chatted about various topics and she even caught me up on some of the office gossip. Apparently I was quite the eye candy, but at the same time came off as elusive and unapproachable. We finally arrived at the venue and the event was in full swing. I walked around the gallery peering at random paintings, all the while pretending to be interested. I stole a glance at Erica who seemed to be interested in one particular painting.

“Do you like it?” I asked, standing next to her.

“To be honest, I never really understood art,” she admitted.

“Me neither,” I responded, appreciating her honesty. “Don’t even like it to be honest”.

“Really?” she looked at me through wide eyes. “So why would you take me to an art gallery?”

“It was the only way I could think of to get you to go out with me,” I admitted.

Erica laughed uncontrollably. “I’m so happy to see that my efforts amuse you,” I couldn’t help but smile when she laughed.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to say through bursts of uncontrollable laughter. “It’s just that this is quite the elaborate ruse,” she was now looking into my eyes.

“You’re worth it,” I stared back into hers.

“You wanna get out of here?” she asked.

“Where do you want to go?” I asked stepping closer.

“Well, you’ve been to my place. I’d like to see yours,” she said batting her eyes. She was quite the charmer when she wanted to be.

The ride back to my condo was a lot shorter this evening and Erica was all over me the whole time. By the time we pulled up to the building we were both in the throes of desire. We could barely make it to the elevator before we were all over each other again and I couldn’t get enough of her.

The elevator opened into my suite and I immediately noticed that something was off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but I didn’t have time to figure out what it was; nor was I interested at this moment, I finally had Erica here with me. We stumbled into the apartment barely wanting to be apart from each other and when we finally entered the bedroom I immediately found out what was wrong. Sprawled across my bed all dressed up in lingerie was Noelle.