Mixing Business with Pleasure

Mixing Business and Pleasure

By AnitaB

Rating: no too graphic yet, maybe pg 13-14 into light R
[Chapter 2: Pleasure]

***

Eva collapsed ono the bed several hours later and kicked off the heeled sandals. "Maybe he'll make the exchange tomorrow."

John stood next to the door. "Maybe."

Eva sat up, "John, you did a really good job today. Tomorrow should be easier with the seminars and all."

"Eva, about tonight..." He took a step toward her, wanting--needing--to ask her a difficult question. She could tell by the look on his face it wasn't a question she was ready to answer.

"As for tonight, I'll sleep in the reclining chair, and you take the bed." He stood above her impatiently.

"You know that's not what I meant, Eva. And I'm not taking the bed."

"We can argue about the sleeping arrangements later. What did you mean?" She stood up, shorter without her heels. "What about tonight, John?"

"I--I just wanted to know if--" He stopped, nervously ran a hand through his hair, and took a deep breath. /Damnit, I have to ask her. I have to know./ "Eva, I need to know how much of this is real." He saw in her eyes that she knew what he was talking about, but nothing is ever that easy. Especially in relationships.

"How much of what is real, John?"

"You know what I mean. How much of this heat between us is real? How much of your reaction to me is fake? Is it so easy for me to touch you because you want it too?" She tried to turn away but couldn't pull her gaze from his.

"I've been thinking about it all night. It couldn't be this strong for me if you didn't feel anything. That kiss in the garden was real, wasn't it?" His hands found their way to her shoulders while he waited for her answer.

"John, I..." She looked up and got lost in his eyes. She shivered at the heat of his touch and the intensity of his gaze. "I don't know why it feels like this."

He stepped closer, "How does it feel, Eva?" He put a palm against her cheek. She covered his hand with hers and stepped into his arms.

"It feels...warm, safe, familiar when you touch me. It feels right to be in your arms." John pulled her against him and buried his face in her hair.

"You feel so good, Eva. Come closer." His hands clenched against her back as his lips trailed from her ear to her lips. "I couldn't get that kiss out of my mind."

"Neither could I." She spoke against his lips before initiating a heated kiss. Eva's hands caressed up his throat to trail her fingertips through his beard. John rubbed his palms down her back to clench against her hips and pull her closer. It was Eva's turn to breathe a moan into John's mouth as his hardness pressed against her stomach.

She pulled back to catch her breath and rubbed her cheek against his. "John?"

"Shh, Eva. I know. It's too soon for this, just let me hold you a little longer." He pulled her against him, relishing the warmth of her body in his arms. She nestled against him, curling her arms around his neck. Their breathing and heartbeat slowed. Eventually John pulled back and dropped a chaste kiss on her lips.

"It's late and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow." Eva pressed a palm against his cheek then pulled out of his arms, thankful for his sensitivity. A shiver passed through them both at the chilled air separating them.

"I'll go get ready for bed." She walked into the bathroom. John smiled, /She cares, I can touch her and know it's real./ He listened to the water running in the bathroom as he spread bedding on the floor. He turned at the sound of the door opening. Eva stepped into the room wearing green silk pajamas. The fact that they covered her from neck to ankle didn't stop his heart from speeding up at the sight of her.

"Your turn for the bathroom." He dropped his eyes and stepped around her into the bathroom. He stepped out a few minutes later to find Eva already tucked into the bed. Wearing flannel pajamas pants, John could feel her eyes wandering over his chest. He locked the door and turned out the lights.

"Good night, John."

"Good night, Eva." John stopped short at the sound of her voice.

"Don't I get a good night kiss?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He stepped closer to the bed.

"John, just get over here." He sat on the edge of the bed as she sat up and reached for him. He buried his fingerso heo her hair and pulled her lips to his. Kissing him eagerly she rested her left hand with its gold ring over his heart, skin to skin. His heart jumped and sped up against her hand. He pulled back breathlessly, feeling her lean forward--following him. He lifted her hand from his chest and kissed her palm.

"Good night, Eva."

"Good night, John."

***

John woke with a smile on his lips and the morning light in his face. His eyes opened to see Eva sitting next to his hip looking at him. Propping himself up on his elbows he said, "Morning, Eva."

"Good morning, John. Ready to go to work?"

He smiled and sat up. "Don't I get a good morning kiss?" He ran his fingers through her curls as she leaned in with her eyes focused on his mouth. The memory of last night's kisses burned the air between them as her lips reached for his. John pulled her close, clenching his fists in her shirt. The feel of his skin against her hands pulled a gasp from her throat.

John pulled out of the kiss reluctantly. "Let's go play married, honey." He stood with Eva still in his arms. "Get dressed, before I start something we're not ready to finish." He smiled into her face as his eyes flicked down her body. She dropped a chaste kiss on his lips, set a palm against his cheek, and pulled out of his arms. She glanced back at him from the bathroom doorway with passion in her eyes. John's heart beat faster and the thought /Maybe we are ready/ crossed his mind.

***

Eva looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was tangled from his hands. Her lips were shiny and full from his kiss. Her palms could still feel the texture of his skin. John affected her, deeply.

She'd sat there for 10 minutes watching him sleep, thinking about him. John was smart, sensitive, stubborn, and gentle. She could talk to him. He not only didn't push her, he pulled back first. /A little frustrating but still a good thing in a man./ It was so easy to touch him, so comfortable to feel his arms around her.

/It's never felt like this before, not with anyone./ She pulled a brush through her hair and stared blindly into the mirror.

***

"Disgusting, isn't it?"

John shifted closer to her and spoke under his breath. "The audience or the speaker?"

"Both, it's frightening just how much people will pay for nonsense like this." she settled against him.

"Well, Eva. It does help some people." She looked up at him questioningly. "Without this seminar, I never would have gotten you into my arms." She smiled inwardly, pleased at his words before forcing her attention back to work.

"I wish Fred Flintstone would contact his buyer already."

"Could the exchange have happened already and we missed it?"

"I don't think so, we've been watching him very closely."

The seminar had ended and the audience began to file out. The target couple stood to leave and something about them seemed wrong to John.

"She left her purse." He turned to Eva. "She had a purse when she came but it's gone."

Eva checked the target couple's seats, no purse. "Good eyes, John. Let's go find that purse." She reached out for him and hand-in-hand they followed the couple out.

Trailing Fred and Wilma through the crowd John and Eva watched as a man approached them.

"Ma'am? I believe you left you purse in the other room." He held out a shiny pink and gold monstrocity that would have looked tacky on a circus clown.

"Why thank you, sir. You're too kind."

"The pleasure was mine."

John read the man's name tag--handy things those tags--and watched him melt into the crowd.

"They're good, that was a smooth exchange." Eva admired the tactic and filed it away in her good idea mental folder.

"Do we follow the buyer?"

"No, we're done for the night. Tomorrow we'll get a picture of him before we go home. Maybe even finger prints on the camera--people are always happy to take pictures for tourists."

His heart fell. How was this thing between them going to change when the job was over? He wrapped his arms around her tightly and rubbed his cheek against hers. "What happens between us when we're not married anymore?"

The fear in his voice and the strength in his arms touched her. She pressed closer, twining her arms around his neck "oh, John," She buried her fingers in his hair and pushed him back enough to see his eyes. "This feeling between us isn't going to go away when the job is over. It feels stronger that that." His arms tightened around her, pressing her close enough to feel her heartbeat against his ribs.

"Good, I'm not ready to let you go." /I'll never be ready to let you go. /

She nestled in his arms, loving the heat and urgency of him against her. /I'm not ready to let go either. Will I ever be ready to let him go?/ That troubled thought followed her the rest of the night.

***

The morning light fell over Eva's face, waking her from a quiet dream about sleeping in John's arms. Her eyes opened to see him--the man of her dreams--sitting on the bed next to her hip, watching her sleep. Remembering the other morning, she smiled. This was almost a routine.

"Good morning, John."

"Good morning, Eva."

She sat up and reached for him. "Don't I get a good morning kiss?" He swept her into his arms, kissing her eagerly. His fingers clenched in the silk of her pjs as her hands smoothed over the skin of his back. Tracing the line of her lips with the tip of his tongue, John coaxed a pleasured moan from her.

The need to touch her, to feel her skin against his built. Gazing into her eyes, he slid a hand under her shirt to caress her stomach. Eva's eyes fell shut at the feel of his palm against skin he'd never touched before.

"Eva, you feel so good in my arms. I keep thinking that I'll turn around and you'll be gone. That it's all a dream--not something real." He rubbed both hands up and down her back, pressing her tighter against his chest. "Is it real?"

The need to reassure him, to protect these feelings between them filled her. She took his hand and laid it against her heart, "John, it's real. Feel what you do to me." Her heart pounded against his hand as passion glowed in her eyes.

John smiled, kissed her again, and stood with her in his arms. Holding her close against him, "You already know what you do to me, Eva. So let's finish the job and go home." He pushed her towards the bathroom.

***

"So when do we play tourist for the buyer?"

"I just need one more good shot of his face, then we'll play tourist." She snapped several more shots. "Okay, let's go."

"Sir, I was wondering if you could take our picture." Eva walked up to the buyer with the camera in her white-gloved hand.

"Of course, Ma'am." He took the camera and waited as Eva walked back to John and settled into his arms. John pulled her into his arms, one wrapped around her waist, the other around her shoulders just below her throat. Her arm covered his at her waist and her left hand touched his--their rings glinting in the light.

In the instant between the buyer's "Say cheese." and the camera's click John whispered "I love you, Eva." against her cheek. Her surprised smile was captured on film as her heart swelled at his words.

"John? I..."

"Shh, later."

She looked up at him, brushed a kiss across his lips, and left his arms to retrieve the camera--bad guy fingerprints and all.

the silence between them held through the process of checking out and several miles of the drive.

Eva, behind the wheel, could feel John's eyes on her. Silent tension filled the car and tightened Eva's nerves. They needed to talk or she was going to scream. She pulled over and stopped the engine. Unbuckling her seat belt, she turned to him.

"John, I..." He shook his head and pulled her into his arms.

"I know you don't feel the same. I don't expect you to. I just had to say it. I needed to tell you how you make me feel." He buried his face in her hair and held her close. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers ran through his hair.

"John, I want you to listen to me, okay?" She felt his beard rub against her throat as he nodded. "I can't say I love you" she felt him flinch slightly at the rejection he thought was coming. "not yet anyway. But I can tell you that I've never felt like this before. I've never been as comfortable with someone before. Your touch feels so right. I can trust you, talk to you." She pulled back and lifted his face to hers. "I don't know what's happening to me, but I don't want it--this thing between us--to stop. I need to be with you, John."

The sheer relief in his eyes touched her. His arms tightened around her, pressing her against his pounding heart. "Thank you, Eva." /Thank God she cares./ Tipping her face up with a finger under her chin, he caressed her full lips with his eyes and thumb. John bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. Tracing the crease of his lips with her tongue, Eva deepened the kiss, tasting


The passion grew more heated and Eva kneeled over his lap to get closer. John's hands clenched on her hips and pulled her down against him, pressing his hardness against her heat. A gasp forced their lips apart though neither was sure who it had come from. She smiled at the awe and need in his face as she moved against him.

He held her motionless against him. "Eva, are we ready for this?" She crawled off him, her skin already missing his warmth. She placed a hand against his cheek.

"Yes, we're ready. But not here in the car. Let's go home."

He brushed a kiss over her lips, "I love you, Eva." She kissed him back eagerly before smiling into his eyes and starting the car.

Anticipation built in the silenctweetween them, a silence as comfortable as their intertwined hands resting on the seat between them. John smiled at the thought that this woman he loved was his because of a job. / So much for the dangers of mixing business and pleasure. /

*** The end.