Her Best Mistake (Novella) Read online

  “As I’ve said several times, it was just one date with your brother. I hardly think Eric has marriage in mind. Our sleeping together can’t have a negative impact on a relationship that wasn’t really happening in the first place,” Lisa said.

  A lot she knows, Finn thought, smiling at Lisa’s earnestness. Roberts men set their minds on something and that pretty much was it. Eric had that more than he did—or so he had thought before Lisa Dennison had crawled into bed with him.

  Closing his eyes, Finn raised his hips under hers, seeking Lisa’s heated response again, raising her up in the chair and inviting her to ride the next wave of arousal with him. When she did just that, he groaned beneath her.

  Giving in to her instincts, Lisa moved her hand down to the waist of Finn’s jeans. She had popped the snap before shifting her shocked gaze to Finn’s as he opened his eyes in surprise. She saw a mirror of her desire in his serious, gray-blue gaze.

  “Tell me what you want,” Finn invited, wanting to hear her say it was to be with him. He needed to hear her admit she wanted him again now that she knew who he was.

  Lisa toyed with the button on his jeans. Finally, she lifted her eyes to meet his. “I want to meet your beast, Dr. Roberts.”

  That is admission enough for me, Finn decided. He stood with Lisa wrapped around him and starting walking with her while she tightened her hold.

  By the time they got to the bed, he almost had her naked from the waist up. He fell on the bed with her, making her absorb his weight. He kissed her everywhere he could, while pushing her into the mattress and holding her there. If he was hurting her with his aggressiveness, Lisa made no protest.

  He yanked her slacks down as far as he could before invading her, pushing two eager fingers into the source of her heat. It told him everything he needed to know at the moment.

  “Finn,” she called out his name roughly, arching against his hand. Eyes clearing after the first peak, she looked at him with surprise. “Please . . .”

  A few strokes later and Finn watched her face as she cried out in full release. His control snapped. All he wanted was to make her do it again and again. Pulling his fingers out, he licked her eager wetness from them as she calmed. She shivered watching him, the first flickers of fear in her face warring with the desire still in her gaze.

  Finn’s last rational thought was wondering how the woman had managed to stay so inexperienced. Then he realized that she wouldn’t be after tonight. He rose over her, let out a large sigh, and stared hard at the woman he wanted to make his.

  “What are you planning to do?” Lisa asked, incredibly aroused but still a little afraid about what his possessive gaze meant.

  His voice was dark and husky as he threw her words back at her. “This is the last chance you have to change your mind about being with a pent-up, desperate man like me. I’m about three seconds away from it being too late already.”

  But even as he said the words, Finn knew it was just word play. Now that he knew Lisa wanted him, he had no intention of letting her walk out of his life yet. Maybe he wasn’t as nice as he told her he was because she was going to remember tonight for the rest of her life.

  He rose off her and grabbed a condom from the nightstand where she’d tossed the remaining two last night. He unceremoniously yanked off the rest of her clothing and all of his, not caring where it went so long as it was out of the way.

  “Come over here to the edge of the bed,” he ordered.

  Lisa just looked at him, not sure what to do. No man had ever looked at her like Finn was looking at her now. She was still aroused, still waiting for him to join their bodies and fill the emptiness.

  “Now,” he said harshly. He dropped to his knees and dragged her hips to the edge of the bed, spreading her thighs urgently with his hands. Then he pushed his tongue as far as he could inside her while she screamed his name over and over.

  “Finn. Stop, Finn. Wait . . . please . . .” Lisa begged. She was shocked to be all but sobbing as he used his tongue and fingers, driving her up and over again to another violent climax.

  Damn right, it’s Finn, he thought, maddened now by the taste of her release—twice. He held her at the edge of the bed, his body bent to his task of making love to her with his tongue, laughing wickedly as she throbbed and throbbed against his mouth.

  Finn replaced his tongue with two fingers as he sucked her center until he felt her legs shaking. He craved her release again, and was really close to climax himself from just watching her. He loved listening to her beg him to stop and then to not stop.

  Too bad for you, Eric, Finn thought, everything in him bent on claiming possession. You may have found her first, bro, but this one is mine.

  Just before she shattered a third time, Finn pulled her the rest of way off the bed and impaled her trembling body on his aching erection. He forced her hips around his as he knelt there with her wrapped around him. She screamed his name as she rode the waves of another quaking climax, gripping his shoulders to hold her body in place on him.

  “Lisa!” He yelled her name as he finally exploded inside her, one hand holding her hips while the other was tangled in her hair.

  He heard her sobbing with her final release and felt tears streaming down her face while she kissed his chin, his neck, and pressed her pounding heart against his heaving chest. He soothed her with his hands, kissing her face, murmuring praises and compliments. He held her close as he lowered them both to the floor, already regretting the harshness of his actions.

  Too soon, Finn thought, filled with regret. Way too soon for this kind of possession.

  Finn held Lisa without speaking, then finally closed his eyes, wishing he had been more gentle with her this second time. But it was too late to wish.

  ***

  For an hour Lisa watched Finn sleep, all the while letting herself imagine how it would be to wake him again. Would he be an animal like before? Or had what they had done soothed the beast in him? The pent-up, desperate statement had been another brutal truth evidently.

  She waited until Finn’s breathing became slow and deep, until she felt she could untangle herself without disturbing him. They had ended up on the floor among the remnants of their clothes and fallen asleep wrapped around each other.

  Wow, Lisa thought. She stood on wobbly legs and stared down at her weakened limbs. She would no doubt have some bruises tomorrow. Finn hadn’t stopped or even slowed down no matter what she had said. Thank God, but still . . . she wasn’t even sure he had even heard her talking to him.

  And how many climaxes had she had before he finished with her? She was pretty sure it had been three big ones, but two was more than she had ever known before. Finn had unleashed the beast in both of them, Lisa decided. She shivered at the thought of being wanted that way again, being taken that way over and over.

  She was inundated with his sandy beaches smell, his smooth feel, his unique taste, and the taste of her own pleasure on his lips.

  Wow, Finn, Lisa thought, her heart tight in her chest as she looked down at him.

  Years of nothing and now all this passion when she hadn’t even been looking for it.

  Feeling guilty, but also feeling the need for some privacy to think about things, Lisa sighed and dressed quietly like before.

  And then, just as quietly, she let herself out of the suite again.

  ***

  After Lisa had gone, Finn finally opened his eyes and dared to look around. She had gotten really emotional during the last climax, but had never cried a tear during the long minutes he’d held her afterwards. Nor had she spoken a single word of complaint.

  But regret had owned him for a response that had been more competitive with his brother than it had been loving, so he had intentionally taken the coward’s path and faked sleep. He hadn’t wanted to risk making Lisa more upset than she might already be with him.

  Finn had shocked himself with the level of possessiveness he felt, and now didn’t know what to do about it. He had never been that r
ough with a woman, not even his ex-wife while they were married. But then he’d never been so mindless to have the total attention of one the way he wanted to with Lisa Dennison. He felt the need to banish even thoughts of other men from her, especially thoughts of his brother.

  But where had any of that come from? That dark feeling of feeling possessive about a woman who was never meant to be his anyway?

  Damn it.

  He already wanted her again, wanted to pretend the last hour had never happened. If he ever got another chance, he would linger over every touch, every curve, and discover every possible way Lisa could achieve release. Crazy to make her his, he’d gone over the careful line of new lovers, which was probably worse than telling her about the damn booty call.

  Would she now hate all men because of him? Never be able to trust another one to touch her? The idea pleased him so much Finn was disgusted with himself again. He was scum and worse than Eric, especially where Lisa was concerned.

  Shit, Finn thought. Years of no women at all and now he was completely obsessed with one.

  Chapter 5

  The next day at work Lisa moved slowly, walking and sitting carefully. She saw the moment her assistant Martha noticed and winced at the worry in the older woman’s expression.

  “Are you okay? You’re going to have to tone down those aerobic workouts some if they have you limping around all the next day,” Martha said.

  “It’s a new exercise program,” Lisa said, trying to make the white lie sound as good as possible. “I just overdid it a bit.”

  Actually when she thought about it, she had barely participated at all. Finn had carried her to bed, undressed her, dragged her to the edge of the mattress, and literally forced her to climax over and over before making her ride him for his own relief. Her legs still quivered over it today. Her entire body had been surprised at his aggressive demands. No one had been like that with her before.

  And she really had to stop reliving it over and over, Lisa decided, her underwear already suffering for her lustful thoughts. She had walked around aroused since she’d gotten her first whiff of Finn.

  The front door buzzer rang and Martha zoomed off to see who it was. She came back moments later loaded with an enormous vase of flowers.

  “Well, look at you,” Martha told her. “Looks like that young man really does have a serious thing for you.”

  She pulled the card and read the signature.

  “Who’s UB? I thought his name was Eric.”

  Lisa frowned. UB? No—he couldn’t have signed that card UB. What had Finn told the florists? She shook her head and laughed as she thought about it.

  Martha continued to look at the card. “This card doesn’t make sense. Maybe the courier delivered it to the wrong person.”

  Lisa rose reluctantly from her chair and came around to take both the flowers and the card from Martha. She read the card several times, her heart fluttering, an idiotic smile on her face. She had to go sit back down to really take it in.

  I have as many apologies for you as there are petals on these flowers. I know I keep saying this, but I really am not the kind of guy who gets carried away, especially like last night. Please don’t hate all men because of me. Come back one more time. I’m leaving Sunday and I don’t want it to end like this. ~ UB

  PS: Speech at Harvard 3pm today if you want to come by.

  She laughed at Finn’s dramatics. What did he think? That he’d broken her or something? The note was priceless. ‘Speech at Harvard’ was preceded by ‘Please don’t hate all men because of me’.

  God, he kept her mind hopping. First she was a booty call. Now today he was worried he’d gone too far with her. The man was a total wreck, as bad as she was. Maybe she and Finn were more like twins than he and his brother were.

  Small surprise she had crawled into bed with him a second time. No surprise at all that she wanted to again, especially after her three giant orgasms with him yesterday. The only question that remained for her was how rational to be about all of her sexual interest in him, which Lisa took about five seconds to decide just wasn’t worth losing brain cells over.

  “Martha, reschedule our appointments for the afternoon. Move them to later in the week, will you? I have to go to a lecture at Harvard at three.”

  “Shouldn’t be hard. All we have this afternoon is a conference call. Are you taking classes again? Why aren’t they on the calendar?” Martha demanded.

  Lisa met Martha’s gaze. Her assistant had been with her for five years and ran the office like it was a military post.

  “No classes, just going to a lecture,” Lisa said firmly, smiling at her confused assistant.

  “Okay,” Martha said, face wrinkling in concern.

  Lisa rose gingerly from the chair to walk around the desk. “Do we have any aspirin?”

  “I may have something in my purse. Do you need to go get checked out? You seem like you’re hurting all over today.”

  Lisa saw Martha looking at her with great sympathy. It suddenly struck her as incredibly funny, so she dissolved into laughter.

  “I know it’s been a while since you’ve seen me with a sex hang over, but I swear I’m going to live,” Lisa assured her. “I’m not dying. I just got laid really, really well last night. My body is just way out of practice, and the man was outside anything I’d known before.”

  She watched Martha blink twice. Probably unable to believe she had said ‘laid,’ Lisa thought, grinning wickedly at the idea of the witty Martha being scandalized.

  “I’m confused,” Martha admitted finally.

  “It wasn’t an exercise video, okay?” Lisa exclaimed finally, blurting out the truth as she was tucking Finn’s apology into the side pocket of her purse.

  “Hold the rest of that explanation for a minute. Let me get you the medicine first.”

  Lisa watched Martha scurry away. The woman probably needed time to assimilate the information. Lord knows she did. UB? What had possessed him to sign the card that way? His nerve made her laugh.

  While she waited on Martha, Lisa dug through the contents of her purse for a pair of long, dangling earrings she had dropped in there a couple weeks ago. At the time she’d thought the bundle of silver circles were too much to wear to the office. Today they suited her mood. Humming, she fastened them to her ears, smiling at the jingling sound they made when she moved around.

  Martha came back, stopped, and stared at the sight of her boss humming. She was definitely going to have a little talk with Harlan tonight. She hadn’t hummed in a great while. “Okay. Explain now.”

  “We got a little carried away last night. Today, I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, but happier than I’ve been in a very long time. So now I have to go tell the idiot I slept with that he didn’t hurt me and that I like it rough sometimes.”

  Martha lowered her voice to a whisper. “Yeah, that happens to me once in while with Harlan. We call it ‘the Viking and the Maiden’ at our house.”

  She stopped, remembering the apology on the card, which had her looking at Lisa Dennison with new eyes.

  “He referred to what we did as unleashing the beast.” Lisa supplied in a whisper back.

  “Was it the one in the t-shirt or the one in the suit?” Martha demanded, mentally crossing her fingers.

  “Guess,” Lisa teased. She followed Martha slowly to the door, taking the pills from her assistant’s hand and tossing them back with a cup of water from the cooler near the front desk.

  “I’d put my money on the t-shirt guy,” Martha finally said. “He wasn’t as polished as the other one but looked like he’d be a lot more fun in the sack. The polished one probably can’t pay attention long enough to get a woman there. He seemed to have more interest in his phone than in impressing you.”

  “Martha!” Lisa exclaimed, pretending shock as she walked out the door.

  She laughed on her walk to the subway, remembering Finn’s preciseness in getting them both there—her several times.

  *** />
  When she got to the building where Finn was speaking, Lisa saw it was packed to capacity. She moved around the edges looking for an empty seat because she wasn’t going to be able to stand the whole time in her current condition.

  Then she saw him. Finn was wearing a blue polo and khaki slacks. One hand held a bunch of index cards, and he was using the other to emphasize something he was saying to a man standing next to him. Just as she was wondering if she should go up and say hello, Finn lifted his head and saw her. Everything in her leapt to attention as he smiled.

  Silly girl, Lisa chided, but a part her of was so excited she could barely restrain herself from giggling.

  She smiled back, especially when Finn stopped talking. He walked away from the man, but made her laugh when he stopped and turned back, probably remembering to be polite. She heard him excuse himself before he started walking towards her again.

  She met him halfway, a soft smile on her face.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” he said back.

  “Thanks for the flowers,” Lisa said, just getting it out there.

  Finn smiled, enjoying her flirty gaze on his face. “Did you come all this way just to say that?”

  Lisa shook her head, smile fading a little as she cleared her throat. “No, I came to tell you that you didn’t hurt me last night. Well, you did hurt me a little, but the end result was worth it.”

  When Finn flushed, looking guilty and remorseful, Lisa winced at his discomfort.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just didn’t want you to be worried,” she said softly.

  Deciding they needed lot more privacy for this discussion, Finn took Lisa’s arm to lead her out into the hall. He pulled his hand away immediately when she flinched. Then he saw a ring of blue bruises around her arms peeking out of her sleeve. Those were his fingerprints where he had gripped her yesterday, held her to him as he. . .fuck—he’d hurt her.