LOGINHARPER'S POV:
Before I could completely spiral and freak out, he grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I'm all right with that." A wave of relief washed over me. I smiled, and Hudson cupped the back of my head, gently drawing me to him. When our lips first met, I gasped, parting mine in return. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, and I completely melted against him. He started slow and gentle. His first kiss was like a tasting, a sampling, before quickly growing more demanding and insistent. His control slipped as his tongue tangled with mine. His moans mixed with my whimpers, causing a fire to burn within me. He moved his hands to my waist and gripped me tighter as our kiss became more frenzied. That fire within me exploded. I felt a tingling low in my belly. Suddenly, Hudson scooped me up into his arms. I let out a yelp of surprise and wrapped my arms around his neck. "What are you doing?" Breathless, I asked. "There's a spot just up ahead," he said as he began walking. "It's hidden behind some rocks. No one will be able to see us from the resort." "How did he know that?" I thought. Wait, scratch that. I didn't actually want to know how many girls he’d taken to this secret spot of his. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that I was the one he was taking there now. He carried me farther down the beach until we came upon a rocky alcove against a tall bluff near the water. Hudson put me down in a spot that was soft and sandy. The moment my feet touched the ground, Hudson began kissing me again, his touch rougher and more dominating than before. It was like something had snapped inside him and what control he had previously maintained was gone. My own desire burned hotter and hotter with each moment that passed, and I reached up to grip his shoulders, silently urging him to give me more. His hands moved from my waist to my face, trailing invisible lines across my skin, deepening the kiss as his fingers tangled in my hair. The world around us faded away, leaving only the sensation of his lips on mine, and the taste of salt in the air from the nearby ocean. I pressed myself against him, feeling every line and curve of his body fitting perfectly against mine. As our kiss grew more passionate, Hudson’s hands began to explore my body, touching me like he owned me. Without breaking our kiss, he pushed me up against the cool surface of the rock wall behind me. I was intoxicated by the heat between us, by the intensity of this moment. I wanted him with a hunger that surprised me, a craving that demanded to be sated. His fingers ran down my neck, my collarbone, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. My breath came in short gasps as he explored every inch of me, setting my skin ablaze with desire. When he finally pulled back slightly to look into my eyes, his gaze was filled with a raw hunger that mirrored my own. I drew him back to me, unable to resist the magnetic pull between us any longer. He moved his hands to my breasts, pushing my flimsy bikini top aside. The next thing I knew, he was sucking one of my nipples between his lips. I gasped and rested my head back against the smooth rock behind me. He moved to the other sensitive peak, and I was stunned at how good it felt. I’d never realized I was so sensitive. Hudson glanced up at me with a grin. “Want me to keep going?” he asked, with a teasing lilt in his voice. I bit my bottom lip and nodded. Chuckling softly, he kissed a trail down my chest and belly and dropped to his knees in front of me. I stared down at him as he slid my bikini bottoms down my legs. Instinctively, I pressed my thighs together. I’d never been in this situation with a man before, and I couldn’t quite fight my shyness. Hudson held my legs, looked up at me, and growled, “Open them.” His commanding tone electrified me, and I obeyed him without hesitation. I watched a sultry smirk cross his face. “Good girl.” There was something in the way he ordered me that made my knees go weak. Like some part of me that had always been in control and independent was longing to submit to a man. A man like him. Lowering his head between my legs, he dragged his tongue along the edges of my opening before he wrapped his lips around my clit, sucking hard. The sensation was something I had never felt before and as a rush of pleasure traveled across every nerve of my body, I cried out. My fingers tore at the locks of his hair, ensuring that he couldn’t get away. “Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “Hudson!” He didn’t give up. He licked my pussy with wild enthusiasm, his tongue driving me crazy. As one hand gripped my hip, pinning me in place, his other moved to my opening, slowly slipping a finger inside me without warning. A shriek escaped my throat as I shoved my fist into my mouth to muffle the noise. Hudson was unrelenting as he continued to pump his finger in and out of me while he ravaged my clit with so much hunger. “Holy shit!” I gasped. “Hudson, I’m going to cum…” My words seemed to stop him in his tracks as he lifted his head, stealing the pleasure away from me. I gasped. “Hudson, what are you…?” “Beg me,” he said, with an infuriating grin on his handsome face. “Seriously?” I moaned. He winked at me and kissed just above my clit, but didn’t go lower, which made me whimper, “Please, Hudson. Please make me cum.” With a satisfied grunt, he went back to work on my aching core. Fingers pumping, lips sucking, tongue lapping. It was so good, and I was so close. I just needed a little bit more. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I begged again, “Hudson, please…please let me cum.” He grinned at me, a look of pure satisfaction, as his fingers continued to work me. “You want to cum, baby?” I nodded and pleaded, “Yes, God, yes!” “All right,” he snarled. “Cum for me. Come on this tongue and all over my mouth.” The moment I got his permission, my body exploded. My head was thrown back as a scream of ecstasy escaped my lips, my mind slowly praying that the crashing waves were able to drown out the sound of my pleasure. Otherwise, God knows who heard my shameless yells. He drew my orgasm out until it was almost unbearable, but before I could say anything, he stood and cupped my ass, lifting me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist. He pressed my back to the side of the rocky bluff as his fingers dug into my skin. The way in which he manhandled me as if I weighed no more than a leaf caused my heart to race with anticipation. “You ready?” he asked with a growl. “Yes,” I replied breathlessly and without hesitation, my mind a racing stream of what ifs, as I realized that in only a moment I wouldn’t be the virgin girl I once was, but a woman that had finally experienced a taste of freedom I had longed for. And with a total stranger. He paused and pulled a condom from the pocket of his trunks. I furrowed my brow. “Have you had that the whole time?” I asked. He grinned and shrugged. “And you thought you were going to hook up with a random woman?” I teased. He chuckled. “I wanted to be prepared for any possibility. I'm a man who doesn't like surprises.” He maneuvered us so that he could put the condom on. Lining himself up with me, he paused. "Are you sure?" I felt him lining his cock on my entrance. "Stop talking and fuck me already!" Smiling, "I love your aggressiveness." He pushed into me in one swift, hard motion.HARPER'S POV:"Oh! I'm sorry."I pulled back."No, you're fine. You can have it."I looked up.The man standing beside me was tall and lean, with dark blond hair sticking up in a few places and gray-green eyes. He wore a navy quarter-zip over a white T-shirt, black joggers, and clean white running shoes. A bicycle helmet hung from his belt loop.I recognized him immediately."The bicycle guy."His expression changed. Then he winced."Oh no. You're the woman I nearly flattened at the intersection.""Nearly flattened is a bit dramatic.""Fair. I prefer to think of it as a near-disaster I'm still deeply embarrassed about."I laughed before I could stop myself."I'm fine. Really. You don't have to keep apologizing.""I know, but I'd like to make it through the weekend without being remembered as the man who assaulted a stranger with a bicycle.""That depends. Do you normally ride like that?""Only when I'm trying to make a terrible first impression.""Then you're doing wonderfully."He la
HARPER'S POV:I headed down to the lobby, where Gerald, the security guard, sat behind his glass window.He was a gray-haired man in his late sixties, shoulders broad under his navy uniform and kind eyes.He lifted two fingers in greeting when he saw me. "Morning, 2206.""Morning, Gerald.""Off to explore?""Trying to. I might get lost and you'll have to send a search party."He snorted. "I'll give you ten minutes before you come back asking for directions. Don't forget your key card. And no grilling on balconies.""Noted. Strictly no grilling.""Yep."Outside, the morning air was cool and the estate's brick paths curved between flowerbeds and rows of maple trees.On my phone, Oasis's voice went smooth and sweet. "Nicole. It's time for you to go. You have that assignment to finish. Love you.""Wait, who's Hudson? Harper? Who is Hu—"Her tile went black.I stared at my screen. "Oasis?""What? She has homework. And we need to talk grown-woman business without corrupting a minor," Oasis
HARPER'S POV:By Saturday morning, I'd finally stopped trying to convince myself the whole thing was a dream.It was real. I was actually living here.Thursday and Friday disappeared into collecting my key card, moving my things from the motel, and trying to understand the high-tech condo.The blinds opened themselves at seven every morning whether I was awake or not, the thermostat kept adjusting the temperature whenever I entered a room, and I'd managed to turn on the bathroom mirror lights illuminating the entire ceiling when I touched it by accident.I still wondered why my accommodation had been approved so quickly and whether this was just some random unit owned by the company. But it was mine for now, and I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.Nicole had sent three messages asking if I was alive. The girls had sent eleven.So, first thing this Saturday morning, with my hair wrapped in a satin scarf, wearing denim shorts and a tank top, I stood in the hallway outside
HUDSON'S POV:I was so furious I lost control of my own hands. One second I was standing in the stairwell, and the next I had a fistful of Zacharia's tie."Boss." He swallowed hard against the knot."Can you see me?"He blinked. "Um. Yes?""Clearly? Right now? Directly in front of you?""Sir, you're holding my tie. I can see you very clearly."I let go. His tie hung crooked against his shirt. I dragged both hands through my hair, then checked my reflection in the glass of the stairwell door just to be certain. Same face. Same suit. Not invisible.So why had she walked away?She had looked at me. One full second of eye contact, close enough that I could see the exact moment her eyes went wide, and then nothing. She had registered that I existed and left.I couldn't believe she'd looked straight through me."Zacharia." I stepped onto the last stair that led to Owen's floor. "Go handle your other tasks. I'll deal with Owen myself.""Yes, sir." He retreated so fast his shoes squeaked, tug
HARPER'S POV: At first, I swore it couldn't be him. Not a chance. Seattle was two thousand miles from Vegas, and Hudson was supposed to be a memory I only visited at night, alone, with the lights off. Then a cufflink rolled across the tile and stopped against the toe of my flat. I looked down at the little silver square, then up at the man standing ten feet away. The charcoal suit. The white shirt. The jaw I had traced with my thumb countless times. Hudson. My one week of fun. Standing in my new office building. What was he doing here? My brain went blank. My legs wouldn't move and my mouth wouldn't open. All I could think was that if the floor would just crack open and swallow me whole, I'd say thank you. Was he going to come over and demand to know why I'd left? No. No, not here. I couldn't have him dragging our past into my new job. I'd barely settled in, and I couldn't afford to ruin this opportunity before I'd even started. What would I do if he confronted me in front of e
HUDSON'S POVI have no idea how I made it through Monday to Wednesday. Outside of the interview and my disastrous morning on the golf course, I couldn't tell you a single meaningful thing that happened those three days. Every ounce of my attention had already relocated itself to Thursday.I was still furious with her. I needed that on record, mostly for my own sake. And yet underneath the fury sat something embarrassingly close to excitement, a jittery, restless energy I hadn't felt since I was a teenager waiting on a girl to text back.Tuesday night, I got in my car and drove halfway to her motel before I caught myself. Not to go in. Just to watch, maybe. See what she was up to from across the street, see if she looked happy, see if she looked like she'd thought about me even once since Vegas. I made it four blocks before I pulled over, gripped the steering wheel, and asked myself out loud what exactly I thought I was doing.She was about to work in my building. I had an entire caree







