[B.S. #3] Claiming Laura Read online

  Getting to his feet, he pulled Laura up with him and hugged her, hoping that she would forgive him. If she judged him by this first foray into an intimate relationship, he could be out the door. No one deserved what he had done to her. Clay had never lost control like that before. He didn’t have any excuses either, except that he lost this head and now his dignity was gone, too.

  He loved the feeling of Laura standing in his arms in all her naked glory but could tell she was still trying to get a deep breath. Clay tried to think of something to do to help. Water? Maybe water would help. Letting Laura go, he hurriedly pulled up his pants that were still around his ankles and shoes.

  Trying to hurry, he walked into the kitchen and found a glass and got some water from the kitchen tap. Going back to the hallway, he found Laura was now in the living room and sitting on the couch. She was sitting there wrapped in the throw that she kept over the back of it. As Clay walked up to her with the glass extended, she met his eyes and they weren’t unfriendly. Clay thought that was a step in the right direction.

  He handed her the glass and sat down beside her, not too close, and started to apologize for his beastly behavior.

  Laura took a slip of the water, then put the glass on the table before twisting her body to face Clay beside her on the couch. She took a minute and let her gaze wander over his body, then she smiled.

  “You don’t have anything to apologize for. I just can’t get over someone like you wanting me that much. It overwhelms me. My brain is just starting to catch up. That was wonderful, you were wonderful. Next time, let’s make it to the bed. I’m too old for the floor.”

  Clay had a stunned look on his face as she spoke to him. Being bold for once, Laura reached out and grabbed his chin and kissed him full on the mouth, trying to convey all her feelings with the kiss. Leaning back, shyly she told Clay, “I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.”

  Clay’s brain stopped trying to think of more things to say to Laura to do damage control as he took in her words and kiss. Gathering her up in his arms, throw and all, he hugged her tightly. He just breathed his lovely lady’s scent in. She was his now. He would have to work a little harder at his finesse, but he was claiming her. He would just have to get her to accept him, beast and all.

  Standing up from the couch with Laura in his arms, Clay held her tightly as he walked up the stairs off the living room. Stopping at the top, he asked her where her bedroom was, and then carried her into a large, very feminine room. Walking over to the bed, he laid her down like she was precious cargo on top of the white, lace comforter.

  Laura had never in her life had a man’s full attention like Clay was giving her now. She felt her heart crack a little as she looked at the handsome face above her. After laying her down, Clay stepped back from the bed and hurriedly pulled his clothes off. Naked, he unwrapped the couch throw from around her and threw it on the floor Gathering her up he climbing into bed, and pulled the covers over both of them. Taking her head off the pillow he laid it on his chest and gathered her even closer to his side.

  Laura had never felt so safe and secure in her life. Putting one of her arms around his chest as far as it would go, Laura gave it a kiss and fell into the deepest sleep she ever had.

  Clay knew Laura was contented, as she fell asleep so fast, but knew a different Laura could be the one he woke up with. In the heat of the moment, she had let her ambitions down. But after a good rest she probably would be rethinking everything. He just hoped that she remembered the good with the bad. Clay nestled his head next to Laura’s and fell asleep, still remembering her tight clasp on his cock. It rose again with his thoughts, but he was too sated to do anything about it, even if Laura would let him go another round.

  The next morning, Clay woke from a refreshing sleep to find Laura sprawled mostly on top of him. He let his hands make their way down to her bare ass that was snuggled over one of his legs and pulled her closer up to his cock, which was now raring to go again. He took a minute to just savor the feeling of her in his arms and didn’t want to have to let her go. His internal clock said it must be around six thirty a.m., so he knew he had to get up and back to his apartment to change if he was to meet with the guys at eight. He wished he had made the meeting later as with every smell he took of Laura, his cock got harder and harder.

  After last night’s display, he knew he couldn’t just lay Laura on her back and have a quickie morning “glad to see you” with her. He would be happy if she never remembered his lack of finesse last night. Clay, hoping she wouldn’t wake up and want to kick him out of her bed, brought one of his hands up off her ass to her shoulder. With his other hand, he brushed the hair off her face and kissed her awake. He couldn’t put off getting up any longer, he had to get going.

  Laura came awake and was mortified to find where her hands and legs were. Moving off of Clay as fast as she could, she earned a grunt from him when her sharp elbow made contact with his stomach. Pulling up the covers that had been around her waist, she held them above her breasts and turned and sat up. With one hand, she pushed her hair out of her face and looked over at Clay lying beside her.

  She looked like she hadn’t expected to find Clay in her bed. Her startled expression told him so. Maybe he had presumed too much. Well, time to find out.

  “Good morning, baby.” Clay leaned over to get a good morning kiss, only to have Laura reel back from him. Falling back on his elbow, he tried to assess her feelings. “I hope you don’t mind, that I stayed the night. I know I should have awakened you to find out, but you were sleeping so peacefully that I just presumed that it was OK. Sorry.”

  Clay pushed the covers back off him and started to get off the bed. He had one leg off the bed and the other curved as he sat there and looked back at Laura. Noticing she wasn’t looking at him and that her face was starting to get a bit pink, he followed her eyes. He saw that her glaze was staring straight at his cock, which now was at full mast from holding her a minute ago.

  Clay hid a smile as he let her have a long look, then slowly he slipped off the bed and picked up his pants and put them on. He sat back down on the bed, his back toward her, and grabbed his socks and boots off the floor and put them on also. All the time he was doing this, Laura hadn’t said anything. The silence was getting to him and he could feel his muscle’s tighten up from not knowing what to expect.

  He felt a tiny hand grasp his shoulder. Turning his head to look at her, he saw that she still had the covers tightly clasped over her breasts, but now she wore a smile.

  “Don’t go. I liked having you here. I was just startled for a moment. It’s been a long time since I woke up in bed with someone. I didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome.” Laura felt bad and wondered when she would stop jumping at every shadow. After all the years she spent looking over her shoulder, she would think that by now her body would know the difference between the good and bad guys. Sliding her hand from his shoulder down his arm, she let it go as she lay back down on the bed beside him. She looked very vulnerable at the moment.

  Clay turned fully toward her, with one knee bent near her on the bed, and picked up her hand and kissed it. “I don’t feel unwelcome. If I didn’t have to leave, I would show you how much I wanted to stay. But I have to meet the guys at the office at eight and that just barely leaves me time to go home and change. Can I call you later? Maybe we can do something after my meeting?”

  Laura stood up from the bed, grabbing at her housecoat lying on the chair beside the bed. Clay, now standing beside her, told her, “You don’t have to get up. I’ll just let myself out. I hate to sleep and run, but I need to make that meeting as it’s about the incident at the club last night. I can’t let my friends down.”

  “I completely understand, but I can get up and at least make you some coffee. You must have time for that.” Laura was starting to get out of bed again. “I have to get up to let you out anyway.”

  Clay made a decision. He wanted to test how much she trusted him. She seemed to have forgive
n his less-than-stellar performance last night. “Why don’t I take a house key and come back for that coffee after the meeting? Is that OK with you?” Clay didn’t want her to think that he was the type to fuck and run, and he wanted her to know that he wasn’t giving her the brush off.

  Laura looked at him and she seemed to be trying to read his face. Whatever she found must have reassured her, as she told him to take the extra key on the dresser to his left. Taking the key, Clay made his way to her side of the bed and pulled her off it and into his arms as he tried to kiss her.

  Laura pulled back and put a hand to her lips before he could. “You don’t want to kiss morning breath. I’ll kiss you when you get back.”

  “Sweetheart, there is no way I am leaving without a taste.” Clay took a hold of her chin and moved her hand away from her lips, giving her a small kiss. “I need something to hold me.” Releasing her from his arms, Clay gave her a gentle smack on the ass. Leaving the bedroom, he looked back at her with a smile on his face.

  Laura could hear him go down the stairs and the opening and closing of the front door. Her hands went to her lips as she touched them, remembering the man who had just left.

  Someone must be smiling down on her. How did she ever catch the attention of a handsome man such as Clay? Add in his dream of a body with all those muscles, and a bear in bed on top of it, she couldn’t believe her luck. Laura looked down at her very ordinary body and doubts started crowding her mind. Maybe he hadn’t seen too much of her last night in the dim light?

  Laura shook off her doubts. She wasn’t going to allow herself to overthink things. Turning her thoughts back to Clay’s lovemaking last night, she remembered his hands on her and felt her body start to heat up.

  Getting up from the bed, she made her way to the bathroom and a steamy shower. Her muscles were starting to complain from her floor acrobatic exercise last night. Laura gave a happy laugh as she stepped into the shower.

  Chapter Nine

  Clay made it to the office with little time to spare, his shower at home being one of the quickest on record, even for him. Walking into the boardroom of Braden Security, Clay only expected to see Lance and Angel, but Grant and Chase were there also, sitting around drinking coffee.

  Chase was the last person he expected to see there, but now was not the time to bring it up.

  “Did something else go down overnight?” Clay asked as he took his seat and accepted a coffee from Grant.

  “Nothing much, but something bugged me every time I looked at the pictures we have of the guy in the parking lot. So I got Grant to do a comparison of them the computer. While it didn’t tell us anything more about the guy in the picture, it did come up with something else,” Angel told Clay as he looked at Grant.

  “Well, go on.” Clay was now sitting up with his elbows on the table and fully concentrating on Grant.

  Grant pushed his glasses up and laid an assortment of all the pictures from the different nights in front of him on the table. “We have only been concentrating on the guy. But what about the girls in the picture? When the computer compared them, it found remarkable similarities. All the women in the picture were short, no higher than five feet four, and all had long hair below the shoulder to their waists. I think he is stalking out a certain type of woman.”

  Grant had risen from his seat and was pointing at the various women in the pictures. The computer had cleaned up the grainy imagines some so that they showed more details. Every woman did have the same look, being small and compact with long hair. The pictures were all black and white so they really couldn’t tell the color of their hair, only that it was quite long.

  “Great catch, Grant.” Clay leaned over and picked up one of the pictures. “We have been only concentrating on the guy in the pictures, not the women. This gives us another clue and maybe a different strategy.” Turning to Lance, Clay asked him, “Do you know the women in the pictures? You must have made written reports of every incident.”

  Lance opened up the file folder that was sitting on the table in front of him, and pulled out report sheets. “I brought them with me today. I thought that it would be a good idea to go through them.” Picking up the first sheet, he matched it to the date on one of the pictures and drew it nearer to him. “This first one is Shelly Black. She usually is always with her Dom, but that night they had a minor spat in the dudgeon room and she left ahead of him out to their car. In fact, he was the one that scared the guy off. He didn’t bother to chase him, as he was more concerned with Shelly and seeing if she was OK.”

  Pairing off the pictures to each report, Lance told the guys their story. All were of women alone in the parking lot and either the women were able to scare him off or someone came out of the club at the wrong time for the guy.

  Clay absorbed everything Lance said to them. Sitting back in his chair, he glanced at all the men.

  “I think we should change from concentrating on the guys in the club and concentrate more on the women. With the number of women at the club on any given night, there should be more women that he tried to accost. Yet over the weeks he has only targeted five. He seems to be looking for a certain type and not just taking any woman randomly. We will just have to be extra vigilante when women matching this description are in the club. Your bouncer at the door should be able to help us with that if any slip past us and make it to the door by themselves. We should also put up more cameras or at least fix the feed coming in, so that we will have a better picture next time.”

  Angel, Brad, and Grant agreed with his assessment and nodded.

  Lance agreed to talk to Bob, who was the front doorman, and also agreed for them updating the cameras. He really didn’t want to put in extra cameras, as his clients were people that wanted to be very discreet and he prided himself on being able to accommodate them. His club was well known for its discretion, and members paid a handsome price for it and their privacy.

  Grant told him he would be very discreet when he installed the extra cameras, and make sure that no one would be able to spot them. But with the new ones it would be like watching a movie in color in high definition. Brad would help him and they would have them installed that very afternoon, before tonight’s opening. Grant got up to leave, with Brad following, to get started on the job right away.

  Clay, after working out a few extra details with Lance, watched him leave to update Bob, his bruiser of a front doorman, before opening the doors tonight.

  Clay turned his attention to Chase, who had been silent all through their meeting. “Are you here to play security guard again?” Clay asked him.

  Chase smiled and looked at Angel then back at Clay. “I heard that you found yourself a lady out at that Club. I thought maybe I would tag along and see if I can be as lucky as you.”

  “And where did you hear that?” Clay replied, looking straight at Angel.

  Angel just shrugged his shoulders and sat back. “You didn’t tell me it was a secret. He is James’s brother after all and well, you just seemed to be so happy. I didn’t think you would mind.” Angel picked up his coffee and took a sip with a mischievous look in his eye.

  “As Angel tells it, James got the fever and you just couldn’t let him be the only one. I want to hear all about her. I can’t wait to tell James when he calls. He sure will remember you dishing him about how he was so involved with Avery.” Chase sat up and put his elbow on the table.

  Clay looked irritated back at them. “It’s not the same thing. I just like the lady.”

  Chase didn’t let up. “But Angel told me that he had to help you out at the club, so you could bring your lady with you last night. That seems very serious to me. Do I see a link in a chain being built as we speak?” Chase was now openly laughing at Clay’s blush.

  Clay had given James a hard time, but this was different. He only liked Laura. That’s all.

  Clay got up from his chair and walked to the door. “I’m leaving.”

  “And where can we find you, if you’re needed? Should we
start at Laura’s place?” Chase just laughed harder as Clay slammed the door behind him.

  Clay knew he was blushing as he walked down the hall. He knew now that the secret was out his friends would rib him mercilessly. He had had an easier time facing down the enemy than taking on that bunch.

  Oddly, he found that he didn’t mind so much. Laura was worth it. He hurried his steps with the thoughts of the lady waiting for him to return. Clay let himself into Laura’s house an hour later. He had spent the time after the meeting going over e-mails in his office. He had sent one to James, catching him up on what was going on with the firm. James, even though he was on his honeymoon, still liked to be reassured that things were running smoothly with the company. He made sure his e-mail told James nothing was going on and instructed him to enjoy his time off.

  * * * *

  Clay closed the front door loud enough, so that Laura could hear him come in. He didn’t want to startle her with his abrupt appearance. When he didn’t find her in the living room, and she didn’t respond to his call, he started to worry.

  Just as he was about to go up the stairs to look for her, he saw movement in the kitchen. Laura looked like she was baking something and had earphones on, with her hips swaying to music only she heard. Clay stood there a minute and just took in the picture she made. Her long black hair was swept up in a messy bun on the top of her head and she wore a tank top with short red shorts.

  As her body moved in the red shorts, it hit Clay like waving a red flag at his cock. All thoughts left his head except the one where he laid her down on the kitchen floor and ripped those tiny shorts off of her. His hands itched. They wanted to do it so badly. Instead, Clay rearranged his now rock-hard cock in his pants and pulled out his shirt from his pants to hide evidence of those thoughts.

  Clearing his throat, he reached out to touch her. He knew the minute he did it, that he should have taken more notice of what she was doing. She turned with a scream, with the mixer in hand with the rotating beaters making the batter fly in all directions.