Velvet Heat Ch. 03

Briana laughed softly. "That's my middle name Cole. I didn't give your PA a fake name. Oh and that's one hot PA you've got there." She finished in a slightly accusing tone.

"Jealous?"

"You wish."

Cole laughed and gave her a kiss. "She's an ex."

"What???"

"Is there a problem? Thought you were not jealous." Cole chuckled. Then looked up from the task of slipping Briana's panties back on her and immediately regretted joking about Kayla being an ex. Briana looked like she had been kicked in the stomach.

"Hey Baby I'm just pulling your legs." He said pulling her back into his arms. "She's just a very good friend of mine...and a damn good executive assistant. You will come to love her. Trust me." He hugged and rubbed her back till he thought she was okay.

He didn't think this was the time to tell Briana that Kayla had actually entered the office whiles they were making love. He just knew she would freak if he did. His feisty PA had come in after Briana had been in his office for ten minutes. It was their agreed way of giving Cole an out when he had visitors. He was either to go along with whatever emergency meeting she came up with, or signal...before the ten minutes were up... that a particular guest was important.

In Briana's situation, Kayla had not been alerted by Cole...for obvious reasons. So she had barged in with a cooked up story only to find them in the throes of passion. Cole was actually surprised he had even noticed her. He hadn't heard the door open. A movement at the door had caught his eye and then his gaze had locked with Kayla's. She stood just inside the door, halted midstride, staring wide-eyed and openmouthed at them. Then she had smirked, walked in further, picked up Briana's clutch from the floor, placed it on the glass side table beside the couch, and giving him a thumbs-up, left as quietly as she had entered, the sound of her heels, muted by the carpet. He knew he was in for one hell of an inquisition.

***

Briana sat in the comfortable couch in Cole's office taking note of just how spacious the office was for the first time. There were floor-to-ceiling windows which overlooked the city on two sides, while a wall of glass, covered with blinds faced the rest of the office space. Even as she watched, Cole hit a button on his desk which opened all the blinds. There was a conference table with six chairs on the left side of the office. The one opaque wall opposite his massive desk had a flat screen which had been tuned, at the moment, to the news channel. There were two distinct seating areas with a mini bar close to one. One set of furniture was gray, whiles the other was maroon and on a plush dark blue carpet, the office looked sophisticated and elegant.

Cole was on the phone with someone having a serious conversation so she had the chance not only to look around, but to also check him out. And Damn did he look hot! He was even yummier in his black three-piece suit with fine gray pinstripes. Seeing him from the back was a revelation. His shoulders were nicely broad without being bulky, emphasizing his lean waist and long legs. It was obvious how fit he was by the way his biceps and ass flexed as he moved, making gestures whiles talking on the phone.

He sank gracefully into his coffee brown leather chair making the leather creak and leaned back.

Just when she was thinking about how she would want to run her fingers through his short hair and kiss every inch of his body, he swiveled the chair around to face her, caught her staring at him and gave her a slow wink. God he was delicious! And the love she felt for him was so strong it scared the hell out of her.

"Listen Matt, I've gotta go. Talk to you later." Cole quickly said, hanging up the phone and moving towards Briana.

"Hey." He said softly.

"Hey yourself." She said back with a smile.

"Want something to drink?" He sat down beside her, taking her hand in his.

"No, thank you."

"Sure?" Cole said staring at her kiss swollen lips.

"Uh-huh."

He leaned in to give her a quick kiss but immediately his mouth touched hers, she sighed and brought out her tongue to lick his lower lip. He groaned and dipped his tongue inside her mouth, deepening the kiss, stroking her tongue with lush slides of his own. She felt the raging beat of his heart against her chest, and knew that if she didn't stop things, they would attract attention as the blinds were opened and therefore people could see them.

"Cole." She murmured tearing her mouth away from his.

"You are a bad influence you know that?" Cole said taking deep breaths. "I need to have a quick conference call. Have lunch with me after?"

"Okay." Briana agreed wiping Cole's lower lip with her thumb.

He went back to his desk and immediately saw the message left on his laptop by Kayla.

Kayla: You ready Cowboy?

Cole: Let's roll Brat.

Kayla: You sure you're up to this? Can you remember what you're to talk about?

Cole: Shut up!

Kayla: Lmfao! You've got it bad Cowboy. Pick up line three.

Briana relaxed into the seat flipping through a magazine whiles waiting for Cole to finish with is conference call. About ten minutes into the call the door opened and a tall elegant woman walked into the office, swaying her hips like she was on the catwalk. Not looking in Briana's direction, obviously not expecting anyone to be in the office besides Cole, walked straight to Cole, bent down and crushed his mouth with hers.

Briana gasped. Cole, though surprised, unhurriedly turned his face, breaking the kiss. He then made a gesture that he was in the middle of something. Miss Elegant left an envelope on the desk and turned to leave. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Briana staring wide eyed at her. She stared back with a haughty look and started towards Briana.

"And you are...?" She asked haughtily, looking down on her nose at Briana. But even before Briana could open her mouth to answer, Kayla barged into the office walking towards them.

"Regina, you should know better than to enter Cole's office without talking to me first."

"And was I to wait for you to come back from wherever you had disappeared to?" She asked Kayla rudely. Her dislike for Cole's PA was obvious.

Kayla laughed evilly and said in a sweet voice, "Oh yeah? How much did you say fire extinguishers cost these days again?"

"Bitch." Miss elegant spat at Kayla and stormed out of the office.

Kayla turned to give Briana an apologetic smile and rushed off after the woman.

Briana turned to look at Cole and found him watching her intensely. She quickly lowered her eyes, staring blindly into the magazine she had been reading before the interruption, turning the pages but not seeing a thing. What had just happened? Who was that woman? And why had Cole allowed the kiss even for a second? He had been in no hurry to stop the kiss...at least from where she was sitting.

By the time Cole was done with his call, Briana was staring at a spot on the door, lost in thought.

He stared at her tense posture for a while. Then turned to look at the messages from Kayla on his screen.

Kayla: Very sorry about that sweetie. Went to the wash room. You sure do know how to pick em. What a bitch.

Cole: Yeah tell me about it.

Kayla: Howz Briana holding up?

Cole: She seems lost in thought Kay. I can only imagine what's going on in her head. Damn!

Kayla: Well you better turn on the charm then.

Cole: Hmm...

Kayla: Hey, don't worry. You'll be fine. You're the ladies' man remember? And Briana had better start developing thick skin. Cos this is just the beginning.

Cole: Regina is right. You are a bitch Kay.

Kayla: Your personal bitch Cowboy. You guys going for lunch?

Cole: Yip.

Kayla: Where you taking her?

Cole: Thought we'd do Dragon.

Kayla: No. Do Italian.

Cole: She loves Chinese Kay.

Kayla: Ok. And don't come back here till she's back in high spirits.

Cole: Ay ay Madam.

Kayla: Lol!

Cole was not only Kayla's boss, but a close friend. Since the very first day she had been assigned to him, two years ago, as his PA, they had been a team but their relationship had never been romantic. Despite the fact that she was damn sexy with her dirty blond hair cut into a short, sassy Halle Berry hairstyle, he treated her like the little sister he never had.

They were extremely close and Cole loved and trusted her absolutely. He relied upon her and viewed her as essential to his being. Kayla, in turn, adored Cole and was incredibly loyal to him, to the point where she would take a bullet for him. Both tended to view each other as two halves to the same whole, and Kayla had placed Cole above all other relationships more than once. They took great pleasure in each other's company and enjoy their jokes and verbal sparring. Over the years, they had developed an ease of comfort found only between best friends, and were very good at reading the other. No one knew Cole better than Kayla, and although Cole generally tended to keep his feelings close to the chest, he was always more open and vulnerable with her than he was with anyone else.

She was privy to most of the details of his private life--she knew about Cole's late mother, his brother, and was fond of Cole's father. Cole had called Kayla to tell her all about Briana and how he felt about her the second day they had slept together. Before he had gotten back, he had sent her a beautiful picture of a smiling Briana. Kayla therefore knew who Briana was even before she had told her she was Lisa.

Kayla was also one of the few people whose opinion Cole valued, and he listened carefully to anything she told him, even if he did not always acknowledge it at the time. When upset, Cole sometimes fell back upon establishing the boss-employee boundary--a boundary Kayla was smart enough to know when to ignore, recognizing it for the emotionally distancing tactic that it was. She was likely the only person capable of keeping his reckless tendencies in check.

Cole, at the moment, was wishing for Kayla's confidence. He really hoped he would be able to get that lost look off Briana's face. He didn't even bother checking what Regina had left for him. She was a fellow lawyer working with another firm. Their fling had been hot but brief. She had gotten married after deciding that Cole was not ready to settle down, and then Cole had stopped their affair. But that hadn't stopped her from trying, any chance she got, to get Cole into bed. Like she always told him... 'We were hot together. You don't just let such heat go.'

Well it looked like he was in for a different kind of heat.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Cole said, startling Briana.

Briana looked up with a gasp. She hadn't noticed Cole standing beside her.

She shook her head and bit her lip staring down at her hands.

"Shall we?"

"You done?" She asked looking behind Cole as if expecting someone to pop up.

"Yep."

Briana picked up her clutch and with a hand on her elbow, Cole steered her towards the door of his office, pass a smirking Kayla and into the elevator.

Briana looked up just as the elevator doors closed and waved at a smiling Kayla. She wished she could have said a thank you to her for saving her from that...Cole's woman. She signed, making Cole turn to look at her.

"You okay?"

"Uh-huh." Did he really have to ask that, she fumed.

Cole drove out of the underground parking lot and eased into the traffic, in his sleek black BMW Alpina Roadster V8.

"I'm sorry about what happened back there." He said quietly.

Briana said nothing but kept staring out as she had been doing since sitting in the car.

"Talk to me Bri." Her silence was killing him.

She still said nothing. Soon Cole was parking at a private parking space in front of Dragon.

Immediately the car stopped Briana went to get out of the car but he pulled her in again. This time, however, he took hold of her chin and looked into her eyes. She melted from his touch but tried to maintain her angry look.

"By the way," he leaned in closer and whispered into her ears, "You look so damn hot in that dress, you were lucky I didn't rip it right off you."

'You're unbelievable.' Briana gushed out. She was mad and he was talking about her dress?

Oh dear Lord, she swallowed deeply -- her throat feeling dry as she tingled like mad. His voice was sending shivers down her spine.

"Can I kiss you?"

"When have you ever asked?" she rolled her eyes.

"Is that a yes?"

''I'm mad at you so NO, you can't kiss me. Are you sleeping with her?"

He pulled her into a scorching kiss. He teasingly took her lower lip between his teeth and held it there; another trademark-Cole sexual invitation he knew Briana couldn't resist accepting. He drew back from the kiss, satisfied with the arousal in her eyes.

"There's only you, Bri." His voice was quiet and firm.

A tremor moved through Briana at the seriousness underlying his words. He actually sounded angry that she'd doubted him. And Briana realized she believed him, silly as that may sound, she did.

He watched her lower lip tremble slightly as his mouth drew nearer to hers again. He paused a breath away from her and with a whispered, "never doubt that" against her lips, allowed his own eyes to close as he slanted his lips over hers in another claiming kiss. Their tongues intertwined and his lips moved softly but insistently against hers. She met his every movement with one of her own. When he pulled away, they were both panting for air as he pressed his forehead to hers, leveling their eyes to meet.

"Enjoyed that, did you?" Briana could hear calm, collected control waging a war with rough lust in his voice, and could see his typical look-at-me-aren't-I-just-the-sexiest-hunk-on-the-planet attitude.

"Are you really so insecure that you actually need me to answer that?" She retorted.

He laughed softly and gave her a quick kiss on her lips.

"If I didn't really care, do you think I would've asked?" he murmured quietly, eyes glittering with desire.

"You just can't get enough of me, can you?" Briana teased and Cole knew they were okay.

"You got that right Baby. Come one let's go get something to eat."

She got out of the car on trembling legs and was thankful for Cole's strong arm around her waist.

At the restaurant, they were given a corner table where they could listen to the soft music but could hear less talk. After a waiter had taken their order, Mr. Shou, the owner of the restaurant, stopped by their table to chat briefly with Cole. Telling Briana to enjoy her meal, Mr. Shou bowed and left them.

Their drinks were served whiles they waited for the starters.

"You come here often huh?" Briana asked.

"Yes. Shou is a good friend. Handled a case for him once." Cole explained using his finger to run circles on Briana's left thigh.

"Don't be a tease, Cole," she said softly, shivering at his touch and trying to hide the quiver in her voice.

"I don't tease," He retorted staring at her nipples which were already standing out.

Her nipples tightened even harder under his gaze, and she could feel her breath quickening. This was getting out of control. He was doing this on purpose.

"Cole?" Briana turned to see a handsome black guy in a suit with a blond beauty looking at Cole.

"Hey Jen." Cole said standing up to give the lady a tight hug, ignoring the man. "How have you been my love?" He added dropping a kiss on her cheek.

"I'm good Cole. You're looking good." She turned and extended her hand towards Briana. "I'm Jen. You must be Briana."

Briana took the outstretched hand and shook it looking at Jen with surprise.

"Yes I'm Briana. Hello Jen."

"You're surprised huh? He won't stop talking about you." Jen said indicating Cole with her chin.

"Talk about robbing the cradle." The black hunk said softly under his breath but Briana heard him and turned to look at him just as Jen elbowed him.

"Ouch. Kill me won't ya?" He groaned moving towards Briana. Briana extended her hand for a handshake but he ignored her outstretched hand and hauled her into his arms.

"Finally!" He said pulling back to look at her. "I'm Matt and you're gorgeous."

Briana blushed so hard she thought her face would go up in flames.

"Thanks Matt. Good to meet you."

Matt kept holding her hands and looking at her.

"Ok let go of her already will ya?" Cole said drawing Briana back into her chair.

"Oh honey," Matt said addressing Jen without looking at her. "We're so joining them." He added pulling out a chair for Jen and taking the one opposite Cole.

Cole groaned loudly causing Jen to laugh.

"Can't you just leave Jen here and disappear?"

"Don't worry Cole, if he doesn't behave, I will personally get Shou to throw him out."

"He's welcome to try." Matt said with his eyes still on Briana.

The waiter brought their starters which looked enough for twenty people, followed by a smiling Mr. Shou.

"I add Matt and Madam Jen already." He said looking at Briana.

"That explains it. How the fuck did you know I was...never mind. I'll kill Kay." Cole fumed but it was obvious he wasn't angry.

Briana threw back her head and laughed when Matt made a funny face at Cole, earning himself a pinch from Jen, who was obviously his Fiancée if the large rock on her left finger was anything to go by.

They all dug into the yummy starters and conversation soon turned to work. Jen, who was obviously a lawyer as well, brought the guys up to speed on an on-going trial. Briana soon tuned out her mind and enjoyed her sautéed squid. She was thankful her nipples had gone back down. How mortifying it would have been for Matt and Jen to have seen her in that state. And Cole...wait a minute...she could give him a taste of his own medicine couldn't she?

Cole was deep in talks with Matt and Jen when he felt Briana's had in his lap. He turned and gave her a quick smile and went right on talking. He nearly jumped when he felt Briana stroking him through his pants. He tried to focus on what Jen was saying but couldn't really pay attention as his cock was getting too hard for comfort. It occurred to him to stop her but he wanted to see just how far she would go. After a while he felt his zipper being lowered and Briana's hand stroking him through his boxers. He choked on the golden fried shrimp he was munching on and had to drink water. Briana didn't stop.

"Are you okay Cole?" Jen asked seeing how flushed he looked.

"Sure. Just went down the wrong way. You sure those guys are gonna cave? Because they seemed very adamant the last time we spoke."

"Oh they will." Jen replied. But Cole couldn't concentrate on her response. How could he, when Briana's hand had suddenly decided to slip under his boxers. He coughed, hiding a moan that almost escaped his lips.

Matt and Jen shot him questioning looks but the arrival of their main dish distracted them again. Thank God. He glanced at Briana and found that she was busily digging into the golden fried shrimps as if she didn't know what her hand was doing...like her hand wasn't playing with his...Oh God!

He bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes as her hand began to move in earnest. The friction of her delicate fingers kneading him felt a-ma-zing! He could just imagine how wet her fingers were with all that pre-cum spilling out of him. The sickest part was that, his friends kept talking, not knowing what was happening right there in front of them. He knew he should really stop her. This had gone far enough. But for the life of him, he couldn't bring himself to stop her. It felt too good. He could taste blood from biting his lip too hard. He was so close. Her thumb brushed the tip of his already sensitive swollen head and his breathing became irregular, heart racing as she twirled her thumb against the tip over and over and over...

"Fuck!" He exploded. Cumming so hard he thought he was going to get a heart attack.