Chapter Eight

Hudson stopped in front of the bank of elevators and shoved his hands into his hip pockets, his dark blue Armani suit coat parting to the sides. He stood there, his stare focused on the vintage cast-iron dial, circa 1930, as it crept smoothly upward. The steel cables and pulls rattled and lifted the elevator higher and higher up the post-Depression era skyscraper, which was the paragon of a man who had taken pride in outward appearances versus nurturing a stable infrastructure. Hudson Chase was the opposite of such theoretical bullshit. But that was the irony; he was putting on one hell of a poker face while inside he was tap dancing on quicksand.

The dial continued to glide over the arch, and with each passing floor Hudson contemplated his latest merger. It was the icing on the fucking cake of his portfolio and he should’ve been full of high-octane joy. But he didn’t simply want another billion-dollar merger. No, what he wanted, what he needed, was the woman who avoided his stare at all costs. And when she did flick her steely gaze at him, her pain was directly communicated into his own chest until it was his heart being cleaved apart.

Bottom lining it, his victory was her personal loss, and the truth of that twisted in his gut.

At his side the high-priced suits squared off like a couple of pit bulls in a deceptively calm discussion. Hudson knew he should engage in their Monday ritual, but at the moment he could think of nothing but Allie and the way she’d looked standing in the corridor of the Art Institute on Friday night. She’d lost weight, goddamn it, too much weight, and although her sharp tongue had been a verbal blow torch spitting fire, her tear-rimmed eyes had revealed the pain that lay beneath.

The elevator chimed, plugging him back into the present, and when the doors slid open his eyes locked on Allie’s slim figure. The knot between his shoulder blades tightened further and the verbal boxing match beside him receded into white noise. She held his gaze and for a split second looked as if she was ready to go bare knuckle with him. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she would have him, much less forgive him, and yet his body behaved with the stupidity of a teenager and insisted on responding to hers. But the only glint of passion that flared in her eyes was an anger that cut so deep he feltit down to the marrow of his bones.

Fuck. Was the damage irrevocable?

Hudson held up two fingers to halt his already in-motion hounds. “Take the next one,” he said, his voice low, deep, and with a hard edge. With a nod his colleagues immediately took a step back, nodoubt planning to use the extra time to go toe-to-toe over what his next venture should be in their pursuit of world domination.

When he stepped onto the elevator, Allie shifted to the opposite corner. Without question his presence angered her. Fuck that, she was straight up pissed that he was breathing the same air. But even in her anger she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

The doors shut and the elevator lurched into motion. Hudson turned to face Allie, her stillness reminding him of the consequences of his ambition.

“If you’re going to try and persuade me to side with you at the board meeting tomorrow then you’re wasting your breath.” Defiance blazed in her eyes. “It’s a terrible idea.”

Hell if it was. His proposal to liquidate the newspaper division and transition to a solely digital format was a flash of brilliance, not to mention that it made sense for balancing the books. But at the moment spreadsheets were the last thing on his mind.

“I don’t give a damn about that right now. We need to talk.” With a quick movement he punched a card into the control panel and the elevator jerked to a halt.

Allie’s eyes darted to the panel and her spine straightened. “We talked at the gallery.”

“That wasn’t a conversation.” More like verbal sparring.

“I said all I needed to say.” She appeared to be completely composed, but Hudson could see the rise and fall of her chest, the white-knuckle grip on her bag.

“You may have unloaded, but hell if I have. And no matter what it takes you’re going tohear me out. Even if it means keeping this godforsaken elevator stopped all fucking day.” He tried to remind himself that anger would get him nowhere. Calm, levelheaded domination was the key to pressing the advantage, except he was way past that. With her he felt like he was gripping sand and every grain was slipping through his fingers.

“Stop trying to control me, Hudson.” Allie turned and lifted her chin. The anger was gone and in its place was a mask of complete indifference. Goddamn, it shredded him. He’d take anger over apathy any day.

He took a deep breath. She was going to ride this facade like the Macy’s Day Parade, marching through their little exchange as if they were nothing more than business partners forced into a resentful coexistence. He had to get her to drop her guard, to let him in. And if pissing her off was what it took to incite a reaction, then so be it.

“It’s never been that way between us and you know it, Alessandra.” Hudson flashed a slight smirk as he prepared to drop the H-bomb. “Well, except for the bedroom. And if memory serves, you enjoyed it.”

He braced himself, expecting a slap to light his face on fire, but instead her eyes dilated and fixated on his mouth. Her lips parted and her breath quickened. He had her. No matter how unaffected she pretended to be, she couldn’t help but respond to him. And the longer they stood mere inches apart, the more desire took over and became a downright menace.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Hudson reassessed on the fly. He stepped closer and his voice dropped to a low, seductive murmur. “Is that what it will take for you to hear me out?” He swept a hand across her collarbone and up the side of her neck. “You, tied to my bed as I move down your body.” His mouth hovered just inches from hers and his fingers cupped the soft skin at her nape. “Your every sense heightened by my touch.”

Allie’s eyes closed, her chest rising and falling with each breath she labored to control. Up close he could see the flush coloring her delicate skin and the lashes fanning out against her cheeks.

“Do you feel me? Feel my breath on your skin, my tongue flicking across your nipples, biting and tugging until you tremble beneath me?”

She licked her lips and his cock punched against his fly, every instinct telling him to fuck her until they were both too exhausted to fight.

“Is that what you want, my hands gripping your hips, anchoring you so you don’t move while I slide the head of my cock inside you, slowly, with just the slightest of movements.” With that, he pressed her against the wall of the elevator and her hands fell to his shoulders.

“I hate you,” she whispered. Her words were venom but they lacked conviction. Her hands flattened against his chest and her biceps tensed as if she were going to push him away, but instead her fingers curled around the fine fabric of his suit jacket, holding him in place.

Hudson took a deep breath through his nose. His heart pounded, pumping adrenaline through his body. “You wish you did,” he rasped in her ear, then tugged the lobe between his teeth.

Allie’s head thudded back against the elevator wall. “Bastard,” she breathed.

“I know, baby, I know.” His mouth slanted over hers, ravenously licking across her lips and sucking her tongue into his mouth. Sweet hell, he wanted her. Every inch of this woman was his, and he’d crawl through hell with his dick on fire before he’d let any other man put their greedy hands all over what was his and his alone.