HEAT
Part Two
The Office

Jude was in his office at dawn the next morning.  Life had to go on and he had a job to do, although he was still bothered about what had taken place the night before.  In the bright sunlight of a new California day it all seemed like some kind of fantastic dream but he knew it had been far more than that.  Annie had been the first thing on his mind when he woke up that morning - still in the armchair - not that he’d got much sleep.  Hardly any at all, in fact.  He’d come straight into the office after showering and changing and it was still barely light.

He wanted to make it up to her after what had happened last night.  He needed to explain to her why he’d had to shoot off so abruptly.  But the problem was there were things he couldn’t tell her, things she couldn’t be expected to understand.  First and foremost he knew he had to protect her.  And come what may, that was one thing which would never be compromised.

Deep in thought, he poured himself a cup of coffee.  He wanted to put things right with Annie as soon as possible and resolved to take her out to lunch.  It troubled him to think that his refusal to spend the night with her had upset her so much.  He looked resolutely thoughtful as he tried to figure it out.  No doubt she’d seen it as a rejection of her by him, but he sensed there was more to it than that.  When he’d tried to explain why he had to leave she wouldn’t even listen, it was almost as if she’d expected him to refuse to stay.  Jude sat down at his desk again but before he could get started on any work he was alerted by someone appearing in the doorway to his office.  He sprang up immediately as soon as he saw who it was.

Still wearing the same ultra-short dress which she’d had on the previous night, Annie stood with her back against the now closed door and her hands behind her.  Jude stared at her in rapt attention, for she looked lovelier than ever.  All at once, memories of their previous night’s encounter flooded over him and the merest sight of her now was enough to stir his body.
“Annie, what are you doing here so early?” he asked, fighting to control his feelings.
She began to move towards him provocatively, swinging her hips as she walked.  “Just reporting for duty a little earlier than usual, Mr. Cavanaugh”, she responded, her voice heavy with seduction. “I came here straight from the beach.  Well, almost”.
Jude watched her, his rampant desire for her making it impossible for him not to notice that not only was she still wearing the same dress that he had torn off her last night but that ..... that .....
“Annie, are you wearing anything under that dress?” he asked, his steely expression giving no clue whatsoever as to his raging thoughts.
Her smile was a mixture of sweetness and pure, unadulterated sexual invitation.  “Why don’t you take a look?” she answered throatily, momentarily moving closer to him before abruptly turning and walking away.  She then slowly leaned over one of the filing cabinets and gave Jude an answer to his question.

Annie’s short dress left absolutely nothing to his imagination.  Passion and desire were raging through him with an even greater intensity than last night.  He walked across to her purposefully, wanting her and needing her like he had wanted and needed no other woman and hardly daring himself to touch her.  She straightened up and turned to face him, the same “come hither” look in her eyes as she’d had when she first arrived at the office that morning.  He stopped for a moment, hardly daring himself to touch her.  As her eyes met with his, Annie knew that the time was right.  She slapped him hard across his face with a sharp, stinging blow.

“Annie!” he said, unable to believe what she had just done.  “What is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know how you have the nerve to ask me that”, she answered angrily, her blue eyes ablaze with unconcealed rage.
“Look, if it’s about last night, I know you’re upset”, he began, marvelling at how a hand as small as Annie’s could deliver such a stinging blow.  He hesitated for a moment before speaking again.  “There are one or two things which you don’t understand”.
“You don’t have to explain”, she yelled at him, “You already made it clear that I was only good for a quick fumble on the beach and that you wouldn’t dare contemplate spending the whole night with me”.
“A quick fumble?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.  “Is that all it was to you, Annie, a quick fumble?”
“Well, that’s all it was to you, wasn’t it?” she cried hotly, her anger intensifying.
“This is ridiculous!” said Jude.  It was rare for him to display any outward sign of exasperation but this was one of those rare occasions. He strode across to the other side of the room and sat down at his desk.  He looked at Annie again, once more conscious of the familiar hot surge of emotion which only she could arouse in him. 
“And you can’t go around like that either”, he added, displeasure evident on his handsome face.
“Like what?” asked Annie defiantly.
“With no underwear!” he answered, allowing his gaze to fall below her ultra-short hemline.
“How dare you!” she retorted angrily, “What I wear is none of your business!”  Her angry expression then fell away and was rapidly replaced by one of pure wickedness.  “Just because you’ve been inside me it doesn’t mean that you own me”, she declared mockingly, watching his reaction carefully. 
But Jude was not about to be caught out.
“I don’t ever recall saying I wanted to own you”, he responded in a low, dangerous voice.  “Let me make one thing clear.  I will not have any employee of this company going around in a state of undress”.
Stung by the coldness of his measured response, Annie was aghast as she faced him.
“What sort of a heartless monster are you?” she said, her voice raw with emotion.  “Even after what happened between us last night, you don’t care a damn about me”.
Jude fixed his grey eyes intently upon Annie.  There was a pause before he spoke.
“I care”. 

They remained silent for several moments.  Annie and Jude stood on opposite sides of the room staring at each other, transfixed by each other and totally unable to tear their eyes away from one another.  The connection between them, that invisible, indefinable thread which neither of them could explain or understand, was never so strong as it was at that moment.

“I care”.  Jude repeated his earlier words, somehow sensing that Annie needed to hear them again. 
The change which came over her was miraculous.  The hard, bitter expression which had characterised her countenance just a few moments ago had melted into a look of such softness that Jude could do nothing but watch her, as much under her spell as she was under his.  Totally mesmerised by one another, they moved towards each other slowly, anticipation of the moment they would meet and touch sending shivers of delight tingling all over them.

When they came together it was exquisite.  They fell into an immediate close embrace, pulling each other close as their lips met, creating a union of such bliss that the harsh words of only a few moments ago were immediately banished into long-forgotten mists of time.  Reaching up to run her fingers through Jude’s hair, Annie pressed close against him, longing desperately to experience the delicious closeness with him which had thrilled her so much last night.  He responded with alacrity, pressing against her and making her gasp out loud as he left her in no doubt as to the extent of his desire for her.

Their kissing continued, lighting the fires of passion within them.  Never had a kiss felt as good as this, thought Annie, delirious with pleasure.  She pulled one slender leg up higher, thrilling to the feel of Jude’s aroused body pressing against hers, and he slid his hands under her butt and lifted her up.  Her micro-length dress rode up above her naked hips as she wrapped her legs around him possessively.  Jude held her thus for several moments, sharing an intense moment of closeness with her as they gazed deep into each other’s eyes, each instinctively seeming to understand the other’s deepest needs.

Jude began to carry her over to the couch, desperate to make her his again and to show her that his feelings for her went way, way beyond mere sexual attraction.  He couldn’t explain it, but being with Annie felt so right, as if it were somehow meant to be.  But whatever their passionate intentions at that moment they were destined not to be fulfilled, for just as Annie and Jude were about to give into their desires they were noisily interrupted.

“OK, and what category do these particular office duties fall into then?”
Jude and Annie fell away from each other.  Being interrupted whilst in the throes of passion was something neither of them had bargained for, especially as the one interrupting them was none other than the glossy, immaculately-dressed figure of Annie’s blonde gossip-columnist aunt, Bette Katzenkazrahi.
“Aunt Bette, I didn’t hear you come in”, said Annie breathlessly, making a desperate attempt to both run her hand through her dishevelled hair and pull down her dress all at once.  Her face was flushed and her lipstick smudged as she turned to face her aunt.
“So I can see, Poopsie, so I can see”.  Her inquisitive gaze, which rarely missed a trick, became both speculative and appreciative as it fell upon Jude.  “Hey, Jude”, she said, nodding in his direction, not even bothering to disguise her admiration for Annie’s stunningly handsome employer.
“Bette”, responded Jude graciously, flashing one of his charismatic  smiles at her.  “Good to see you again”.  He had recovered his composure remarkably quickly. 
“Hmmmmn”, responded Bette.  She refocussed her gaze upon her niece, who had begun to look distinctly uncomfortable. 

Sensing that the best thing he could do at that moment would be to make a quick exit, Jude spoke.  “Look, Bette, I expect you’d like Annie to yourself for a while, and as I have some errands to run, I’ll leave you both to it”. 
His eyes met briefly but intimately with Annie’s before he strode out of the door.  There was no question in her mind as to the message he was sending her.

Bette watched him disappear and then said, “OK, Poopsie, do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Annie was about to speak when Bette spoke again.  “And don’t even think of trying to pull the wool over my eyes, I know what I just saw.  You weren’t taking dictation, not in that position”.
Bette stood there with her hands on her hips and challenged Annie to be honest with her.
“Aunt Bette, I can explain”, began a flustered Annie, running her fingers through her hair once again in an attempt to tidy it up. 
“Oh, you can explain can you?” asked Bette.  She spoke in her usual clipped tones but her voice was heavy with sarcasm.  “You can explain how vous”, and Bette pointed her fingers towards Annie for added effect, “Sans underwear, came to have your legs wrapped around the new Managing Director of the Liberty Corporation?  Fire away, Poopsie, I’m all ears.  Why were you trying to impersonate Sharon Stone?  And at this hour of the morning?”
Bette sat herself down on the black leather couch, crossed her legs and looked expectantly at Annie.  “Hmmmn?”

Annie, for once in her life, was lost for words.  She looked at Bette helplessly for a moment and then flashed a wide grin at her, the sort of grin which Bette recognised as the one which Annie sometimes used when she had something she wanted to hide.
“It just happened, Aunt Bette, you know how it is”, she said eventually, wishing she could have thought up something less cliched.
“And what happened to your panties?” asked Bette sternly, gesturing towards Annie’s lower half.  “What’s the story there?”
“I lost them”, retorted Annie defiantly, tossing her red hair.
“When and where did you lose them?” asked Bette, warming to the conversation.  “If that’s not too personal a question”.
Annie took a deep breath before answering.  Deciding that if she didn’t tell Bette the truth there and then she’d probably find out anyway.  “Last night.  On the beach”.
Bette’s blue eyes widened in amazement.  “Last night?  You and Mr. Gorgeous?” she asked, sitting bolt upright.  “You did it on the beach?”
Annie nodded.  Her expression wore a very rare hint of mistiness for a moment as she remembered his caresses, his voice, the way he had kissed her. 
“Whew!”  Bette got up and walked over to where Annie was standing.  “Was it good?” she asked, eying Annie speculatively.
“Aunt Bette!” cried Annie, exasperated with her aunt’s poking and prying.
“But on the beach, Poopsie, it’s a public place, you know, didn’t you ever stop to consider that?  Did you even notice?  And what about the sand, I mean, ugh, doesn’t it get into, er, uncomfortable places?”
“Don’t ask”, said Annie, grimacing.
Bette looked at her closely.  “There’s something different about you, Annie, is there something you’re not telling me?”
Annie’s face clouded for a moment, then she remembered how Jude had looked at her just before his abrupt departure.
“Aunt Bette, I’m not really sure at the moment”, she sighed, her insides turning somersaults as she recalled the moment she and Jude had reached when Bette interrupted them.
“Well, I’ve never seen you look at any man the way you just looked at him”, declared Bette firmly,  “And I should know, I’ve known you since you were born.  Annie, when I came in just now, you and he were about to do something very passionate indeed.  You tell me that you made love on the beach with him last night, losing your panties in the process.  Tell me, how did the two of you end up here?  Did you go home with him, do it there, and then come here for more?”
“Aunt Bette, stop with the questions already”, said Annie, who was getting rattled.  “I can hardly think straight as it is”.
“And where has Jude gone now ?” asked Bette, glancing in the direction of the door.
“He’s probably taking a cold shower”, responded Annie.  “Thanks to you”, she added a trifle insolently.  She placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes skywards, wishing she was still in Jude’s arms.
“I see”, said Bette, pursing her lips.  “So if I hadn’t made my entrance when I did, I just might have seen him making his entrance into vous!”
“Aunt Bette, that’s enough!” said Annie, her irritation increasing. 
Bette took a deep breath.  “You have changed, Poopsie, there’s no doubt about it.  Are you in love with him?”
Annie flinched at the directness of Bette’s question.  She could always rely upon her aunt to come straight to the point.  “That’s ridiculous.  I can’t answer that”, she responded, after a long pause.
“Can’t or won’t?” asked Bette, refusing to let Annie off the hook.  “Come on Poopsie, since when have vous not been able to tell moi anything?  Hmmn?”  Bette paused for a moment.  “Why don’t you begin by telling me exactly what happened last night.  I don’t mean all the romantic bits, just the rest of it”.

Annie realised that Bette would not be going anywhere until she had heard all she wanted to hear so she sat down beside her on the couch.
“I was on the beach last night”, she began, “I was going to take a walk but decided to sit on the sand instead.  I must have fallen asleep and when I woke up there was this creep leaning over me.  Jude got rid of him”.
“And?” said Bette, her eyes wide with anticipation.
“And then we made love”, said Annie, flicking her hair off her face with her hand.  She looked almost demure as she sat there with her hands folded in her lap and her legs together.
“Just like that?” asked Bette.
“More or less”, said Annie, and Bette decided against pressing her further.
“And what happened after that?”
“He walked me home”.
“I see”.  Bette got up, walked over to the window and then made her way back to the couch.  “Annie, you’re a grown woman and I can’t tell you how to run your life, but be careful, I don’t want to see you get hurt.  A man like Jude Cavanaugh is hardly going to spend his nights alone, you know”. 
“He wouldn’t spend the night with me”.  Annie realised she had blurted that out before she’d had a chance to think of what she was saying. 

Bette immediately realised that by making reference to Jude not spending his nights alone she had touched a raw nerve.  She placed a comforting arm around Annie’s shoulders.
“And did you want to be with him all night?” she asked, slipping into what Annie thought of as her caring mother routine.
Annie hesitated for a moment and then nodded miserably.  She had ceased to think of the deep unhappiness she felt last night when Jude had left her so abruptly but her hurt feelings were suddenly all flooding back.
Bette remained silent for a second.  She had not been wrong when she observed earlier that Annie had changed.  “Honey, I know he’s hot and all that, but .....”
”But it’s not just that, Aunt Bette”, said Annie, “There’s far more to it than the way he looks”.
Bette’s round blue eyes widened even further.  “My God, you are in love with him”, she breathed incredulously.  “You can try and deny it all you like, but I know that look.  You, my sweet Poopsie, are in love.  How does it feel?”
“Aunt Bette, you don’t know what you’re talking about”, said Annie, the expression on her face hardening.  “We wanted each other, that’s all, and something happened”.
“So what next?” asked Bette, rolling the ball very deliberately into Annie’s court once again.  “What next for you and the sexy Mr. Cavanaugh?”
“I don’t know”, said Annie impatiently.  “Why don’t we just wait and see  what happens”.
Bette looked at her kindly.  She was the only real parent Annie had ever known and, whatever their differences in the past, she still cared for her niece very deeply.  “If you want to talk you know where I am”, she offered.
“I know, Aunt Bette”, responded Annie smiling warmly at her aunt.  Her expression then changed.  “By the way, what brings you here so early?”
“I left my copy for the column here yesterday”, explained Bette, walking across to Jude’s desk.  She picked up a large brown envelope. 
“Couldn’t it have waited?” asked Annie.
“No, it couldn’t”, responded Bette pointedly.  “I’m driving down to San Diego for the day to meet the journalist who writes the gossip column for a local paper there.  We’re collaborating on an article about romance in the office”.
“What’s it called?” asked Annie absentmindedly.
“Straight Up”, replied Bette.


*


Alone in the office after Bette’s departure, Annie wandered over to the window and looked out on another gloriously hot sunny day.  She frowned as she stood there and mulled over what her aunt had said.  Bette had been right, of course, she’d just been looking out for Annie’s best interests and she didn’t want her to get hurt.  Annie was already beginning to miss Jude, she wanted him to come back.  She was filled with a throbbing, yearning desire to feel him close to her.  Bette had been right to express concern, of course, but as heavenly memories of her passionate moments with Jude flooded over her she began to wonder whether it was already too late to take steps to keep her feelings in check.

Her worst fears were immediately confirmed as Jude walked in the door.  The strength of the emotion which gripped her as soon as she caught sight of him shocked her.  Annie had never in her whole life met a man who could make a suit look as sexy as he did. There was something so strong, so powerful about him.  And of course he had that slight touch of arrogance - or was it merely supreme self-confidence? - which both infuriated her and excited her.  She was filled with a rampant desire to rip his clothes off and lick every inch of him.  Their eyes locked across the width of the big office and everything else faded away.

Loosening his tie, Jude walked across to Annie, never taking his eyes off her.  It was the way he looked at her which affected her so deeply, it was so intense, no man had ever looked at her in quite that way before.  She swallowed heavily as he approached. 
“I have something for you”.  Jude’s quiet, low voice made her tingle all over.
“What?” she asked, swallowing heavily.
The merest hint of a smile appeared on his face as he looked at her.  He reached into the pocket of his jacket and slowly began to pull something out.  The object was small, flimsy ..... and emerald green.
“My panties!” exclaimed Annie.  She started to laugh.  “You went to the beach?”
“Yeah, I figured we ought not to leave any clues about what happened between us laying around”, he said, treating her to a knowing smile.
“I’m surprised you managed to find them”, she said, trying not to be so affected by the feelings which churned inside her.
“Well, they got thrown quite a distance”, said Jude, desire flaming in his eyes as he looked at her.
“And as I recall it was you who threw them”, said Annie, flashing a brilliant smile of her own at him.
“I guess I can’t argue with that”, conceded Jude.  He held the panties aloft and then let them fall to the ground.

He has such great hands, thought Annie longingly, really incredible hands.  The fact that she was beginning to notice so many things about him bothered her.  Aunt Bette’s warning flashed into her mind and although she turned away from him she knew that she had once again  fallen under his spell.

Jude took off his jacket and then moved close behind her.  Sliding his arms around her slender waist, he stroked her hair out of the way gently and began to nibble her neck and then her ears.  Unable to resist such stirring caresses, she laid her head back against him.  He squeezed her tightly around her waist and then allowed his hands to travel slowly upwards before cupping her luscious full breasts.  Jude encircled her left nipple with a gentle finger, enjoying being able to give her so much pleasure.  Deeply aroused by his sensational caresses, Annie was by now left breathless, moaning and utterly powerless. 

He unzipped her dress down as far as her waist and excited her to fever pitch by stroking her gently all down the length of her spine before slipping the dress off her shoulders.  Leaning back against him, Annie took hold of the hand which caressed her neck and her shoulders and closed her mouth around one of his fingers.  A murmur of pleasure from Jude told her that her sucking of his finger was every bit as enjoyable for him as it was for her.

Jude then moved his hands upwards again.  Clad in a bra which was barely large enough to contain her breasts, he drove her near to madness by stroking her hardened nipples through the soft, silky fabric.  Desperate to feel his hands - and his mouth - on her naked breasts, she longed for him to remove the flimsy garment but Jude seemed in no hurry to stop teasing her.    

After several more moments of intensely arousing caresses, Jude turned her around to face him.  She quivered as he reached around and unhooked her bra.  Her breasts sprang free from their lacy prison as the unwanted garment fell to the ground and then he finished unzipping her dress.  It slid off her noiselessly, leaving her totally naked before him.

Jude placed his hands on her waist and looked at her for a long time.  He allowed his eyes to take in every single detail of her goddess-like body and made no attempt to disguise exactly how much pleasure he derived from it.  Only last night Annie had miserably wondered if anyone would ever fully appreciate her beautiful body and now here she was being admired and appreciated far more than she had ever imagined possible.

He leaned forward and Annie gave a moan of intense pleasure as his mouth closed on her peaked nipple.  She had had fantasies about him doing that - amongst other things - to her in the past and now she was getting to enjoy it for real.  She ran her fingers through his hair and when they kissed their passion soared to the fiercest temperature.  With a deliciously intimate entwining of tongues, they expressed their feelings and desire for one another in a hot, tingling embrace. 

Annie couldn’t bear to lose close contact with him for a single second.  Moments later they were on the floor together, hot with desire for each other as Jude’s remaining garments were rapidly discarded.
“Let me give you pleasure, Annie”, Jude murmured seductively.  She was straddling him as he touched her where she most loved to be touched and thrust a finger inside her.  She was wildly wet and gave a little moan of pleasure as his finger penetrated her.  “We didn’t get to enjoy all this last night”, he whispered, nuzzling her ear.   “It happened so fast”.
“That’s OK, it was what we both wanted”, breathed Annie, closing her eyes as she drowned in the sheer pleasure which engulfed her. 

He continued to rub her and stroke her inside but by now Annie needed more so, pleasure of pleasures, she lowered herself onto his hot, throbbing organ.  They never stopped kissing as they came together and she knew that his pleasure was her pleasure.  She understood instinctively that this time he wanted her to be the master of her own needs.  But he was her need and, just like last night, there was absolutely nothing in Annie’s thoughts except Jude.  Her senses were filled to overflowing as they writhed together and he moved on top of her.   Annie thrilled to the feel of Jude’s divine hands on her breasts and his tongue touching hers, no wonder the tumultuous climax which followed threw her into violent, uncontrollable convulsions. 

They held on to each other tightly.  Just like the previous night, they were in no hurry to disengage from each other.  Annie lay there in perfect contentment as Jude kissed her all over her face and stroked her hair.  She reached up and stroked his face, drifting into such sublime happiness that she felt she had entered an alternate reality.  Neither of them spoke.  As Jude smothered her with kisses and as he received her exquisitely tender caresses he marvelled that this was the same woman who, not so long ago, had struck him in a fit of anger.

She looked so beautiful laying there, her red hair spread out across the carpeted floor.  Beautiful and happy, Jude had never seen her look so contented, which was exactly how he felt.  Her happiness was reflected in her eyes, so blue, and now so trusting.   
“Annie, that was really something special”, he said, his voice little more than a low whisper as he continued to stroke her hair.
Annie loved the feel of him running his fingers through her locks.  She’d always been secretly proud of her glorious red hair and now, at last, she’d found someone who appreciated it enough to stroke it and play with it for hours on end.
“Don’t stop stroking my hair”, she whispered, her voice low and breathless.  “I love it when you do that”.
“I know”, said Jude, kissing her again.  He could quite happily kiss her continuously for the rest of the day and still it would not be enough.

The desire was soon stirring in them again.  They both knew that this time once would not be enough for them, they needed to enjoy each other again.  Jude entered her very slowly this time, moving inside her with exquisite gentleness until full penetration was achieved.  Annie drew up her legs, desperate to derive the maximum possible pleasure from her intimacy with him, and the two of them again became one.  They were so wholly and completely in tune with each other that nothing else seemed to exist beyond the exquisite world of pleasure and closeness which they shared at that moment.

They had both needed to express these feelings for each other for a long time.  Repression, denial, they had both - in differing ways - tried everything but nothing had worked.  It was not surprising for what they really needed was each other, to be close together night and day and for each of them to show the other how they felt.

When it was over they lay in each other’s arms.  Languorous and contented after their lovemaking, they both longed to fulfil their desires over and over again, but they knew that was impossible.  There were signs of the office outside stirring into life and, although Jude had locked the door upon his return to the room, they both knew that they could not allow it to remain locked for much longer without arousing suspicion.  Jude did not wish to expose Annie to any salacious office gossip and the two of them therefore had little alternative but to get dressed and prepare to deal with the rest of the day at work.

But Jude had no intention of letting Annie go without making arrangements for the two of them to continue where they’d just left off.
“I’ll take you out to lunch today”, he said, smiling his dazzling smile at her as he pulled on his shirt.
“Lunch?” repeated Annie, gazing into his eyes.
“Yeah”, said Jude slowly.  He gazed at her intently. “Either that or.....”, he kissed her, “..... we go back to my hotel and spend the afternoon licking whipped cream off each other”.  He kissed her again.  “So what’ll it be?”
She looked at him hungrily.


***************


CLICK HERE to read Heat Part Three


Annie’s Heaven Web Site, February 2000
  

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