Author's Notes: I only love the "Shatter Me" series...don't own a thing!

This is Part I of the "Bedsheets, Bathtubs and Boardroom Tables" series.

This series will cover chapters 55 - 58 and 65 of "Ignite Me"

It fills in the gaps we've all thought about but can't find in the book! All parts will be written in Warner's POV because truthfully, he's the only one we really care to listen to.

WARNING! This part contains graphic sexual content. Please read something else if you are otherwise sensitive or offended by such content. You have been WARNED!

Thanks to Supergirls2008 for your awesome and always appreciated input and for helping me unravel the complicated mind that is Warner!

Enjoy!

~Sweetwaterspice

*Once you get a taste of Warner you just can't get enough!*

The Boardroom Table

Part I

~Warner

I can't remember the last time I cried. I couldn't remember what it felt like to shed tears. Crying is a natural, human reaction to loss, so we are told. It alleviates pain, hurt, and anxiety. I hadn't had any reason for tears…not in a very long time. I cried today for the first time in years. I don't cry. I wasn't even sure I was capable. From the time I was small, my father beat into me that crying was not an acceptable reaction to anything. But my heart is hollow now. I've lost a great deal on this day because she's gone and now I have no one. I am truly, truly alone. For the first time in my life, I am a singularity. I tried so hard to help her but I was useless to her. There was nothing I could do and as her suffering increased, my helplessness grew. Yet, I loved her. My mother. She was once so beautiful, so tender, so caring. Those parts of her had withered and died a long time ago, replaced by an unrecognizable thing I dared even call a human being but I still loved her because I knew she loved me too…at one time.

My body feels heavy, weighed down, drained of life, of energy. I'm emotionally spent. My head pounds, my temples thumping a steady, pulsating beat. I drag myself out of the elevator barely registering the artificial light dimming as the door closes behind me. I welcome the darkness that greets me. I pause for a moment, rub three fingers over my left eye, squeeze the middle of my forehead together to quiet the loud drumming in my head. It doesn't help. I sigh. I wish I had some of those painkillers the doctor prescribed when I was an invalid…when my arm was housed in a sling and the pain was nothing compared to what I feel at this very moment. I'm sure I have them someplace but the effort to bother to look for them now is more than I care to give.

I begin to take mindless steps, one after the next, not cognizant of where I'm headed. My legs instinctively carry me towards my bedroom. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. I step through the door. It's dark and quiet in here too. I'm glad. My mind is restless and the stillness will do me good. I shed my jacket, toss it to the floor. My body thanks me for relieving it of the cumbersome, restrictive garment. I take a step, then another to my bed. My legs are like two tree stumps rooted to the ground and my feet feel like lead, hulking forward, fighting for each step. Finally, I manage to reach my bed. I want to lay down, to sink into nothingness. To allow the darkness around me to swallow me, to lull me into a numbing slumber. Tomorrow will be another day. The sun will rise and life will go on. I tug on one boot, throw it aside and it makes a dull thud against the carpet. The other soon follows, toppling to join its twin. My body is aching. I want to lay down but instead I sit and stare at the dark. It's strangely soothing. I can hide in the dark. I can hide my pain in the dark.

Am I alive? I stare at my hands, wondering if I would know if I wasn't. I think of Juliette asking the same question in her diary and I knew she understood the depth of my anguish today. Perhaps I would wake up and find this had been some kind of unbearable nightmare. My mother had been the focus of my life for so long, I felt unbalanced. In reality, what I felt was the gravity shift inside me, revolving now around someone else. Someone else I could not touch.

These hands, I stare at them now, capable of so much could do nothing to stop the inevitable. I knew this day would come eventually but greeting it when it knocks at your door is another story. No one is ever prepared. Never ready to say, 'Good-bye.' They say death is a natural process. Not her kind of death. Her pain had overcome her, had robbed me of the one person I clung to; for so long, the only other person I cared about in this world. She was taken from me and the reality of loneliness fills me to the core.

Maybe this is my life sentence. I'm condemned to live a lonely, solitary existence. Because, now there is another person I love, and she is just as lost to me as my mother. These hands…have known love so briefly. I allow myself to think of Juliette. How I wish she would be here with me right now to hold me the way she had back in my mother's room as I sat there empty and broken. I didn't ask her to, didn't look for her comfort but she took me, wrapped me in her arms and with soothing, gentle kisses and caresses tried to still my agony. I had crumbled in her presence, showed her yes, I was a man with feelings like any other. She didn't chastise my weakness but without spoken words, she understood, wanting to take away my pain. I was grateful for her kindness. I longed to feel the comfort of her embrace once more.

No. I'm alone. I don't deserve her and she will never love me. I can't allow myself to believe once again that she could. Juliette's touch has reignited the ache in my chest. She hadn't meant to be cruel, but the memory of her gentle hands in my hair is unbearable. The only two people I had ever loved would be forever kept out of my reach. And I deserve this agony for all I've done. For never being able to save my mother.

Then again, maybe allowing myself to find comfort in her touch had been a bad idea. The line between Juliette and I must remain clearly defined and I have to accept my fate. These hands I look into were doomed to never hold love in them again.

"Aaron…"

The sound of Juliette's voice sends a fresh wave of agony rolling down my spine. I lift my head, look at her. She's standing in front of me. I hadn't heard her come in and it's too late to hide the pain written on my face. The pain of the day crashes upon me once more and her presence is suddenly excruciating. I've spent the last few weeks fighting to bury my feelings for her but I am too exhausted to do so now.

"I'm so sorry," her voice is but a whisper floating in the darkness but it registers a need I can't let myself consider. I nod and get up. I have to distance myself from her. I know I will pay for any moment of weakness again and again when she inevitably pushes me away once more.

Like an automaton I answer, "Thank you," my eyes fixed on nothing in particular. It's all I could muster the strength in my tired body to say. Being near her is a constant battle with myself and I am drained of my will to fight today. As much as I want to reach for her once more, I can't allow myself to do so. As much as I want to indulge in her comfort I don't think I will survive the moment her duty to comfort me is fulfilled and she leaves again. I start my way out of the bedroom and I feel her steps behind me as she follows me into my office.

"Aaron!" she calls more intently as if to get my attention.

I stop at the boardroom table, my back turned towards her. I grip the edge of the mahogany surface trying to steady myself. She tortures me with her nearness, reminding me of what I can never have and I don't have the strength to pick up the pieces of myself when she leaves. "Please, Juliette, not tonight. I can't –"

She quickly interrupts me. "You're right. You've always been right."

And I have no idea what she's talking about. I turn around slowly, uncertain as to what I'm about to hear and I am afraid. I'm not sure I want to hear. She's already told me enough. My ears are full and I can't bear anymore. I'm afraid that her next words will be a crushing blow that will end me once and for all.

"Right about what?" I ask, throwing myself at her mercies once again.

Her slender fingers are pressed to her mouth and I feel my anxiety growing. I can't take this torture. I need her to speak.

"I do want you. I want you so much it scares me."

I'm a fragile piece of glass, fissured but holding firm and as her words invade my mind they spread out like long, thin tendrils through every part of me, fracturing me into a million pieces. I swallow the lump that's formed in my throat and try to immobilize the tremors in my bones. I feel like I've been hit over the head and I suddenly can't breathe. Fright has taken hold of me and like I beacon it shines in my eyes.

"I lied to you," she says. "That night. When I said I didn't want to be with you. I lied. Because you were right. I was a coward. I didn't want to admit the truth to myself, and I felt so guilty for preferring you, for wanting to spend all my time with you, even when everything was falling apart. I was confused about Adam, I was confused about who I was supposed to be and I didn't know what I was doing and I was stupid." Her words rush at me like a dam that's been broken and is releasing an unstoppable torrent. "I was stupid and inconsiderate and I tried to blame it on you and I hurt you, so badly." She stops. Takes a breath. "I'm so, so sorry."

"What –" the word strains from my mouth. I'm blinking fast, my brain is trying to decipher the sum of her words but it's spoken in a language I don't understand. It's too much to process at once but my mind is screaming at me to understand. Because what I heard is not possible. It can't be. And a small tendril of hope is building inside, threatening to strangle me. "What are you saying?"

"I love you. I love you exactly as you are."

I must be dreaming. This isn't right. She can't…no. No, you're imagining things. She's an apparition, a ghost…it's a trick.

"No," I gasp, the word barely leaking out of my throat. I cannot allow myself to go to that place again. I won't survive it. Impossible. These words I have waited for so long to hear. I won't survive. I'm shaking my head, my fingers tug at my hair willing her words to leave me, shaking her declarations out of my head. She doesn't mean it. She will take it all back again when she sees who I really am and it will destroy me. It's a lie. It's a lie. I have to get away from her lies! I turn away from her towards the table and I hear the strangling ache of my words, "No, no, no –" wrapping tight around my throat.

"Aaron –"

"No." I back away, agony threatening to overtake me. It's a lie. She doesn't believe it. She's trying to comfort me and doesn't realize how much I want this. How much this will tear me apart. "No. You don't know what you're saying –"

"I love you," she repeats, and I want to believe her…so desperately. "I love you and I want you and I wanted you then." Her words are music, her voice is honey-laced and everything I want, everything I crave and I feel her honesty, her sincerity pouring out of her. "I wanted you so much and I still want you, I want you right now –"

And the last wall around my heart breaks as her words weave themselves into me and settle like seedlings into the deepest parts of me, ready to sprout. Suddenly, I feel a burst of life because of them…

Because beyond all hope, I believe her. I have no need to resist.

I bound across the room and I pull her in my arms, my mouth is fastened unto hers as I pin her against the wall. Every defense has melted and I surrender myself completely to her. This feels so familiar but the energy between us is unlike the first time. It's charged, electric, exhilarating and we're both plugged in, feeding off each other.

I hold Juliette tight between the wall and my body and as my tongue clashes with hers, my kiss is deep and desperate. Months of yearning are packed into this moment and with my body I tell her everything, how ardently I need her. I'm so damn hungry for her, I want to devour every bit of her. She's returning my affection with as much vigor and hunger and I am drowning in the depths of her desire. I can barely breathe as my hands slip around the slim line of her waist. I need her closer to me and I fill my need as I hoist her up into my arms and I growl as her legs wrap around my hips. Her breathing is heavy, I feel the fall and rise of her bosom against my chest as I bathe her with kisses on her neck, her slender throat and I'm very much alive and I'm hanging on by a thin thread of patience.

There's no need for planned thoughts. I've played these moments in my head a thousand times and I know exactly what I want. All of her…in one serving. I turn with her to the nearest surface, the boardroom table and settle her on the edge. She sucks on my bottom lip and it drives me insane. I place a hand under her neck, keeping her mouth where it should be, against mine and our tongues are urgent as I taste every crevice of her mouth. My other hand slips under her shirt and the feel of her bare skin against my fingertips sends a rush of blood to my cock, my flesh already straining painfully against the front of my trousers. My need grows urgent and I wedge my thigh between her legs because I need to feel her closer still. Slipping my hand behind her knee, I slide it to the back of her thigh and with a firm hold, pull her to me. Our kiss is full, wet and lustful and once I break it, the sound of her ragged breathing turns me on and her body responds with a need of its own. I feel it vibrating through mine. Her hands grab unto my shoulders as if she were herself barely hanging on to reality.

I'm looking at her beautiful face flushed and full of desire…for me. Incredible. Breathing has become laborious. I suck in a breath to utter my wish and exhale loudly.

"Up. Lift your arms up."

She immediately complies. My heart is slamming furiously in my chest. The anticipation of undressing her is killing me. I tug her shirt up. Pull it over her head and I can't believe this is happening. I toss it to the floor.

"Lie back," I tell her, giving up the effort to control the airflow to my lungs as I'm looking at her in her bra. I cradle her back in my hands sliding my palms down her spine as I guide her down onto the table, and they glide further underneath her backside as she settles on the flat, wooden surface. Her chest is rising and I know her heart races just as fast as mine.

My fingers undo the button on her jeans. I find the zipper, slowly pulling it downward. The material gives way and I say, "Lift your hips for me, love." Her bottom eases off the table and I hook my fingers around the waist of her pants grabbing hold of her panties at the same time. I tug them down and hear her gasp. I'm on fire. I rid her of her sneakers, socks and blood pumps through my veins with every article of clothing I take off her body. Her jeans and panties are on the floor in an instant. Juliette is on the boardroom table in nothing but her bra and I bite back a smile. I lean over, kiss her softly between her ribcage, my nimble fingers finding the clasp in back. It unhooks easily. Sliding my fingers under the straps on her shoulders I slowly slip off her bra, my eyes filling themselves as her gorgeous breasts come into view. I discard the bra along with her other bits of clothing. I'm staring at perfection. At everything I have ever wanted and I can't believe she is actually mine.

Juliette's smooth, slender legs are parted for me and my hands are wrapped around her upper thighs as they begin a journey up, my thumbs pressing against the soft flesh of her inner thighs while my mouth wraps around a nipple sucking on her tender nub. I turn to the other, my tongue drawing wet circles, teasing the hardened peak of her breast. I pull it taut and let it go. I do the same to the first one. My lips mark a trail between her cleavage as I make my way down her body. My tongue juts out intermittently between feathered kisses down to her navel and I dip my tongue inside her bellybutton. I look up to see her head pressed back against the table. She's unraveling before me, because of me as her body aches for me to continue. Her hands grip my shoulders as I lay kisses on her hips, then across her pelvis. My head is now between her legs and I'm kissing her inner thighs and my mouth moves along the spot I've chosen to kiss. And when my tongue sweeps over her moist womanhood for the very first time I realize there is no stopping me now.

I lick the line of her pussy straight up to her clit, greeting her sensitive patch of nerves with the tip of my rigid tongue. I lower on to my knees, spread her legs a little wider and I dive my kiss between her folds, moving my tongue about – north and south, east and west, inside and out. Her bottom is squirming against my kiss as I hold on to her hips. Juliette's fingers reach for mine and they thread together, squeezing tightly as she cries out letting me know for a fact she's enjoying this most delectable of pleasures. I feel greedy and I feast on her not seeming to get enough of the softness of her flesh against my lips. I moan against her folds, take back one of my hands as I spread her with a couple of fingers for my tongue to explore the sweetness of her inner walls. I want her to thrill in this show of affection. I want to make her soar, to blind her in bliss. Soon her hips strain and I feel her pelvis spasm. Juliette's voice sings in ecstasy as her orgasm spills unto my tongue and her inner thighs quiver against my face. I kiss the inside of her thighs as I allow her body to calm just long enough before I bathe my middle finger in the remnants of her orgasm, running my digit up and down along her slit and the need to taste her overcomes me again. My lips clamp down on her, suck hard on her clit, and hearing her moan makes me harder and my own mind is going crazy and I think, I'm eating Juliette's pussy right now. And my heart is skipping beats. And I think…it's time to go to bed.

I stand, lift her up and carry her off to my bed.

I ease Juliette gently down on to the mattress and not wasting a second I straddle her, kissing her with a depth of intensity I've never known it was possible for me to express. My hands map the curves of her body and I'm besides myself as to how I've come to be in this position. Juliette is naked in my bed…with me…and she wants me to make love to her. I'm nearly overwhelmed by the thought and I bring my hands to her face and kiss her once, twice and I pull on her bottom lip with my teeth. Every nerve of my body is sensitive to each breath, each kiss she gives. My scalp tingles as she runs her fingers through my hair, pulling me into her.

Her tongue seeks mine as it's dizzying how she wants to fill herself with my kiss as if all of those kisses have been trapped behind her lips and now instead of holding them back from me, she's copiously giving them all to me. And greedily, I take each and every one.

A bold moment ensues and she shoves me up, off her. I sit back on my legs as she sits up, her hands shaking as she fumbles with the buttons of my shirt. After she undoes the second one her frustration is evident and I feel the tug of her hands on the fabric as she rips my shirt open, buttons snapping off in different directions and I can't help but to think how damn hot that was and how much I want her right this second. I slide my hands under her bottom, cupping her naked ass in my hands as I pull her into my lap, wrapping her legs about my hips. Our eyes are fixed on each other as I dip her backwards unto the mattress. Leaning over her, I cup her face in both my hands, my thumbs two parentheses around her mouth. Is this really happening? And as I ask myself that question, the rapid beating of my heart reminds me that this moment is real and I pull her close, my lips finding hers. I am forever lost in that kiss because she meets me and draws me in further, and the world doesn't exist anymore and I don't care. It's a heavy, unbelievable kiss. She is stealing my breath away and I pull back, her cheeks nested in my palms. I look at her, trying my best to breathe and say, "I think," I exhale, "my heart is going to explode."

A smile spreads across her lips and without a single word she pulls my head down to her mouth, her tongue tracing over my lips and she slips her full tongue inside my mouth to meet with mine. She moans and…

My heart explodes.

Hope you guys enjoyed Part I! So, what did you think? Please leave a review or comment or PM so I know you've liked this and want to see more! I would love to hear from all you. You can also follow or favorite too!

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Go on now...read Part II!