I kissed her fiercely. The hand that had been on my chin slipped lower, squeezing my breast. The hand under my skirt was tracing the edge of my panties, clearly tempted to go underneath the lace. My mouth finally explored the bare shoulder of hers that I had been admiring all night. She gasped when my teeth found her collarbone.

"As much as I love this dress on you, I want you out of it," I hummed against her skin. "Follow me."

I stood, pushing my dress back down before offering her a hand as she stood. Without her heels, she truly lived up to the 'Tiny Jane' nickname I had always chuckled when I heard both Kat and Sutton use it for her. She followed me through the French doors to the bedroom and before I could turn around, her fingers were on the zipper of my dress. I shivered as her fingers trailed down my back. She stopped to unhook my bra on the way down. Her hands came to rest on my hips while her lips followed that same path upward. By the time her hands reached my shoulders, I had started pushing my own dress off and down my arms.

The dress hit the carpet as I was turning in her arms. Standing before her, I had never felt as sexy or desirable. Her eyes wandered over my skin.

"You are breathtaking," her voice was thick with emotion.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"God, so alright."

With her eyes on me, she reached behind her and unzipped her dress. She slipped the one side over her shoulder before slowly sliding the dress down her body. When I realized she wasn't wearing a bra, I couldn't stand not touching her for another second. I sprang forward and kissed her, pulling her body against mine. She kicked the dress away as it landed at her ankles. There were two garments between us, but nothing at all separating us.

Together Jane and I were a whirlwind of passion. I was pressed against the bed in a matter of seconds. I scooted up the bed and she followed, stalking me until she had straddled my hips and found my mouth again.

"Your hair looks really hot like this," she growled as she ran her fingers through my hair. When Jane's lips reached my ear, I was expecting her to take my earlobe into her mouth, instead she whispered: "I don't want this to be a one-time thing, but if for whatever reason it has to be, I want all of you tonight."

I threw my head back, mewling. I knew exactly what she meant and had I not, her snaking her way down my body would have given me a clue. She kissed as she moved.

She would indeed have me in every possible way. As would I her. It was a magical night of making love to the woman I most desired, adored and loved. I would never look at Paris the same and I dare say neither would she.

###

I had woken early, my arms wrapped around Jane, her legs wrapped around me.

"Mmm… good morning," Jane hummed against my chest.

"Hi."

She looked up at me and I was enchanted. The love in her expressive eyes left me speechless.

"Shit. I never told Kat and Sutton where I was going!" she dropped her forehead to my chest.

"Eager to get out of there?" I smirked.

"You could say that."

It was endearing how shy she was while admitting it. I pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I think it's safe to say they know you are with me, Jane. Richard knew you were waiting for me and saw us leave together," I told her. This did not phase her. I relaxed a bit. It had been two decades since I had experienced a 'morning after' and I was as prone to worrying as she was.

"What happens now?" she asked the obvious question.

"We have breakfast, shower, I find you some clothes and we go downstairs. After the flight home, we figure out how we want the week to go and—" I stopped suddenly causing her to sit up partially.

"What?"

"I shut my phone off last night. I have no idea what has happened with the board. I didn't check in with the boys. I—" her lips on mine stopped my tailspin.

Fervent. That's the only way I could describe the kiss.

"What was that for?" I asked when it slowly ended.

"You needed to take a breath," she smiled bashfully.

I raised an eyebrow that she then kissed softly.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that."

I gave her a whisper of a kiss.

"I do need to check my phone."

I grabbed the duvet, wrapping it around my body. For everything we had shared the night before, I wasn't secure enough in my fifty-year-old body to be nakedly walking around the suite. I felt her eyes on me anyway. When I returned, I handed over her phone and crawled back under the sheet with her.

"One message from Sutton telling me I would have the room to myself," she rolled her eyes.

I listened to my voicemail and heard RJ, the chairman of the board, asking me to meet the next day. There was also a message from Elena regarding fundraising for the joint effort we were developing thanks to the incredible woman next to me.

"RJ wants to see me in his office tomorrow," I told her.

"Shit, Jac," she took my hand and easily offered support. "I'm sorry."

Shaking my head, I looked at her and hoped my eyes imparted the seriousness of what I was saying: "This is not on you, honey. Don't beat yourself up. I would do it again in a heartbeat."

She nodded.

"The boys?" she asked.

"A text from James. 'I'm sure the party went late. We are home from school. We miss you. Goodnight, mom. Love you,'" I read aloud.

"He's a good kid," she was genuine and correct.

"They both are."

She read my mind as she often could.

"I know they can't know about this. I know that discretion is a necessity."

I looked at her in awe. Her maturity struck me.

"For now," I said, her face lighting up. "What?"

"I was afraid you might have changed your mind about wanting more," she squeezed my hand and leaned against my shoulder.

"Not at all. No, I want to see where this goes," I kissed the top of her head.

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"When I told you it was complicated with Ben," she sighed. "The financial hurdle of freezing my eggs is something I told him about. He actually offered to become my domestic partner for insurance purposes. And Ryan… he worked for Pinstripe and now has a contract for a book I encouraged him to write… offered me the majority of his advance as a thank you for pushing him. He wants to make it possible for me to afford the process. Their offers came within days of each other."

I was stunned. She had alluded to support from unlikely corners in her article, but in all the imagining I had done, I didn't come anywhere near something like this.

"Wow. That is generous and very complicated. I am sorry you have been weighing this," I pulled her closer until my arm was wrapped around her and she turned to nuzzle my neck. I felt her breathing in the scent of me. "I wish I could say that Safford will change course, Jane. I also wish I could make you an offer of my own."

She looked up at me with surprise. "That wasn't what I was imagining your response to be."

I shook my head and hummed: "No, I don't suppose you did. Look, I understand the reasons for accepting either of those offers. If I had to pick, I would say the book advance would be less complicated, however selfish that is on my part. Marriage or domestic partnership can be very complicated. But then again, so can money. It's obviously not my choice and I have nothing to offer you."

"You published my piece, Jacqueline. That was an offer. You took action. You were brave for my sake and yes, Scarlet. You have given me something I didn't think was possible and you actually want it to continue. That is more than money or insurance. It's everything, really."

I placed a hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes before kissing her. It soon turned heated and my arousal developed quickly.

"We don't have time," I hummed against her lips.

"I know," she kissed me again. "I also don't have any clothes."

"Well, lucky for you a traveling fashion closet is in the suite next door. Every size, every style. Surely there is something you can wear. I find it interesting you don't want to meet the team in last night's dress," I winked. "Granted, it was a stunning dress."

"You'll have to remember it on the floor where it fell off of me," she was tempting me.

"You should shower first and find something to wear," I was desperately clinging to control.

"I am sure you are right," she kissed me chastely and got out of bed, thankfully. Unlike me, Jane had no qualms about walking to the bathroom totally naked.

"God!" I groaned as my head hit the pillow.

Her phone dinged and I saw that it was a message from Kat. I glanced at it and let out a hearty laugh as I saw the message on her lock screen:

Tell that gorgeous boss of ours good morning and then meet us in the lobby for the ride to the airport. Sutton is bringing your bag. I am bringing coffee. How does Jacqueline take hers? it read.

I picked up my own phone and typed out a message:

Skim milk latte. Thanks, Kat.

I am certain when she read it her jaw dropped. I chuckled to myself. Kat and Sutton would have known sooner or later, especially since Richard did. They were as wide of a circle as I was comfortable with for now.

For now… I liked the sound of that.

To be continued…