It’s only then that I notice the tent between his legs.
“Does that happen every time you fly?” I ask, my gaze lasered in on his lap. “Or is that special for me?”
“It’s always for you,” he answers roughly. “That’s the fucking problem. Nothing does it for me anymore but you. The other night when you went out for drinks with the girls, my hand could barely get the job done, even though it was your naked body I pictured in my head the entire time. It’s like nothing will satisfy except the real you.”
I tsk my tongue. “Poor baby. What do you recommend for the pain?”
He unbuckles his belt, lowers his zipper. “I just gave you a ride.” He reaches inside his briefs, palming his erection. “Now, it’s your turn to give me a nice…long…ride.”
I lick my lips unconsciously, feeling my nipples pucker underneath my breezy, linen dress. “These windows aren’t exactly tinted.”
“No one’s around,” he growls, his face reddening with burning lust. “Plus, the cockpit is facing those trees. No one can see us at this angle.”
My pulse jumps at the word cock.
Wriggling his hips, he shoves his shorts and briefs down past his manhood, freeing his rod until it’s rising straight up in the air. When he wraps his fist around the base, I flashback to how he looked handling the control stick. Gripping it so tight, his fingers absently stroking it when he was letting the aircraft coast.
My God, I never thought helicopters could be so sexual.
I’ll never be able to look at any kind of control stick the same way again.
His eyes lower to my chest. “Come sit on your throne, princess.”
“I’m not sure if I should be annoyed or amused by that.”
Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by my voice that I’m anything but shamelessly aroused. It’s too husky. Too throaty.
“What you’re about to be is filled,” he says through clenched teeth. “And after that, you won’t be anything but pleased.”
I quirk an eyebrow, even as I swing my leg over in preparation to climb onto his lap. “Someone’s cocky.” Literally.
Beads of sweat break out over his forehead. Unsurprising since the oppressive humidity from outside started seeping in here the second he turned the motor off.
But I suspect that perspiration doesn’t have everything to do with the heat index.
“Not cocky, princess. Determined. Because I’m not letting you leave this cockpit until that insatiable sex drive of yours has been well and truly satisfied. And by that, I mean not until I’ve drained your pussy of all the cream you’ve built up since I fucked you this morning over the kitchen table.”
“Yeah, and I’m the insatiable one. I didn’t exactly bend myself over that kitchen table because I couldn’t control my morning wood.”
His hand snakes out and latches onto my arm, pulling me the rest of the way over until I’m straddling his thighs.
“Give yourself more credit than that,” he breathes. “That was more than everyday morning wood. I got sprung the second you walked out of the bedroom in nothing but those microscopic pink panties and my old flight school T-shirt. If saying to hell with self-control and taking you right where you stood makes me insatiable, then I’ll wear that badge proudly.”
As if my panties weren’t already on the verge of bursting into flames, he has to fist my hair and stamp his mouth over mine in a mind-bogglingly possessive kiss. With that brand of ownership, he might as well have thrown my underwear down an incinerator. It’s not like they’re doing me any good at this point anyway.
While his mouth ravages mine, his hands grip my ass in a punishing hold. He gives it a light smack that leaves my skin tingling. I inhale sharply through my nose when that tingle turns into the barest hint of a sting. And his tongue is just as demanding as his hands, stroking, exploring, dominating.
His fingers curl under the string of my useless panties.
With one rip, they become nothing more than carelessly tossed away scrap material.
“Ah, shit.” He struggles to lift his hips, reaching for his back pocket. “I need to get a—”
“Don’t.” I pull his hand back and place it on my breast. “I want to feel you. Just you.”
His pupils dilate. “Are you sure?”
I nod. “I have an IUD.”
I adjust my hips until I’m hovering right over his length.
“I’m clean,” he swears. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to fuck you bareback.”
Oh, I think I have some. I’ve been dreaming—fantasizing—about it for the past four months.
I sink down onto him.
Both of our mouths fall open.
I keep carefully sliding down until he’s completely seated inside me. I’m so full of him, it’s difficult to move at first. But I’m so wet that it doesn’t take long for us to find a rhythm. I clutch the back of his seat and drive my hips down, while his hands on my waist guide our movements.
“Harper… Jesus Christ, you’re so tight.”
No matter how many times we have sex, I’m always extra sensitive in this position. Because West isn’t so much thick as he is long. Only a small percentage of men in the world can reach the kind of places inside a woman that West can. And when he moves his hips in his favorite corkscrew motion—like he’s doing right now—he finds my G-spot every single damn time.
With frantic fingers, he unties the strings holding up my dress. It falls to my waist, exposing my bra, which is a laughable deterrent for him. In two seconds, he has the clasps open and my nipple in his skillful, hungry mouth.
“I have to ask you for another favor.”
“Don’t worry.” His words are spoken around a mouthful of my flesh. As if he’s speaking to my breast, rather than to me. “I’ll give that greedy little clit just what she needs.”
“It’s about something else. Although you should feel free to do that, too.”
He stabs his cock into me at a sharp angle. “Can it wait until my blood is flowing in more than just one direction?” His mouth latches on to my other breast and sucks hard.
“It could. But you agree to almost anything when I’ve got you like this.”
I quicken the pace of my thrusts, the sound of our slapping skin echoing off the cockpit walls.
He releases a guttural groan. “Oh, fuck. I’m close.”
Me, too.
My hand moves to his shoulder where my nails dig in. “The Foundation is throwing its Annual Gala in a few weeks.”
“Uh-huh.”
I’m so close to orgasm, I can barely get the words out. “Will you please come with me and be my date?”
“Sounds like something I have to wear a tux to.”
“Maybe.”
He huffs out a breath against my bare chest. “Oh, princess. That’s more than just a favor. You’re going to owe me big time.”
“Put it on my bill.” Needing his agreement, I clench my inner muscles around his girth. He hisses through his teeth. “Please do this for me, West.”
He can’t seem to look away from my breasts that bounce in his face with every downward drive of my hips.
“Please?” I repeat when he doesn’t respond.
“Yeah, sure,” he murmurs absently. “I’ll do it. Whatever you need.”
I smile happily, knowing one of West’s principles is that he never goes back on his word. Regardless of whether or not he remembers agreeing to that five minutes from now.
“Finish me off, West.”
A growl rips from his throat as his hand lowers to my center and rubs that pulsating bundle of nerves.
It takes maybe six seconds before I’m convulsing over him, my inner muscles spasming to the point that I no longer have control over them. He dives after me over the cliff seconds later, roaring his release up at the ceiling of the cockpit. After emptying himself, he wraps his arms around me in a steely grip, both of us fighting to catch our breaths.
“What were you saying?” he eventuall
y asks, still panting through his labored breaths. “You asked me for a favor, didn’t you?”
My smile comes back. “You just agreed to come to the Annual Foundation Gala with me. And wear a tux.”
He stills. “Goddammit. You’ve got to quit doing that. It’s not fair.”
“Hey, it’s the only power I have over you. It would be a crime to never take advantage of it.”
His gaze slams into me, so many emotions swimming in his eyes. “Princess, you have no idea just how much power you really have over me. No idea.”
Once again, he’s miscalculated.
I have every idea.
Because I’m at the mercy of the same infinite power he has over me.
September
“What are you doing here, Mother?”
When I hopped up to answer the door after the bell rang, I expected to find a package left on the welcome mat. The new supplies I ordered for my makeup products should arrive sometime today.
Needless to say, when I open the door to find my upturned nose of a Mother standing there frowning, I’m a little shocked and a lot disappointed.
“Really, dear?” she chides. “An interrogation before an invitation to come inside? Surely, I’ve taught you better than that.” She brushes past me through the door without waiting for said invitation. “Or has the helicopter pilot lowered all of your standards?”
Apparently, these manners she speaks of don’t cover backhanded insults.
“Two seconds in the door and you’re already taking jabs at my boyfriend,” I mutter sarcastically. “That’s got to be a record.”
Arms crossed defiantly over my chest, I watch her take a slow turn around our modest living room. Nose wrinkled as if detecting a foul odor, her expression turns contemptuous as she stops to face me again. “Cute.”
In her world, that word is of the highest form of insults.
It might be small with mismatched furniture, but this is our place. Mine and West’s. And I happen to love the scratched hardwood floors and aged bay windows. We’ve made it our own and frankly, she doesn’t belong here with her superior, socialite attitude.
I roll my eyes, already over this conversation. “Is that the only reason you’re here? To turn down your nose at my home? Because I could have just sent you pictures. No need to venture outside of your husband’s oversized mansion and into the poorer zip codes.”
She narrows her eyes. “He really has sullied you, hasn’t he?”
“He has a name. And it’s West.”
“And I take it West isn’t here?”
“No, he’s working.”
Companies that rely on the tourism industry in this town make most of their money on weekends, which means West works half days on Saturdays and Sundays. It sucks, since those are my only days off. But we always make up for it the second half of the day.
“And work is what I’d like to get back to,” I add. “So, get on with whatever it is you’ve come to say.” I have a feeling I can’t stop her now anyway.
She glances over at the kitchen table where I’ve set up shop with all my makeup supplies. The one plus about West working these weekend mornings is that it gives me a chance to work on my formulas and create more products. It’s sort of become my creative quiet time.
And she’s intruding on it, dammit.
With a haughty sniff, she strides over to the arm chair and primly sits on the very edge. Like she’s going to get fleas from it if she lounges back too far.
“It’s come to my attention that there will be a position opening up in the City Planning and Preservation department in two months,” she explains evenly. “The position automatically comes with a seat on the department board. The Executive Board is currently accepting nominations for the position.”
I walk across the room to take a seat on the armrest of the couch. “Terrific. And you’ve come here to demand that I throw you a celebration party once you’re voted in?”
She stares at the wall behind me, noticeably annoyed. “It seems that because of my own position on the Executive Board, I am not eligible to run for a seat on another city committee.”
I shrug. “I’m failing to see how I fit in here.”
Her ice-cold gray eyes meet mine. They’re actually a mix between gray and blue, creating a color that can only be described as frosty. “Forgive me, dear, I thought it was obvious. I want you to run for the seat.”
I can’t smother the laughter that bursts out of me. “Sorry, Mother, but that’s not happening. I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time with this little visit. What in the world makes you think I would ever agree to that?”
A frisson of alarm slithers through me when the corners of her mouth curl.
Viper. That’s what she is.
“I think you will if you don’t want your boyfriend’s business ventures to come to a grinding halt.”
My lungs suddenly forget how to work. “What are you talking about?”
She pulls a stack of white papers from her purse, tri-folded, and hands them to me. Warily, I reach out and take them. My eyes fly over the words and zone in on the Charleston city seal in the upper left corner.
“This is West’s application for his aviation company city certification,” I say woodenly. “Why do you have it?”
Although I suspect I already know.
Unconcerned with my rising temper, she plucks a piece of fuzz off her wool skirt and flings it away. “You should know by now that I have my ways, dear. When he spoke about starting his own charter service at dinner that night, I knew he’d need that certification in order to operate in this city. He can have all the business loans and licenses he wants, but if the city doesn’t approve that application, his little helicopter will never leave the ground again.”
The papers crumple in my tight grip. “You would sabotage his business?”
“His so-called ‘business’ means nothing to me. Why would I care about something that holds no value?”
Right. Because her self-interests are all she cares about.
“What do you want?” I hiss.
“Exactly what I said. I want someone on that Planning and Preservation board. I have my own plans, you see. Plans I’ll be able to expedite with someone already embedded in the department. And with my daughter in that seat, I’ll have far fewer hassles from the opposition.”
“So, if I don’t run for this seat, you’re going to make sure West’s application gets rejected and he’ll never be able to open up shop.”
She waves her hand with a flourish. “Let’s not forget about the business loan he so badly needs. Convincing Chad to turn him down will be easy as pie. And I personally know the presidents of every other bank in Charleston. I’ll barely have to lift a finger to convince them that your pilot is nothing but bad money.”
Jesus Christ.
This is my own mother saying these things. Threatening to destroy my boyfriend’s life. Bribing her own daughter.
“Why don’t you just use all that influence to put yourself in that seat?” I ask. “Surely, you can skirt past the rules and maneuver your way in there. As you just eluded to, no one really turns you down.”
Her mouth tightens. “It’s become a greater challenge than I expected. Certain city officials are staunch non-rule-breakers and aim to see that I don’t hold positions on multiple boards.”
I snort. “Meaning, you’ve pissed off too many people and they won’t allow it.”
Her eyes fly to mine, her face contorting into a look of derision. “Don’t forget your place, daughter. You’re quite mistaken if you think you have any power here.”
“That’s where you and I differ, Mother.” Though it’s nowhere close to the only way. “I could care less about power and authority. I don’t aim to control people. That’s your life, not mine.”
She interlaces her fingers in her lap. “Perhaps I need to sweeten the pot, hmm? If you agree to work in the department and take a seat on the board, I’ll not only make sure your boyfriend’s applicatio
ns are approved, I’ll personally give him all the start-up money he needs. No bank loan, no interest to pay back. Call it a gift, free and clear. Without that hanging over his head, he’ll start to see profits within a year, if not sooner.”
My heartbeat stutters in my chest.
This cannot be happening.
My mother is giving me two choices here. Either I work in a job that will make me miserable for the rest of my days, while doing her every bidding, so West can have his charter business. Or I refuse and West’s dream dies a sudden death.
Can I actually do that to him? Can I live with making a decision that I know will prevent him from making his dream a reality? What it essentially boils down to is, how far will I go to make him happy?
I’m not harboring any illusions about what this will mean for me. Working in the Planning and Preservation department means an underpaid, unappreciated existence with long, insufferable hours and little to no rewards. I’ve heard enough stories. Any job with the city is no picnic. And being buried that far under my mother’s thumb might as well be a death sentence.
She’ll probably end up crushing me with that manicured thumb.
It also means this will effectively quash any ideas I may or may not have been considering over the past several weeks to break into the cosmetics industry. I won’t have the time to devote to the work it would require. Not if I take this job.
But this is all West has wanted since he was a kid.
He worked his way through flight school, put in his time, put in the hours. He’s doing all he can now to achieve his ultimate goal, to become successful. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t do everything I could to help him get there?
My entire life, I’ve strived to be the exact opposite of my mother. Selfish. Entitled. Scheming. Self-serving. Uncompassionate. Hell, one of her favorite lessons to bestow upon Violet and I when we were growing up was, Deeds, not words, proves someone’s true worth to you.
Everyone is a pawn to her. Even the people she supposedly loves.
And I love West.
Have loved him pretty much since the beginning. Even if we hadn’t lived together these last four months, I wholeheartedly believe we would have found our way back to each other. Drawn together like magnets. No matter what, I will always see that I do everything I possibly can to make him happy. That’s the bottom line.
The Six Month Lease (Southern Hearts Club Book 2) Page 18
