by C. C. Snow
Holy shit. His filthy mouth.
I could picture us in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking over Chicago as he took me from behind. Nobody would be able to see us, but the illusion of being watched would be deliciously naughty.
I gasped out a moan, both at his touch and at his erotic promise.
Sensual smile playing on his lips, he glided his hands down my ribs, past my belly until he reached the drawstring of my ankle-length skirt. In a fluid motion, he went down on his knees, keeping his gaze locked on mine as he untied the bow.
Rough hands skimmed along the outside of my legs, dragging the printed cotton to the floor, leaving me in my white French cut bikinis.
“Your skin is so soft,” he said, trailing his hands along the back of my legs until he reached the underside of my ass.
The underwear was plain and functional, but Troy seemed to like what he saw because he groaned and placed a kiss above my waistband. His fingers slipped under the elastic until they dug into my butt cheeks. Then he grazed his lips down my pubis, his nose nuzzling into sensitive spots, making my arousal flare like wildfire.
The cotton was drenched and I was sure he could smell how turned-on I was. I buried my fingers into his thick hair, but when he flirted his tongue at my clit through the fabric, my knees weakened and I had to grasp onto his shoulders. His skin was scorching hot, damp with a sheen of sweat, under my fingers.
“Troy,” I exhaled, rolling my hips to show him what I needed.
He removed his hands from my ass and hooked his thumbs into my waistband. As he pulled, I shimmied and my panties slid down my legs. With a kick of my foot, the puddle of fabric moved several feet away.
Eyes fixed on the small triangle at my core, Troy wrapped his hands around my ankles and stroked upward, his long fingers grazing my inner legs and then my thighs. I widened my legs as he reached the apex. He dipped his head at the same time he moved his hands.
My head dropped back on a hoarse cry as his lips found my swollen button at the same time two fingers rimmed my pussy lips. The knot in my belly was already clenching in anticipation.
“Oh God,” I panted as the tips of his fingers pushed abruptly into me. He took my clit between his lips and suckled and it was all over for me. I fractured with a ragged scream. I felt my body tilting and then his mouth was covering my hole, dragging another cry out of me as my body kicked into another convulsion.
My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see anything, my vision turned inwardly. The waves of pleasure crashed over me again and again and only ebbed after what felt like hours. When I came to, I was staring at the ceiling, my back on a soft surface I assumed was my bed. My mouth was gulping for air and my limbs were still twitching.
I felt Troy’s large body next to mine and turned my head to look at him. He was propped on his elbows on his side. His eyes were so beautiful, dark with both hunger and satisfaction.
“I love making you come.” His forefinger ghosted over my cheeks, no doubt tinted a bright pink.
My eyes moved over him, frowning when I encountered his jeans. His huge erection must be painful, but he had seen to my own pleasure before his own.
I came up to my knees and pushed him onto his back. “I love making you come too and it’s my turn,” I said, leaning down to kiss him. Tasting my desire on his lips made my core heat again.
I reached down to undo his jeans, moaning when I freed his cock into my hands. He was already wet at his tip and I reveled in how much he wanted me. Breaking the kiss, I sat back on my heels and started to tug his pants and briefs off. He lifted his hips and I dragged the heavy fabric down his legs. I made an impatient sound when I had to stop to take off his shoes, but I sighed in triumph when he was gloriously naked.
I took a moment to enjoy the beauty of his male body, hard and aroused. His eyes latched onto me with hunger.
Starting with his shoulders, I gave him the same treatment he gave me, caressing my hands over every inch of his skin, rediscovering the spots that made him tense and tremble. I followed with my lips, savoring the unique, sultry essence of him. I moved on to his chest, taking a flat nipple into my mouth. Encouraged by his low groan, I licked the other one before pressing the edge of my teeth into his pecs.
“Fuck,” he breathed. His hands reached for me and I pushed them back onto the mattress.
“No, I want my turn,” I said with a whine.
“Baby, I won’t last if you continue touching me,” he groaned, raising his hips, his engorged shaft grazing the skin of my belly.
I moved my hand to clasp the thick root of him and he hissed and then cursed. Smiling, I slid down and took his crown into the heat of my mouth. Shutting my eyes, I pulled in my cheeks and sucked, drawing out a jagged moan from him. I started to scoot down to make a space for myself when he pushed me away. Before I could blink, I was on my back, my legs around his waist, and his cock poised at my entrance.
Our lips connected at the same time he flexed his hips, sending his cock into my pussy with one stroke. Eyes open, we gasped into each other’s mouths as our bodies joined.
“Jesus,” he whispered at the same time I cried out his name. We froze for a second, reveling in the connection, but the months apart had taken a toll.
At the exact same moment we rocked our hips, we became a writhing mass of hunger and lust and love. He fucked me roughly, driving his hips into me, but then sometime later, I was on top, riding him, sheathing his cock deep into my body. I came screaming and he immediately followed with a shout, filling me with his hot release, but he didn’t pull out, remaining hard and demanding inside me.
Twisting me onto my stomach, he pulled me onto my hands and knees and made love to me from behind. He kept the tempo steady and languid and I felt like I was melting. My arms shook as his hands teased my breasts and then my butt cheeks. His fingers slid to where we were joined, gathering our slick juices and then he circled the tight pucker of my ass. I tensed at the taboo touch.
“Beautiful, baby. You’re so beautiful. Let me make you feel good.”
“Oh God,” I moaned, relaxing into his touch, feeling his finger press into my back entrance. It felt strange and erotic and I never wanted it to end, but my body had other ideas.
As soon as he sent his finger into my anal passage, the forbidden pleasure sent me over the precipice. Calling out his name, my muscles clamped onto Troy’s shaft and finger. His hips punched into me and I could feel him swell thicker before he spurted into me.
Breathing heavily, Troy adjusted our positions so that we were on our sides, his hands wrapped around my waist, his cock still throbbing in me. I was incredibly wet from our multiple climaxes, but I had no wish to move or to clean up. I liked the messy and primitive intimacy of having his seed inside me.
“I love you so much,” I said, folding my arms over his. I felt a kiss drop on my shoulder.
“Not as much as I love you since you won’t share your pie.”
I laughed at the mock mournful note in his voice and felt my world fill with happiness.
Chapter 27
Troy
“He told me his family was pressuring him to marry Meredith,” she said into my shoulder.
After a shower and then another round of lovemaking, we were lying in her bed, her head on my arm, her thigh thrown over mine.
I stilled, knowing immediately who he was. Heart aching at how I had destroyed her trust, I tilted her head up and kissed her lips to silence her.
“No. You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” I said. I tightened my hold, the fear that she was going to slip through my fingers still thrumming through my veins. I had almost lost her because of the ghosts of our past.
Never again. I would never let it happen again.
She pulled away and put her palm over my lips. “Please. I want to tell you,” she said, resolve in her voice. “I don’t want anything to ever come between us again.”
After a long moment, I nodded. I didn’t need to hear it, but she needed
the catharsis of telling me.
Her head fell back onto my upper arm and I threaded my fingers through her silky strands. I placed my other hand on her ribs, feeling the rise and fall of her chest, needing the tactile proof that she was here.
“I met him at their engagement party.”
She paused, as if waiting for a reaction from me, but I kept my surprise contained.
“I didn’t want to be there, but Uncle Patrick…I mean my father was adamant I attend. I hated those kinds of functions. The people were stuck-up and the conversations were mind-numbingly boring. I doubted Meredith would have noticed my absence since I never really got along with her or Jemma. But I did my duty. I smiled and congratulated her and her fiancé. Then as soon as I made the rounds, I snuck out to the garden to hide until I could leave. That was where Carter found me.”
Elle was too focused on her story to notice the tension invading my muscles at the mention of the asshole.
“We had a pleasant conversation about our experience at NYU. He was a graduate student in the MBA program. He was friendly and charming, but never crossed the line. In hindsight, I realized he had been masterful about eliciting information from me. When I left the party, I never expected to see him again.”
She released a deep breath before continuing. “Then a week later, he showed up at the restaurant I worked at. He acted surprised to see me and asked me to go out for coffee with him, claiming he wanted to hear more about Meredith from her friends. I told him I wasn’t close with her, but somehow he convinced me I could help him.
“It started out innocent enough. Coffee. A drink. I told myself I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Then he told me he was having doubts about his engagement. He claimed his family was pushing him into the marriage because of Meredith’s connections. He said he didn’t love her.”
Her laugh was thin and bitter. “I actually felt sorry for him.”
I tugged lightly on her hair until she met my gaze. “Don’t. Don’t blame yourself. He was a consummate liar.”
The shadows in her eyes dissolved and she nodded. “Yeah…he was. He knew how to play on my neediness. He told me he was falling for me and I was flattered by his attentions, but I told him I couldn’t be with him because he was engaged. He swore to me he was going to break it off with Meredith, but he needed time to tell his family. And I fell for it because I was so swept away by the idea of a man giving up so much to be with me.”
The note of self-recrimination in her voice made rage seethe in my gut.
Her fucking parents. They had made her feel unwanted all her life and she had been hungry for acceptance.
“But he kept making excuses about why it wasn’t the right time to tell them. His mom was sick. His father was doing a deal with Smythe Corp and he didn’t want to rock the boat.” Her voice became a whisper. “Before I knew it, a year had passed and I got the wedding invitation in the mail. It was a slap in my face.”
Picturing her shock at seeing the proof of his hoax, I swore a blue streak. It must have been a hundred times worse than what I had experienced with Veronika. In my case, I had been the unwitting third party. It must have been purgatory for Elle to know she had been deceiving her sister—even one she didn’t like—the entire time.
“I confronted him and he made it clear he wasn’t going to give up being the son-in-law of one of the wealthiest families in New York. He wanted a piece of SC and marrying me wasn’t going to get him that. He did offer me the coveted position of being his mistress.”
Fucking asshole deserved to have his dick cut off with a dull penknife. In the back of my mind, I started to think of ways to make him pay.
“To his shock, I turned down the opportunity,” she said dryly. “And I realized I didn’t even know him. Our whole relationship had been a sham.”
“He is a sociopath,” I said.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I told Meredith, you know.”
“What did she say?” I asked, my gut knotting. Her sister had obviously opted to marry him so the conversation couldn’t have gone well.
She shrugged. “She accused me of seducing him.”
“What the fuck?”
“I tried to explain, but she said I was trying to ruin her life because I was jealous of her.”
“She should have thanked you for exposing him for the liar he is.”
“Well, she decided it was my fault and went ahead with the wedding. One good thing did come of it. I didn’t know what she told our father, but I was disinvited to the wedding.”
“I’m sorry, baby. That is fucked up.”
“It’s okay. I really didn’t have much of a relationship with any of them besides Gwen.”
“Do your other sisters know that you’re related?”
“No. As far as I’m aware, only Gwen knows and I want to keep it that way.”
“Your sister is quite impressive, by the way.”
“Yeah, she is.” Elle began to tell me about how the little girl befriended her and I vowed to help Gwen save SC.
Then I asked the question plaguing me for the past two months. “Baby, if you weren’t helping Carter, how did you know about the hostile takeover of SC?” Jake and Kayla were the only two people who knew about my plans.
She stiffened and pushed up on her elbow to look at me, tucking the sheet under her arms. “Carter came to see me two weeks before Christmas.”
Every inch of me was shaking with fury by the time she finished telling me about his machinations.
She dropped her eyes and said in a small voice, “I didn’t know what to do. If I told you everything, I risked losing you and my sister. Gwen had always talked about turning SC around, but she’d never get the chance if Weston took over. If I gave in to Carter’s demands, I would betray you and he would ruin the company eventually. And he would continue to blackmail me over and over again. I wanted to be selfish and send him the list, but I just couldn’t do it. Instead I called Gwen and made the bargain with her. She would use her inheritance from her grandmother to buy up shares of SC and sign over the ports to Weston Enterprises. It was an imperfect solution and I knew Carter would send you the files, but I had hoped...” Her breath caught and she bit her lip.
Regret thickening my throat, I stroked the line of her jaw tenderly. She had trusted me to not believe Carter’s poison and I had failed her. “I’m sorry, baby. I wish I had known Gwen was your sister. I would have given up on the takeover altogether.”
She shook her head. “I’m the one who should be sorry. If I had trusted you earlier and told you everything, Carter would never have had any power over me.”
“I’m going to finish him,” I ground out between my locked jaws.
Elle shook her head and sat up, the sheet dropping to her hips. I was instantly distracted, staring at her full breasts topped with delectable, rosy nipples. My blood flowed southward.
“No, let it go.”
At her words, I forced my attention to the conversation and I scowled. “No. He needs to pay.”
Placing a hand on my chest, Elle shook her head again. “Troy, if you hurt him, you hurt Meredith. And by default Gwen because she cares about her sisters. Promise me you won’t pursue this any further.”
My mind churned through several scenarios and my scowl deepened when I realized she was right. My need to punish him had initiated a sequence of events that almost cost me the most precious thing in my life. I inhaled deeply and then exhaled, releasing some of my poisonous anger. “Alright baby. But if he does anything to hurt you, I’ll gut him like the bottom feeder he is.”
“Fair enough,” she said before snuggling back into my arms.
“Was Carter the reason you left New York?”
She stiffened and took a deep breath. “In a way.” She paused and I gave her a squeeze of encouragement. I had a feeling this was the most important part of the narrative.
“After I broke up with him, I was so angry I had been stupid enough to fall for his lies. I had vowed I’d never be like my mother
, yet I had willingly become the other woman. I hated Carter, but I hated myself more. I went on a self-destructive streak, hooking up with random guys. I told myself I was using them. That I was in control, but the meaningless encounters made me feel empty and…trashy. So I stopped. That was when I decided to move to Chicago. I had never been running away from him. I was running away from myself.”
Aching at the trace of shame in her voice, I said quietly, “Baby, what you did wasn’t trashy. Any college student would have done worse during spring break. I reacted badly when I heard those sound files, but I was a jealous idiot. It all happened before we met and I had no right to judge you. What you do with your body is your prerogative. And what happened with Carter is not a reflection of you as a person. You’re beautiful inside and out.”
Her hair rubbed against my skin as she nodded.
Sensing she was unconvinced, I pushed her onto her back so that I could look into her eyes. “Baby, you couldn’t be trashy even if you tried. Sensual? Yes. Sexy. Fuck yeah.”
The strain around her eyes eased.
I followed the curve of her lower lips with my fingers. “And dirty? Thank God!” I said fervently, mentally pumping my fists when her mouth curled and her eyes shimmered with dappled sunlight. Fucking gorgeous.
“I’m the luckiest man in the world. You have the second filthiest mouth north of the Mason-Dixon line.”
Her smile was in full bloom as she raised a brow. “Oh? And who’s number one?”
“I am, baby. I am,” I said and placed my lips at her ear, hell bent on proving it. Although if she wanted to compete for the title, all the better.
***
Four months later…
“You look happy, little brother,” Jake said quietly, holding a sleeping Aiden in his arms.
“I am,” I said, my eyes finding Elle easily in the crowd.
She looked incredible tonight. Sheathed in a strapless crimson gown that hugged every curve, she was a walking male fantasy. Her hair had been tamed into an elegant knot at the nape of her long neck and I couldn’t wait to see it spill across our sheets. Whatever she had done to her eyes made me think of sultry nights and hot sex. And her red lips…Jesus, my pants instantly shrunk and I reined in my thoughts before I embarrassed myself.
