The thought of her sucking me off already had me stirring. When she didn’t move, I wrapped my hands gently in her hair and tried to tug her back up. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” I whispered.
“No, I want to. My ex said I wasn’t very good at it.” She glanced at me uncertainly. “I just thought that if you were going to let me explore, I could practice.”
Nothing in the world would have made me turn down that offer. “Take your time,” I muttered hoarsely. Leaning back, I closed my eyes and waited.
She was tentative at first. A tongue from base to tip. A few gentle squeezes. A quick lick at the tip.
It was more erotic than if she’d taken me all the way down her throat. I grunted and tried to keep my hips still while she played.
“Is that okay?” she whispered.
“Oh yeah,” I muttered hoarsely. She was going to be the fucking death of me.
When she finally wrapped her lips around me and slid slowly down my cock, I moaned and couldn’t help thrusting ever so slightly into her mouth.
As she grew more comfortable, she took more. Bobbed her head faster. At that moment, I would have done absolutely anything she asked me.
“Sloan?” I finally grunted through gritted teeth.
She used her tongue to play with me as she slid her mouth up and over. “Yes?”
“Your ex-boyfriend is a goddamn idiot.”
Chapter Five
Sloan
This time, when I woke up next to him, I didn’t leave. After playing with his body until late in the night, I’d slept soundly next to him, curled around his body like I’d spent countless nights with him. He had one arm thrown around me, and he actually looked peaceful as he slept.
I moved my fingers softly through his hair and tried to figure out what I was doing. I had just agreed to a casual sexual relationship. It felt a little empowering to take control of my sexuality.
“You look a little too pensive this morning,” he murmured as he stirred and stared at me.
“I thought you were asleep,” I said with a smile. Rather than pulling away from me, he held me closer to his body.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Turning in his arms, I pressed my hand against his naked chest. He looked damn good in the morning. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I looked a hot mess. “I was thinking about our agreement.”
“Planning on backing out of it now that you’re happily satiated?”
I saw the question in his eyes and smiled. “No. I was just thinking that it feels kind of freeing.”
“Oh really?” His hand reached down to stroke my naked nipple. My body responded to him immediately. “What do you want to do next?”
I knew what he was asking, but I wasn’t quite ready to voice any of my fantasies. “I want to get ready for class so I’m not late.”
He groaned in frustration as I reluctantly pulled out of his grasp. “You’re supposed to be at my disposal. What if I say that I want you to spend the day in bed with me?”
Chuckling, I reached for my clothes. “I’ll remind you that you have a multi-million-dollar company to run. You probably don’t have time to spend a weekday in bed.”
“That’s true. You’ll come to my bed tonight?”
Tonight? I so desperately needed to work on my thesis tonight. “I’ll try. I’ve got some research to do, but I’ll come afterwards.”
“You’ll be at the library?”
I nodded as I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. His eyes never left me as I pulled my frizzy hair back into a pony-tail. “You keep spending mornings with me, and you’ll stop wanting me in your bed.”
He whispered something so softly, that I wasn’t even sure I heard him correctly.
That’s the idea. Is what it sounded like.
Turning sharply, I stared at him. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the mirror. He was staring at me, but there wasn’t any guilt in his face. Even if he was trying to tire himself of me, it didn’t matter. I hadn’t questioned his motivations before I made the agreement, and I had no reason to question them now. “I have to go if I’m going to grab some coffee and breakfast before my first class,” I murmured as I turned from him. “If you could sneak out without Randi seeing you, that would probably be best.”
He slowly stood. As the blankets fell away, I couldn’t help but stare. Lucas Montgomery was magnificent. He looked even better in my bedroom. “Are you ashamed of me?”
Snorting, I rolled my eyes. “I doubt anyone would be ashamed of you. I just don’t want her drooling all over you. Would you please put some clothes on?”
Moving up behind me, he wrapped his arms around me and met my eyes in the reflection. “Does my nakedness bother you?” he asked huskily.
“Oh no you don’t!” I danced out of his reach and shook my head as I grabbed my bag. “I am off to class, and you will quit trying to distract me.” I took one last second to drink him in before I slipped out and closed the door behind me.
“There you are!”
I whirled around and stared as Randi stumbled in. Dragging a hand through her hair, she gave me a tired look. She still wore the same pink halter and jeans from yesterday.
I stifled a smirk. “Walk of shame?”
“Why is there no coffee in the pot? There is always coffee in the pot,” she moaned. “Did you sleep in? Why did you sleep in? Sloan, I need coffee.”
“I did sleep in,” I said as I slowly moved from the door. Praying that Lucas would keep quiet and sneak out without Randi knowing, I tried to gracefully leave.
“What did you do last night?” she asked as she cleared her throat. “Christ, I need a shower.”
“Just worked on my paper. I am super late, and yes, you really do need a shower. You should take a nice long hot one,” I said loudly, hoping Lucas would get the hint.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she muttered as she shuffled down the hall. Glancing at the clock, I gritted my teeth.
I was going to be so late.
It was a fact that my professor didn’t let slip. When I finally arrived at class, he stopped the lecture and turned to stare at me as I tried to slip unnoticed into class. “Ms. Whitlow, so happy that you could join us,” Dr. Elliot said dryly.
“Sorry professor,” I said as I ducked my head. Every head in the class turned.
“Would you like to tell us what caused you to miss over half the class today?”
I thought about telling him I was wrapped in the arms of a gorgeous man. But I just smiled briefly. “Alarm clock didn’t go off.” Quickly sliding into the nearest empty seat, I pulled out my notebook and tried to focus. As Dr. Elliot continued to lecture, I tried desperately to focus. By the time class was over, I realized that I hadn’t heard a single word.
“Ms. Whitlow. Do you have a minute?” Dr. Elliot called out as I packed my bag at the end of class.
“Of course,” I said with a tight smile. At least he was waiting for the rest of class to leave before he raked me over the coals for my tardiness. Mentally cursing Lucas and all his temptations, I slowly made my way down to him. “Dr. Elliot, I am sorry I was late.”
“Ms. Whitlow,” he said as he held up his hand and smile. “You’re almost never late, so don't think anything of it. I reviewed the information you emailed me last weekend, and although it’s very late in the game, I think, my dear, you finally have your thesis statement.”
My eyes widened, and I grinned. Over the weekend, I had emailed him the information I gathered from the charity in the hopes that I could include the information in my paper. The need for a summer schedule for students that included both education and pleasure that also taught the kids responsibility and charity. “I can make it work, Dr. Elliot. I know I can.”
“You’re weeks behind. You’ll still have to find a group of subjects to participate and get in touch with the charities to come up with a lesson plan befor
e the end of the semester. You have a lot of work to prepare for,” he said warningly.
I nodded eagerly. “I will. I’ll get started right away!”
He waved his hand to dismiss me, and I gripped my bag and raced to the library. If I skipped lunch, I had a solid four hours to work before my next class. After that, I could work all night.
Sleep was overrated.
It wasn’t until the sun had set and I’d spent hours in the library that my phone vibrated. Frowning, I picked it up and glanced at it.
Your class let out hours ago. Where the hell are you?
My heart sank. I had completely forgotten that I’d told Lucas that I’d try to meet him.
I’m so sorry. I got caught up in researching at the library. I’m going to have to take a rain check.
He texted back almost immediately.
So we make an agreement, and you break it the first chance you get?
What was the big deal? It was one night, and he knew how important my thesis was to me. I said I was sorry. I’ll make it up to you.
He didn’t text back, and I tried to sink back into my work. I couldn’t help but glance at my phone every now and then to see if I had missed his text.
I didn’t.
The library didn’t close until two in the morning, so I quickly lost track of time. It wasn’t until a shadow passed over me that I looked back up again.
Lucas stood over me, and there was nothing but cold anger in his face.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed in a low voice. Looking around, my heart sank when I saw that the library still had a handful of people in it. “How did you even get in here? It’s supposed to be student IDs only.”
“I have money, Sloan. You’ll find that gets me just about anywhere.” He sat down and stared at me expectantly.
“You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”
“I wanted to see you. We had plans, remember?”
I glanced at my watch. It was nearly midnight. “Lucas, I’m sorry that I forgot, but you can’t just sit here and stare at me while I work.”
“Why not? I don’t stand people up,” he said loudly.
Rolling my eyes, I gritted my teeth. “Lower your voice,” I snapped. “People are here to study. Are you going to be an idiot every time something like this comes up?”
“Do you expect to stand me up often? If you had called me and told me that you needed to work, I’d be much happier. Instead, you forgot. I don’t like being forgotten,” he said casually. He did lower his voice, but not by much.
“For fuck’s sake,” I growled and slammed my book shut. There was no way I was going to get work done now. Shoving my books inside my bag, I stormed out. Predictably, he followed.
Once outside, I whirled on him. “Is this what’s going to happen every time I piss you off? You’re going to stalk me on campus and embarrass me in front of my peers? I have put a lot of money and effort into my education, and this thesis is going to get me a career! A career that I am working damn hard for. I’m sorry that our plans slipped my mind, but I am weeks behind everyone else, so researching and writing thesis is my main priority. And if your ego can’t take that, then you might as well find some other woman to be your stupid fuck buddy.”
I turned to continue down the stairs, but he reached out and grabbed my arm. “Do not walk away from me, Sloan,” he said in a low voice.
“Let go of me.” Fury fueled me as I turned around to stare at him. “Let go of me, now.”
His anger matched mine, but he relented and released me. I shook my head as I stared at him. “Do you always throw such a temper tantrum when things don’t go your way? How does anybody stand to be near you?”
His face fell, and I worried if my words were too harsh. “Sloan,” he said in a low voice.
“It was one mistake, Lucas. I know that I should have said that to you, and I know that you don’t love that I forgot, but I can’t guarantee that it’s not going to happen in the future. You have the right to be upset, but if you got caught up in a meeting, I wouldn’t storm into your office and throw a fit.” Taking a deep breath, I turned my back on him and moved slowly into the darkness. When he followed behind me, I stopped.
“I’m just making sure that you get to your car safely,” he muttered tersely. “I’m sure campus security is not up to my standards.”
Controlling bastard. Too tired to argue with him anymore, I let him follow me back to my car. I didn’t make eye contact or say anything to him as I slid in the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut.
I still felt his eyes on me as I started my car and drove away.
A measly twenty-four hours later, and we’d blown it. Lucas Montgomery wasn’t the type of person who forgave mistakes, and I wasn’t the kind of woman who could be pushed around.
Despite my convictions, I couldn’t help but feel the tears prick my eyes. We were over.
Chapter Six
Lucas
I rocked back and forth in my chair and stared dumbly at Torrence. He kept talking, but I didn’t hear a word.
I had seen Sloan annoyed at me. Frustrated. Pissed. But this was the first time I’d ever seen her truly angry.
It was irritating. She stood me up. What right did she have to be mad at me?
“Are you listening to anything I’m telling you?” Torrence snapped.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I yawned. “I’m tried, Drew,” I muttered.
“For you to call me Drew, you must be tired. I don’t suppose you had Ms. Whitlow in your bed last night?” he asked dryly.
Cocking my head, I stared at him. “Actually, I did not. She’s quite angry with me. She think’s I’m controlling.”
Torrence snorted. “That should not be news to you. You are a controlling bastard.”
“She said I threw a hissy fit.”
“I think I might actually like her,” my friend said with a smirk. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I growled. “She stood me up, and I just went to find her!”
He stared at me. “Seriously? You stalked her because she stood you up? That’s a little over the top.”
“Shut-up. Why are you here?”
“I’m trying to give you a report of my findings. I’ve done a pretty thorough financial background report of nearly a third of the staff, but, while there are some kinky people working for you, I haven’t found any strange activity that indicates any payoffs.”
“Damn.” I rubbed a hand over my face and closed my eyes. Last night, I didn’t leave campus right away. I’d walked around a little bit and tried to remember my own time at college.
It was brief. Only two years. I’d only gone because my father demanded it, but college never suited me. I wasn’t the partying type. I was raised to be disciplined and in control, but college was full of temptations. My father was furious when I dropped out, but he was dead less than a year later. I wouldn’t have finished college anyway. It was strange to me that it would be so important to her.
More important to her than me.
It was a ridiculous thought. She worked hard for her education. I liked her because of that. She wasn’t a vapid individual that let her whole life fall to the wayside because a man showed her interest. She had a goal in life that was more than just having a good time. She had substance, and I adored her for it.
Until, apparently, it got in the way of what I wanted.
Damn it, I was a controlling bastard.
“Montgomery! I swear, if I’m just wasting my breath, at least let me know so I can grab a cup of coffee while you put yourself together.”
“I’m listening,” I growled. “I can sum it up in one sentence. You haven’t found the traitor. How is that helpful to me?”
Torrence shook his head and stood up. “You’re a damn ass today. Apparently someone telling you the truth really pisses you off. So she thinks you’re controlling. Montgomery, you are controlling. That’s not a horrible thing. You’ve built an empire on d
iscipline. Don’t beat yourself up over it. If she upset you, find another woman.”
I didn’t want another woman. I wanted Sloan. And even more strange, I wanted Sloan to like me.
The revelation startled me. I normally wanted women to lust after me, and that was never a problem. Sloan definitely lusted after me. Her body responded to every touch. Every word. But I never cared if women liked me before.
“How long will it take you to finish your search?” I asked finally.
“At least another week,” he sighed. “Maybe longer. I know you have a board meeting tomorrow. I think you should postpone it.”
“If I postpone it, I’ll have to give them a reason why. Just because we don’t think it’s a board member doesn’t mean it’s not. I have to pretend everything is normal.”
“The traitor knows you found their bug. It’s not like you have to hide from them,” Torrence pointed out.
“But if I take too many precautions, they might do something more drastic. As long as we sweep for bugs before the meeting, it should be fine. If any information leaks, then we’ll know it’s a board member. I’ll just have to be careful about the information I share,” I said finally as I turned to stare out the window.
“Montgomery, I’ve looked at the financials of the board members. If one of them is the mole, they’re doing it for personal reasons. Have you done anything to piss them off lately?”
“They’ve invested money in me, but it doesn’t mean that I listen to every word they say. I run this company as I see fit, and that doesn’t always sit well with them. But I can’t think of anything that I’ve done lately,” I muttered. Hamburg brought the traitor to my attention, but that didn’t immediately exclude him. Addison had been in a generous mood since her birthday, but I had a feeling that had more to do with the lover she kept on the side than with me. Holmes kept to himself, and Jenson was young and pompous, but his seat on the board gave him status. He wouldn’t jeopardize that just because he was angry with me.
“I’ll watch what I say in the meeting, Torrence. Don’t worry. Even if the company crumbles at my feet, I have enough money in the reserve to keep you employed,” I said dryly.
Evergreen: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 91
