by Layla Hagen
I shake my head. “You’re stubborn and possessive.”
“Sounds like I’m a catch.”
“I didn’t mean those as compliments,” I inform him, crossing my arms over my chest.
“That’s how they sounded to me.”
“How do you figure?”
“You can easily rephrase that to determined and protective. Both positive traits.”
Despite my annoyance, my lips twitch with a hint of a smile.
“I won’t apologize for wanting to protect you.”
“I wasn’t really expecting you to,” I reply, disarmed by his passion and honesty. “But I’m warning you, I’m still mad at you.”
“I’m counting on it, darling. In fact, hold on to the anger until we get home. Unless you want to leave now?”
“No, the event isn’t over.” I’m a little suspicious of his sudden good mood. “Why do you want me to hold on to the anger?”
“Because there’s a kind of sex I’m dying to try with you.”
“What kind is that?”
He wiggles his eyebrows, leaning in. “Make-up sex.”
***
Nate
We arrive at Alice’s apartment hours later, but she’s still fuming. That moron stuck around for the entire event, and even though he didn’t so much as go near her again, I can tell he annoyed her. It sure as hell annoyed the fuck out of me. If I had my way, I would have thrown him out of the building. With a punch, so he’d know better than to disrespect Alice again. Just remembering how he talked to her makes my blood boil. But right now, I have to set that anger aside and focus on Alice. She’s my priority.
“Nate,” she says once we step inside her living room, “Maybe it’s best if you don’t spend the night here. I’m still mad, and I’m not good company when I’m mad.”
Her face is tight with suppressed anger and she keeps smoothing her hands down her dress, her fingers twitching every now and then.
“I disagree. You’re great company no matter what. You’ve got to let all the anger out or it will eat you up.”
“Nate!”
A red hue’s spreading on her neck. By now, I know her enough to understand exactly what that means.
Here’s the thing. Alice’s skin becomes so gorgeously flushed on two occasions: when she’s embarrassed and when she’s pissed. Right now she’s pissed, and maybe it makes me a jerk, but it’s a good look on her. Alice always has fire simmering just beneath the surface, but she only unleashes it when we’re in bed, or when she’s mad. And it’s a turn-on. I fantasize about riling her up some more, coaxing all the fire out of her, then wrestling her to bed, but it would be selfish. She needs me in other ways right now.
“If you’re waiting for me to leave, you’ll be disappointed.”
Her eyes widen, like she was caught in the act. I’ve learned to read Alice’s expressions like an open book.
“I have to learn to school my expression better around you,” she murmurs.
“Or you can tell me what’s bothering you so we can fix it.”
“I don’t know if there’s anything to fix.”
“Then we can talk about it and see where it gets us.”
“I’m just mad at myself for not seeing through him right from the beginning. That I’m so naive.”
Instantly I know what has her out of sorts, and it makes me see red. “No, you’re not.”
Closing the distance to her, I wrap my arms around her, hoisting her up against me, needing to make her understand.
“There will be assholes trying to take advantage of you, but you’ve got me to take care of them.”
She frowns, looking adorable. “You want to be my personal protector?”
“Lover, protector, whatever you need.”
“Okay.”
Right now, she looks at me with a hopeful expression, as if she’s convinced I can do no wrong, and that makes me want to be worthy of her trust forever. She has a way of making me feel like I’m a better man when I’m with her. She’s mellower now, calmer, but there’s more I want to tell her. “You’re kind and generous, and the smartest woman I know.”
Pushing her against the nearest wall, I tip her chin up, running my thumb over her lower lip before I slant my mouth against hers. She presses her delicious soft curves against me instantly, giving herself to me without restraint. This is one of the things I love most about Alice; she doesn’t give her trust easily, but when she does, there’s no holding back. Her soft and low sounds of pleasure reverberate in my mouth, deepening my desire for her. I want to be the one to give her pleasure for all times. I want to be the one who gives her everything she needs, who makes her smile every day.
She deserves to be happy every single day. I’d die a happy man if I have the chance to worship this woman for the rest of my days. The thought barrels into my mind so abruptly that I nearly buckle under its weight.
Of course, Alice picks up on it, pulling back a bit. “What are you thinking?” she whispers.
“Too many things.”
She’s only inches away from me, close enough for me to hear and feel her sharp intake of air. Her hands, which were resting on my forearms, grip me almost involuntarily.
“Good things,” I reassure her, and she releases my arms. “Very good.”
The corners of her lips lift up and she places them on the hollow on my neck, whispering, “I’ll let you get back to them, then.”
I swear the more I have of this woman, the more I want. I want it all: her fire, her sweetness. I thread my fingers in her soft hair, tugging at it as I lower my head to her neck, kissing down her collarbone and then back up until I reach her ear.
Bringing her closer to me, I bury my head in her hair. She rests her head on my chest, feeling small in my arms. And the thought of anyone making her feel small has all my protective instincts spring to life.
“You know when to kick ass and, unlike me, also when to be diplomatic,” I continue.
“Thank you. When did you get so good with words?”
“It’s easy with you, Alice, and I took a page out of your own book.”
She pulls away, inspecting me. “What do you mean?”
“You said it’s important to share things, and that if I’m mad, you want to know why. It’s a two-way street, and if you push, I push back harder. What we have is beautiful and solid.”
I have no idea where this is coming from, but I need to say it and she needs to hear it, so I don’t hold back at all. She’s everything, and all that was before her was nothing.
***
Alice
He cradles my neck, peppering my face with kisses: my forehead, my temples, each of my cheeks, then the tip of my nose. “You and me. This right here is real. So damn real.”
Everything in my field of vision blurs but him. I can see him clearly.
“You have no idea how much you mean to me, Alice. No idea.”
“Then tell me,” I whisper, and his breath catches. I clasp his wrists with my hands while he’s still touching my neck. Intertwined like this, I look him straight in the eyes. The walls have come down, the last wisps of wariness gone, and he’s laying himself bare in front of me.
“I’m in love with you.”
“That’s a good thing because I’ve been falling for you for a while now.”
A long while, if I’m honest, but it’s only become clear to me tonight how much I love this man. I love him with an intensity that scares me and fuels me at the same time.
The corners of his mouth lift in a heartfelt smile. “I love you, and I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have you, my Alice.”
My Alice. The words fill me with warmth and emotion. Rising on the tips of my toes, I plant my lips over his, desperately needing to kiss him. When he slips his tongue in my mouth, loving and exploring, I grow even greedier. I want to become one with him. I want to climb inside him and live there. Heat spears me, concentrating low in my body. It’s as if his words lit a fuse and his kiss brought wildfir
e. I ache for him to touch me intimately, to kiss and love me.
“I need you inside me,” I murmur between kisses.
“You read my mind.”
In a tangle of limbs, we rid each other of clothes. I’m shaking slightly, and with surprise, I notice that he is too. When we’re both buck naked, he lifts me in his arms, carrying me like we’re newlyweds. Once we’re in my bedroom, he carefully places me on the bed, parting my thighs. Instead of climbing over me right away, he peppers my entire body with kisses. He starts with my neck, paying special attention to the sweet spot at the base, then descends to one of my shoulders, kissing his way over my chest to the other.
He touches my breast, moving his palm in a circular stroke over my nipple until it turns so tight it’s almost painful. Heavens, this man knows what he’s doing. His mouth moves to my stomach, stopping at my navel, kissing it once before continuing the descent. Naively, I thought he’d go down in a straight line, directly to the prize. Instead, he veers off to one side, nibbling my hip. My fingers tug at his hair, gentle but desperate enough to show him I’m ready for more. That I need more.
When he hooks one of my knees over his arm, lowering his head, my sex clenches. Nate licks me where the cheek of my ass meets my upper thigh and my hips buck off the bed. Needing to grasp something more firmly, I move my hand from his hair to the bedsheet. Nate lifts his mouth, and for a few excruciating seconds, I only feel his hot exhales caressing my skin. I’m holding my breath, anticipating his next move. Leaning forward, he runs his lips over my clit.
“Nate!” I fist the sheets, all the muscles in my body contracting. I’m so wound up I might explode from foreplay alone. He teases my skin with one hand, moving in small circles on the outside of my thighs before shifting to the sensitive skin on the inside.
“You’re so beautiful, my Alice.”
Licking my lips, I draw a deep breath. “I like how that sounds.”
“Then I’ll keep saying it until it sounds silly.”
“I don’t think it ever will,” I admit. My next words are unintelligible because Nate parts my folds with his fingers, blowing a breath on my heated flesh. I feel so very exposed right now, but I also don’t feel the need to shield myself. Tonight is more raw and real than ever before.
With the first stroke of his tongue across the opening of my sex, my body turns to putty. I feel every lash of his tongue everywhere, as if every nerve in my body is wired to my core. I explode in an orgasm so powerful my entire body arches, and even my fingers and toes curl.
“Fuck, I’ll never tire of making you come apart like this,” Nate says.
Raising my head, I notice he’s stroking his erection, and the realization that he was touching himself while pleasuring me with his mouth turns me on to no end. Though desperate to have him inside me, I move onto my knees, pushing him on his back, and say, “My turn. Keep your hands to yourself.”
Instantly Nate drops his hand and I take over, stroking him with long and measured moves, dipping my head to swipe my tongue across his crown in between. His breath becomes increasingly shallower, his chest rising and falling in rapid succession. When I take his balls in one hand, licking him from the base right to the tip, he lets out a loud, almost primal grunt that vibrates through me.
“Alice! I need to be inside you. Right now.”
I decide to tease him some more, right until he grips my hair, his fingers pressing on my scalp, showing me how desperate he is. The next seconds are a blur in which Nate pulls out of me, then hooks a muscle-laced arm around my stomach, flipping me on my back. His pupils are dark and dilated, desire glinting in them as his gaze rakes over me, searching.
“Take whatever you need, Nate. I’m yours.”
He climbs over me, pushing my thighs together and placing his on the outside, caging them in. When he finally slides inside me, the sensation is new and powerful: tighter and somehow more intimate. My hands are at the side of my head, palms up, and Nate interlaces his fingers with mine as he begins to move inside me, slowly and lovingly.
“I love being inside you. It’s all I need,” he murmurs. “All I’ll ever need.”
His strokes become more desperate, and when he pulls out, flipping me on my stomach before grasping my hips and pulling me up on all fours, I don’t complain. I relish this display of control and desperate need. He slams against me passionately and relentlessly, and I move in his rhythm, desperate for release myself. When I feel him grow inside me, his nails digging into my hips, my orgasm unfurls, traveling through me like a shock wave. It’s sweet, electrifying, and all-consuming.
When we’re both spent, I collapse on the bed on my stomach, feeling Nate’s chest on my back, his warm breath in my ear.
“My Alice.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nate
“Guest of honor, huh?” Clara exclaims, inspecting my invitation next Friday morning. There will be a gala tonight, and everyone working at the San Francisco branch is invited. Horowitz told me about it days ago but forgot to mention that I’m a guest of honor. I only found out when the invitation was delivered.
“Yeah, which means I have a speech to write.” Which is why I’m sitting at my desk at the studio, staring at a blank document on my laptop instead of doing my job. The only good part about being a guest of honor is that I can invite one person to join me. Alice was ecstatic about it.
“And no time for it.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
“Well, this day can’t get any crazier.” As Horowitz’s laughter resounds through the open door of my office, Clara jerks her head back. “I spoke too soon. What is he doing here?”
“No idea.” Horowitz doesn’t come down to the studios unless shit hits the fan.
Seconds later, the man himself steps inside, holding a stack of papers in his hands. “Hello, Clara. Can you give me a few minutes with Nate?”
“Sure.”
She casts a worried glance my way before leaving. The moment the door closes behind her, Horowitz places the stack of papers on my desk, then claps his hands.
“Abbott quit. The London team is desperate for you to take over the job. Here’s the contract. They want you to start right away.”
***
Alice
The gala is in full swing by the time I arrive. I’m glad I took the extra time to let Pippa do my hair and makeup because I would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb if I had taken my usual low-maintenance approach. As it is, my fancy hairdo with the bright red flower that matches the red shoes do make me stand out, but in all the right ways. The venue is clearly old luxury with high ceilings and low-hanging crystal chandeliers. Round tables with exquisite tablecloths are scattered throughout the room. The centerpiece is the stage at the back for speeches.
With careful steps, I wander around, looking for Nate. The venue is packed with men wearing suits, which makes it even more difficult to identify my man.
Yeah, I’m going to repeat that a few more times in my mind because it sounds too good. My man.
“Well, well, if I don’t have the honor to be the date of the most beautiful woman around,” Nate says from behind me.
I swirl around, grinning from ear to ear. “I was desperately trying to find you, but with so many suits….”
“You, on the other hand, are very easy to notice. And very beautiful. You—”
“Nate, the man of the hour,” one such suit exclaims, stepping right between us and shaking Nate’s hand. “Congratulations on the London offer. Horowitz told me this morning, right after he brought you the contract. I knew Abbott wouldn’t last a year. Bastard gave up less than three months into the job. You’ll do great.”
Nate tenses instantly. My mouth goes dry, the words feeling like whiplash. Someone calls the suit, and he takes off with a curt nod at me. I need a few seconds to gather my wits, and to steel myself.
I blink at Nate, waiting to hear what he has to say. Why didn’t he tell me all of this? Granted, I just saw him, but accordin
g to the suit, he’s known since this morning. He had all day. Unless he decided already and didn’t know how to tell me. My stomach constricts, and I taste bile at the back of my throat just as a wave of nausea hits me. I feel so silly now in my ridiculously high shoes and with the stupid flower in my hair. No one needs to dress up to have their heart broken.
“Congratulations,” I say softly, looking at my hands.
“I meant to tell you today, but I didn’t want to tell you over the phone.”
“Of course.”
“I haven’t accepted the job yet, Alice.”
The key word being yet. Snapping my head up, I see a multitude of emotions warring on his face. Hope, fear, uncertainty. I know how much he wants this, and how much he worked for it. If there’s one thing I understand, it’s hard work and chasing dreams.
“But you will,” I say when I finally find my voice again. “Because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, isn’t it? To be at the helm of the show you idolize.”
“Alice—”
“I’ll watch every single episode,” I promise. “You’ll be great.”
“Listen to me.” Desperation tinges his voice, and it makes my eyes burn. “Maybe there will be other opportunities that don’t require me to move an ocean away from you.”
I nearly choke up. “Do you honestly believe there will be other opportunities for exactly what you want?”
His silence is my answer, and I know deep down that I can’t let him give this up just to be here with me. It wouldn’t be fair. Maybe he would say no anyway, but it wouldn’t be right to ask. It would be selfish and inconsiderate. Even if he said yes, years from now he could resent me for it.
My mind scrambles with a solution, a way to make this work, but I come up blank. To be honest, the effort to not cry takes all my concentration—not enough neurons left to be smart. So I do the only thing that seems logical. Taking a step toward him, I rise on my tiptoes—even in heels, I’m shorter than him—and kiss his cheek once.
