by Nana Malone
She blinked rapidly. “I—”
“The first time I kissed you, you had a boyfriend. I knew it. Trust me. I fucking knew. I just didn’t give a shit. It didn’t stop me from wanting you. Needing to fucking be around you like some kind of needy asshole.”
"Sebastian, wait—"
"So you’ve been driving me insane. And I can’t help but think you’re doing it on purpose. I do not have time for this. I do not have time for you. I do not have time for feeling like I always need to be around you or wondering what the hell you're doing when you're not with me, or for imagining what painting you're working on. I do not have time for this shit."
She blinked her wide, hazel eyes at me, and her bottom lip started to quiver. Shit. She was going to cry. But no, instead of crying she whipped around and started to storm out. And I don’t know why I did it. But I reached a hand out and grasped her upper arm before she could make her escape.
"Let me go. You don’t want to be friends. I hear you loud and clear."
Her skin was so soft in my grasp, and I had to be careful not to hurt her. "Don't you fucking get it? No! I don't want to be friends. I want to be a lot fucking more than that."
Kissing her that first time in the bar had been spontaneous and surprising. Kissing her in my apartment had been getting carried away. It was a taste I couldn’t forget. Kissing her now, when we were all alone with no one to stop us, was a choice. One that I couldn’t come back from. But that knowledge didn't stop me.
I slid my lips over hers, even as I wrapped my arms around her to pull her close. At first she held still, refusing to kiss me back. But then with a low moan in the back of her throat, she melted against me, her lips parting, allowing me entry. And then I slipped inside.
There wasn’t much thinking on my part after that. More like registering of feelings. Softness. Need. Longing. Desire. Lust. All of it. I felt it all. As much as I tried to keep that shit at bay, there she was insisting, demanding that I feel. Demanding that I pay attention to her. Demanding that I touch her.
I slid my tongue over hers, relishing her flavor and her taste. She was so small compared to me that it was easier just to pick her up and place her on the counter.
Hell yes. So much better because I could step between her legs and press the tip of my dick against her sweet center. All I wanted was more. I needed to be closer, needed more from her. She rocked her hips into me, and my damn eyes crossed. Fuck.
She moaned as I slid my hand up under her T-shirt and ran my thumb over her ribs. So goddamn soft. I wanted more. Would she let me drag her T-shirt off her head and palm her perfect tits? Would she let me bury my face between them, lick them, suck them? Would she let me fuck them? They were so full. That would work, wouldn't it?
My dick was rock hard and ready to cut steel, and she kept making those tiny little rotations with her hips as if begging me to strip down her leggings and slide home deep. I could do that. Who gave a fuck about consequences? I knew she would be tight. I knew she would squeeze around me.
"Sebastian, please—"
I cut her off with another kiss. I couldn’t stop touching her. When I eased my hand up to slide over the soft, silky fabric of her bra, she gasped into my mouth. I felt the sound and moaned in return as the delicate little bud peaked under my thumb. Shit, she was responsive. And I could feel her heat pulsing at me through her soft leggings.
Too impatient to wait, I slid my hand up her back and managed to unhook her bra with a single click. And then her breasts were spilling forth into my hand and … fuck yes. Soft and full and … God. I squeezed gently, kneading, plucking the tight peaks into even sharper points.
"Oh my God. Jesus."
I dipped my head, bending down to taste her. I told myself it would be just for second and then I would put her bra back on, set her on her feet, finish the goddamn inventory, and get the fuck out of there. Take her home, lay her across my bed, spread her wide and sink home deep.
I was not fucking her in the storage room. Any second now I would stop. Any second now I would stop torturing myself and her. I couldn’t have her.
But God help me, I couldn’t stop.
Her hands were in my hair, dragging me closer. I relished every minute of it.
The way her nails scored my scalp, the sounds that she made, the way she licked into my mouth, each shuddering breath she drew … I wanted more of that, more of her unabashed response to me.
I released one nipple with a slight pop and kissed across the other. Licking over her with my tongue, using my teeth to gently graze. Yes. Damn, she tasted so fucking good.
The more she rocked her hips up, begging for attention, the more I wanted to put my mouth on her clit and fuck her with my tongue. And I didn't plan on stopping until she nearly cut off my air with her lean legs.
"Oh, God. Sebastian ... ” Her words trailed off on a moan.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t process. Everything was lost in a blur of sensation and heat. I dragged my lips off of hers, kissing along the column of her neck, down past the hollow of her throat.
Her hands were in my hair pulling me close, holding me tight. She grasped at my T-shirt and tugged it off.
I trailed hot kisses between her breasts, skipping over two of my favorite parts because I had a better target. I’d been twisted up for weeks wondering what she tasted like.
I kissed past her belly button, hitching my hands behind her thighs and widening them. When I lowered myself, she tossed her head back on a low chuckle. “What are we doing?”
She had a point. What the fuck were we doing? Why did she twist me up like this?
Fuck, does it matter? No. It didn’t. Because I was making her mine.
My mouth hovered over the soft cotton of her leggings, and my heart thudded so loud I would swear it could be heard in Brooklyn. Just as I was about to press my lips to her cotton-clad heat, a deep voice called out from the bar.
"Seb? Are you in there? I know you’re here. Bar’s open. Hello?"
“Fuck." My dick throbbed in protest.
Len blinked in surprise. "Lucas?"
I stood slowly. Holding her to me. "Fucking Lucas."
"What's he doing here?"
"I forgot. He mentioned he'd stop by. I figured you and I would just be hanging out; I didn't think—I mean, I didn’t know we’d … " My voice trailed.
She blinked at me as if trying to put the pieces together. Gently, I reclasped her bra and readjusted her top. Then I grabbed my T-shirt off the floor and shoved it on more hastily.
She still sat perfectly still, looking shell-shocked, so I ran my hand over her curls. “You okay? I didn't mean to get so carried—”
Her gaze snapped to mine and she interrupted me. “I’m fine. I’m just horny.”
I couldn’t help it, and the laugh escaped before I could call it back. “That makes two of us.” I kissed her lips gently again before I called back to Lucas, "Back here."
I readjusted myself, trying to make some room for my dick in my jeans, and took a steadying step away from Len. When I picked her up and put her back on her feet, she moaned. Her eyes were still half-lidded, her lips bruised and swollen, and all I wanted was to kiss her again.
But Lucas opened the door and a cocky smirk flashed. "There you guys are. I’ve been calling for you. What were you two crazy kids up to?"
Len flushed and slid a glance at me. "Uh—”
“Getting more Kahlua to make a drink. I didn't realize you were coming so soon. I thought you were going to call."
Lucas shrugged. "Figured I'd just come see you. I didn't know I'd be interrupting anything."
I cleared my throat. "You weren't."
Lucas laughed. "Done so soon, bro?" He leaned over to Len. "I promise you, I last a lot longer. Want to take a spin? I promise to satisfy you a lot better than Sebastian can."
I couldn’t help it. I smacked him upside the head. "This one’s mine. Get your own." I grabbed the Kahlua and showed them both the way out.
Pa
st the main office, Len gasped. "Is that my painting?"
Busted. I flushed as I turned around. "Yeah. I got the owners to agree to put that in the VIP area. Looks good there, doesn't it?"
She stared at me and then started rapidly blinking her glazed eyes. "It does. Thank you."
The warmth spread throughout my chest. “It's beautiful. And it deserves to be seen. Just like you."
Lucas immediately broke up the tension. "Jesus, if you two are done eye fucking each other, I need a drink."
25
Penny …
This was insane.
What was I doing? Holding hands with the crown prince of the Winston Isles. And it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
"You're quiet. This okay? The thing back there in the bar ... " His voice trailed.
Yeah, if by ‘thing’ he meant hot-as-hell make-out session that still had heat flooding my veins even hours later. “Fine. Completely, totally fine."
"Okay. It's my general experience that when a woman says she’s fine she’s not actually fine. She’s pissed off, or in this case, freaking out."
I nudged him with my shoulder. "Or I’m just thinking. It seems like you’re having some kind of fight with yourself. Like maybe you don’t want to do this.” It killed me to say it. Because hello, I was still horny and I didn’t think BOB was going to get the job done tonight.
He squeezed my hand tighter, his warmth enveloping me. "I want to. Believe me. I am so desperate to be inside you right now. I’ve pretty much been only half-listening to Lucas because it’s all that I’m thinking about.”
“What’s the problem?”
I watched as he swallowed hard. “I don’t impress you. You want nothing from me, and it freaks me out. My whole life I’ve been trying to avoid being controlled, but without even trying you have me completely twisted up. You are in control here and it scares the shit out of me.”
I blinked up at him. “How the hell am I in control? I think it’s pretty clear I’m in control of nothing." I shook my head.
"I want you so much. But this is a really bad idea.”
I understood what he was saying, but I knew he didn’t have all the information. I knew what his stakes were here, but he knew none of mine and he couldn’t.
What my brain was saying: You’re an idiot. He is a job.
What my pussy was saying: Why aren’t you naked?
What my heart was saying: We’re toast. I’m in love.
What the hell was wrong with me? Walking away was best for the both of us. I knew what I needed to do, but it wasn't what I wanted. Because you’re the moron who’s falling for him.
Sebastian’s voice was low. “I wish I could explain. I can't. But I’ve already crossed a line, and fuck, I want to cross it again and figure out the rest later.”
As he spoke, electricity skipped over my senses. I really, really wanted us to cross that line. Screw consequences. What were those? You are stupid. I was blurring the lines of my job. This wasn’t just about keeping him safe anymore. This was about so much more now.
But when Sebastian squeezed my hand reassuringly in the elevator, I realized for the first time since I could remember that the confined space didn't bother me so much. I was too focused on him and the charge of electricity between us.
And then came the long walk down to our doors. He stood in front of mine first and waited until I opened the door. "I’ll see you tomorrow morning."
I nodded slowly. "Yes. Cameras at the ready. Early light is the best light. Good for painting too.”
He rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Deal. You get a little bit better with your camera, and then we can switch back to my painting lessons."
I nodded. “Okay. So this is it tonight. We'll just see each other tomorrow." Why was my voice high-pitched? And loud … so loud. The whole building was conspiring against me and being completely silent, straining to hear what we might say to each other.
Sebastian nodded, his voice so low. "Yep. Tomorrow. Bright and early."
He turned to leave, and my disappointment warred with confusion and loneliness. I didn't call out to him. I knew I couldn't, so I watched him silently walk to his door. This was all kinds of fucked-up in all kinds of ways.
But he turned around as if he'd heard my internal call. And then he strode right up to me. "Fuck it. This is impossible on so many levels, but I just don't care."
And then there was kissing. His tongue slid onto mine, licking into my mouth. His hands were in my hair, angling my head, directing my positioning. And his body was pressed into mine, pressing me back up against the door.
He made a low, growling noise as his hips rocked into me. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. I could only feel and I wanted to feel … everything. Screw the consequences.
All I cared about were his hands in my hair. All I dreamed about was his body pressed into mine. All that mattered to me at that moment was Sebastian touching me. I didn't care about consequences for these actions or what would happen to me after.
Because there would be an after. After this false, blissful existence. After he made me feel. After he helped me see who I could be. There would be a moment when he found out who I was, when I revealed I knew who he was, and when we both had to go home.
It would be one hell of a painful punch to the heart when he went back to his life and he might occasionally see me. Will you even go home? I didn't know, but in that moment, I didn’t care.
I didn’t care because Sebastian was touching me. I didn't care because Sebastian was kissing me and his teeth nipped at my bottom lip. His hand, gently tugged on my curls. His body pressed into me, making me want things that I didn't think were possible and that I’d never felt before. And it didn't matter because Sebastian Winston, the crown prince of the Winston Isles, wanted me.
The nobody screwup.
The one that no one saw coming. He wanted me.
And for once in my life I wanted to take the brass ring. I wanted the one thing that could never be mine. Even if it was temporary.
* * *
Sebastian …
I tried to remember to take deep, even breaths. I did not want to screw this up. I knew I couldn’t keep her, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her. I just wanted her too much to walk away.
Selfish prick. Didn’t I know it.
For that moment in time, I just wanted one thing that was mine because of me and not because I was the prince.
I dragged my lips from hers. “Inside. Now,” I growled.
Stop being a caveman, asshole. Shit. I needed to get it together. My hands were shaking and I couldn’t fucking get my breathing under control. I couldn’t pull some caveman shit on her. She deserved better. I wasn’t fucking her in the wardrobe of some royal function. She wasn’t sneaking me blow jobs under my desk when I was supposed to be taking an audience with my ministers. She wasn’t one of the girls that wanted a piece of the prince.
She mattered. And I needed to treat her like it.
She led the way into her apartment, and my hand reached out to stop her before she could flip on the lights. She shifted in my arms, causing her ass to rub against my dick, and I about crashed off the road to good intentions.
“You smell incredible, you know that? Something lime and mint.”
“It’s my shampoo.”
I nodded absently as I turned her around. The gasp that slipped through her lips was quickly muffled by my tongue sliding on hers, coaxing hers to play.
Fuck.
I groaned deep even as her body molded to mine. My hands tightened on her hips automatically, and I angled my head to deepen the kiss. Len’s arms looped around my neck, her fingers teasing the hair at my nape, pulling me down to her.
The pulsing heat in my veins controlled me now. All I registered was that I needed more heat. More lust. More. Of. This.
Our tongues fused and slid over each other again and again. Each of her low moans made the blood rush in my ears. I
let my hands slide down her back to her ass and cupped the generous curves, bringing her hips into contact with my steel hard dick.
She automatically rocked into me, and I dragged my lips away from hers, panting and desperate for more. She whimpered and I bit back a smile as I dragged my lips over her cheekbones to her neck then sucked on the soft spot behind her ear that made her fingers tighten in my hair.
"Sebastian," Len breathed.
"You're so beautiful," I murmured into her skin as I dragged my lips over her softness. Gently, I nipped on her ear, drawing another whimper from her as my hands slid up to cup her breasts.
Her sharp inhale was quick even as her body bucked against me.
Hell. Yes.
I ran a thumb over her nipple through her shirt, loving the way she arched into the caress. I needed more. If I could only have her this one time, I wanted to make it count. Needed to make it count. I needed to see her. To taste her. Just thinking about it nearly sent me over the edge.
Her hips tucked against mine and she cried out, moaning loudly as I ground my cock against her. So hot. I could feel the bite of her nails even as I devoured her lips, sliding my tongue over hers, desperate to possess her.
Gently, I backed us up and trapped her against the counter in her kitchen. When she shifted in my arms, I lifted her legs up and wrapped them around my waist, making room for my bigger body.
Frustrated and needing more skin, I grabbed the hem of her shirt, and tugged it up over those perfect tits before tossing it on the floor.
Oh hell. I drank her in as her breasts threatened to spill from her bra. The black lace framed everything just how I liked. High and proud and … mine. Every breath she took looked like an invitation to lick, to suck, and to fuck.
My damn hands shook with the need to touch.
Reaching behind her, I fumbled with the clasp of her bra, bringing the black straps down and running my thumbs all over the tops of her soft breasts. When I reached her nipples, I gently caressed them.
“Sebastian?” she breathed.
“Yeah?” I asked as I dipped my head and blew a breath over one.
