Price Of Love (Written In the Stars Book 4)

by Erica Marselas

  “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Leo asks softly, drawing his fingers up my back, to the curve of my neck.

  “I am, and I really shouldn’t be in this crowd.” I let my head fall back, to let it rest on his shoulder, and then place a kiss there.

  “I can tell you, I haven’t stopped thinking about you writhing under me for a second.”

  “You’re evil.” I glance up at him through my lashes, biting my lip.

  He untucks my lip from teeth. “You looking at me like that doesn’t help matters either.”

  My cheeks are on fire, and I glance over across the seats where Christiana smirks, looking between us knowingly. I’m never going to hear the end of it from her.

  "I'm going to grab some coffee. Do you want some?" Leo whispers in my ear.

  “Yes. Coffee. All of it. Please,” I beg, and he laughs and presses a kiss to my temple.

  "You got it. I'll be right back." With a squeeze of my leg, he gets up. I watch his sexy ass as he walks across the terminal and disappears around the corner.

  "You both look like the undead this morning." Christiana chuckles, plopping down next to me in the seat Leo just vacated.

  "We didn't get much sleep."

  “You slept together, didn't you?” Christiana says through her teeth trying to be quiet, but I swear it sounded like it came out through a megaphone.

  “Will you keep your voice down? And yes.”

  “I thought it was just fake,” she mocks. “Because I'm pretty sure him slamming his dick into you makes it no longer fake."

  "Fine, we made it official two weeks ago. I didn’t get around to telling you," I admit to her. I held it in longer than I thought I could.

  "And you finally sealed it with a fuck. I love it." She squeals, clapping her hands together, drawing the attention of half the people in the terminal.

  "I hate you sometimes." I lower myself in my seat and hide my face behind my hands.

  Christiana laughs and moves my hand down. "Sorry, I just miss this.” She waves her hands up and down my body. “You’re so happy. I’ll even let go that you didn’t tell me about you making things official with him weeks ago." She nudges me in the side, and I huff.

  “Oww.” I rub my side. “But I deserve that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away. I’ve just been crazy busy, and honestly, for two other reasons; I didn’t want you to give me a hard time and,” I glance up around the gate area to make sure Leo isn’t walking back before I continue, "I'm scared," I admit with a whisper.

  "Of what?"

  "Giving myself to someone again. Not getting it in return. I just really want to enjoy his company and not rush into anything, but I'm falling for him. Hard."

  "It’s okay to admit you’re falling for him."

  "I know, it’s just I’m also afraid of crashing.” Crashing is my biggest fear, but isn’t it everyone's? I’m just tired of giving so much of me away and having to pick up the pieces after someone brutalizes my heart. “He did tell me that he had a small motive to get back at his brother. That it had something to do with another girl, though he claims he didn't seek me out for revenge. I believe him, I think, but knowing the relationship those two have, I almost wouldn't put it past him that this could be a game for him too."

  "He said that?" Christiana leans back in her chair. "Interesting."

  "What do you mean interesting?"

  "Just that it gives your little love story more layers."

  Did she not hear what I just said? I pinch the bridge of my nose. She’s obviously not going to listen, so I should just move on. "Speaking of layers, you can stop telling him all my secrets to try to win me over. I know it's you."

  I don’t mind that she tells him anything, I just want her to confess she’s the one behind the information giving and I want to know when it started.

  "I haven't told him anything," she says with a straight face.

  "Yes, you have, come on. The Funyuns, the campfire, my favorite flower. I know it’s you, and it’s okay, but he can get to know me the normal way now. It's nice that he’s trying this hard."

  She places her hand on mine, looking me dead in the eye with her green eyes. “Claire, I haven’t told him anything. I swear.”

  My eyes narrow to little slits, trying to read her. “You swear on your Coach bag.”

  “I swear on my Coach bag and Gucci shoes.”

  Well, shit, she might be telling the truth.

  "Okay, now that's interesting because if it isn't you, then who could his informant be. I doubt it’s Allison."

  "Maybe it's just things he knew, and he doesn't want to admit it."

  "What? Collecting information on me like a creepy stalker? I mean, maybe, but I doubt it."

  "I think you just need to go with the flow. Maybe this is kismet."

  "Are you going to tell me it's all meant to be? Because that’s what he's been saying too."

  "If there's anything your Grams has taught me over the years is that your fate has already been laid out in the stars, and you have to let things play out."

  "You swear you're not up to something?”

  "Besides telling you to listen to your heart. Nope. He's so into you. It’s almost sickening. I would even be the first to say it’s love," she says in a singsong voice and wiggles her eyebrows.

  "You know what? I'm too tired and hungover to deal with you right now." I reach to grab for my backpack, hoping to find my headphones.

  "All I'm trying to say is don't be afraid to just let it happen. Leo is a good man. He’s good for you."

  "I love how sure you are."

  Christiana’s head pops up when Leo appears around the corner again, walking back over to us carrying a cardboard tray with three coffees. "Any guy that also brings your best friend coffee is good in my books."

  "Could be an extra one for me."

  She smacks me in the arm. "And like I’ve said, it’s kismet."

  The plane lands in Miami three hours later. I slept the whole way on Leo's shoulder. If I drooled or snored in his ear, he didn't complain.

  When the Uber pulls up to a white high-rise Hilton hotel surrounded by palm trees, Leo takes my hand to help me out, and I'm instantly hit with the smell of the sea air and the stuffy humidity.

  This will take some getting used to.

  The bellboys take our bags out of the trunk and hand us a ticket for after we check in to bring our bags to our room.

  "We need to get some tequila and sit by the pool!" Christiana yells right next to me as we walk into the lavish gold lobby.

  "Is she always so loud?" Leo whispers into my ear.

  "She's doing it because she knows I was hungover this morning."

  "How are you feeling?" He pushes my hair back and searches my eyes. "You were serious about you and Crown not mixing."

  "Now you know, but I'm good. Thanks for letting me sleep on you. How are you?"

  He smiles. "Never been better." He kisses my forehead.

  My cheeks heat as hot as the Miami sun. Damn, this man can honestly flatter the pants off me.

  "It’s looove," Christiana whisper sings as she passes me as we walk into the hotel.

  "What was that about?" He stabs his thumb back at Christiana's departing figure.

  "Nothing but the fact that she's insane."

  "That's an understatement." He chuckles. "Come, let's get inside."

  The lobby is bustling and there's a long line for check-in. "This is going to take forever," I groan and lean against Leo's chest.

  "Okay, Jo just texted me and said we are meeting by the pool in an hour. No ifs, ands, or buts," Christiana tells us before she goes back to tying on her phone.

  "No rest for the wicked is there?" I groan and she shakes her head.

  I was looking forward to diving into my bed and check what was on HBO.

  "It'll be alright." Leo wraps his arm around me, pulling me tight into his side. "I can come to your room later tonight and give you some extra special care. On top of what I showed y
ou last night, I give great back massages, sure to make you sleep all night."

  "Is that right?" I giggle and nudge him in the side.

  "There's only one way to find out and that's taking me up on my offer." He hums seductively into my ear as his fingers dance down my arm.

  Oh, I'm going to find out.

  "It sounds like an offer I can't refuse." I reach up and kiss his lips, and then he's drawing me into a deeper kiss. PDA has never been my thing, but with Leo, he makes me forget all my hang-ups.

  Really, what is he doing to me?

  "Next in line." A female voice calls, and someone roughly clears their throat, making us pull apart. I notice Christiana has already made her way to the front desk and there’s a large gap in front of us. Oops.

  I make my way to the counter and plop my large purse onto it. "Hi, I have a reservation under Claire Malone for two queens for the week."

  She types into her computer, as I fumble into my purse to pull out my wallet. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but it says here your room was canceled."

  "What do you mean my room was canceled? I didn't cancel my room."

  "It says a Ms. Malone canceled it two days ago.”

  “I’m Ms. Malone, and I didn’t cancel. Is it for the whole week that got canceled?”

  “Yes, ma'am. I’m sorry.” She grimaces as she stares back at her computer.

  “Well, do you have any other rooms?”

  “No, we are booked for the week.”

  “I don’t believe this.” My head falls onto my purse, and I want to scream. It’s not just me out of the room, it’s also Grams when she comes in. “Where am I going to stay?”

  “We do have another hotel across the street that might have some rooms available."

  “Across the street?” I groan. How did this happen?

  “What’s wrong?” Leo steps over and puts his arm around my waist.

  “My room somehow got canceled. I don't know, maybe Grams canceled her flight and the room. I don’t know why she would do that. It’ll be fine. I can share a room with Christiana, then figure something else out when Allison and Grams get in.”

  I glance around the lobby and notice Christiana has already disappeared.

  Where the hell did she run off to so fast? Rude.

  I go to pull out my phone from my bag and Leo puts his hand on top of mine. “You can share my room.”

  “What? No. I’m sure I can share the room with Chris. When Alli gets here, we can share beds.”

  “Don’t argue with me.” He grabs my arm and my bag and pulls me away from the reception desk to an empty part of the lobby. “Let’s just share the room. You already know I don’t snore.”

  I giggle. “I don’t know. I was really drunk. I would have slept through a freight train coming through the apartment."

  “You weren’t that drunk, and I think we had a lot of fun.” His finger runs along the curve of my collarbone down to the valley of my cleavage.

  "We did. You're right," I pant as he leans into me with a smirk.

  I don't even know why I need to try to convince myself to want to stay with him.

  When I think he’s going to kiss me, his head lifts, something behind me grabbing his attention and all the color drains from his face. “Shit,” he mumbles and stumbles back slightly. “Let's get out of here.” He grabs my hand, yanking me for forward, and pulls me across the lobby before I can protest.

  “What’s going on? What's wrong?” I ask, trying to glance behind me to where he was looking, but he's pulling me with such urgency we are already at the elevator banks.

  “Nothing. I just want to get to our room." He stabs the button to go up. "I can give you that massage I was talking about."

  “Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something?” The elevator doors slide open, and my mind is racing, wondering who or what we’re running from. The only thing I can think of is Tim, but I doubt it would cause such a reaction from him.

  He drags me to the elevators and pushes the button for the eighth floor. “It’s nothing.”

  “Nothing? Then why are you running like you saw a ghost? And what about our bags?"

  “I’ll call downstairs to have them brought up.”

  "Leo?"

  He grabs my chin and presses his lips to mine, silencing me, but I push him away. "You’re trying to distract me. Why can't you tell me what's up?"

  "What if I said I was in a hurry to get you to my room?"

  "I know you're lying, but it's as good as I'm going to get, isn’t it?"

  "Is it so bad?" His mouth hovers over mine and his blue eyes blaze into mine as the elevator pings. The metal doors slide open, revealing the eighth floor, and the intense moment is broken. We make our way down the short hallway in silence, and Leo hands me his extra key card before we file into the room. Cold air blasts from the AC, and I’m hit with an instant chill. I throw my purse down on the dresser and admire the inviting king sized bed with fluffy white blankets and pillows.

  I quickly kick off my shoes and go diving into the bed. I spread out like an angel, pretending I’m in the snow. There’s nothing like fresh, fluffy sheets. "This is living."

  He jumps in next to me, making me bounce. His hand moves up under my shirt, and he grabs the cup of my bra and pulls it down. "You look fucking hot spread out on my bed." He runs his thumb over my nipple, and it hardens instantly. "What do you say about taking this mattress for a test run?"

  "What about our bags?" I breathe, biting my lip. His hand slowly makes its descent down my side to where it then traces over the waistband of my shorts.

  "Don't you think they can wait? Your scent has been driving me wild all day," he groans, and his erection stabs into my leg as his hand makes its way into my shorts. He pushes my underwear to the side and brushes along my slick folds. I can’t suppress my moan as he teases me, and his lips gently press into the outline of my jaw.

  My hand reaches inside his shorts, grabbing his length, and I start to move it up and down. He bites my shoulder and grows harder in my hand. My mind races to last night, remembering how good his cock felt inside me. How badly I want it again.

  One of his long fingers slips inside of me and then a second. “You're so fucking wet, baby.”

  “Leo,” I pant, adjusting my hips, wanting to take his fingers deeper.

  “That’s right, fuck my fingers, baby.”

  “Ahh,” I groan, as Leo slips his tongue into my mouth.

  My phone buzzes from my back pocket, and with my free hand, I manage to slip it out of my pocket and toss it to the floor. “I think that’s my warning to get down to the pool,” I mutter sarcastically against his mouth. But there’s no way I’m leaving this moment for a swim. His fingers haven’t left from inside of me, and I’m still gripping his cock, coating his pre-cum around his tip.

  "Are you sure they'll miss us?” he asks, as he thrusts another finger inside of me, and his thumb rolls over my clit. I bite my lip, holding in my moan and try to hold off my peak. “Because I can think of a few things I’d rather do instead. Like ravishing the shit out of you. Make you so sore you’re walking funny by the poolside.”

  "What's a little longer?" I manage to gasp out.

  “Good answer,” he growls.

  Chapter Ten

  Leo pulls his shirt off over his head and throws it to the lounger beside him. My eyes roam down his sculpted chest, to where his blue board shorts hang low on his waist, showing off the curve of his perfect ‘V’—where only a little while ago, my tongue had traced the outline before taking him all in my mouth. Fuck. Even though he just spent the last, however long inside of me, I’m finding it impossible not to think about pulling him away to go back upstairs for more.

  "So nice of you two to show up," Christiana says from her sun lounger, taking me away from my gawking. She lifts her sunglasses to the top of her head and looks between us.

  "Well, there was a mix up with my room.” I gnaw on my lip as she rises from her lounger and stands in front of me. I
swear she can smell the lie coming right off me. “Then it took forever with our bags."

  "I don’t believe it for a second." She touches the side of my neck. "The evidence of what you were doing is all over you."

  My hand smacks the side of my neck, trying to cover whatever ugly red blemish might be there.

  "She's pulling your leg," Leo whispers in my ear. "There's nothing there."

  Christiana laughs, and I narrow my eyes at her. "Don't lie to me and next time just tell me you were banging. Now, I don’t know about you, but I'm going to go back to working on my tan. My skin has missed the sun." Christiana pushes her sunglasses back down her nose and plops back down on the lounger, letting her pink hair spread all around her.

  I've missed the sun too, but the humidity here is killer. "Where's Jo?" I ask, looking around the pool area. Beside me, Leo is stretching his arms across his chest, and I'm momentarily derailed again.

  "Probably doing the same thing you were."

  "I'm going swimming. Are you coming with me?" Leo asks, reaching for my hand.

  "I would love to…" A mischievous glint lights in his blue eyes as he grabs hold of my hand, and he swings me into his arms.

  "Leo!" I squeal, my legs flailing, as he carries me to the waters’ edge and hangs me over, threatening to drop me. "Don't even think about it."

  "Don't think about what?"

  "You know." I laugh because the devious grin he's wearing tells me I'm in for it.

  "This?"

  His fingers peel from my skin, and I go flying into the blue water below me. When I come back up, I fling my wet hair back, glaring at Leo who is in hysterics at his own antics. "I'm going to kill you."