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I hold her tightly against me while I carry her bride-style up the steps. She’s tall and thin, but with perfect fucking curves in all the right places. Her hair kicks up in my face as I adjust her, assaulting me with her delicious scent. I pull her in closer, liking the way she feels against me a little too much. What is that fragrance? A goddamn summer afternoon in the country with wind, wildflowers, and sun? It’s killing me not to bury my nose in her silky hair and breathe it in deeper.
“What exactly does my touch do to you?” Thumbs on both hands brush back and forth along her skin and goose bumps erupt in their wake, her pupils expanding ever so slightly. Fuck. That’s what my touch does to her. I’m not the only one feeling this.
“You’re Lia Sage. You’re that model from fashion week who walked in that fucking gown that still makes me hard whenever I think about it.”
Is he going to be her new bestie in the book?🤔
life happens no matter what and ninety percent of that is out of our control. What is in our control is how we choose to respond to it.
It took me some time to remember where I knew her from, but it hit me quick and it hit me hard when I did. I watched her walk for eighteen seconds and I stared like a stalker the entire time, knowing if anyone saw me, they’d believe I was taking in the gown she was wearing—I was doing that too because that gown… fuck!—but her face owned me.
She does smell good. The scent of her this morning had my dick hard before I even noticed her face. Then there’s her hair color. It’s natural. I had my doubts because no one has hair that color naturally, but this girl does. Her face is art. My stomach squeezes tight. I want this woman. Impertinent mouth and all.
You had a designer steal your dress and not only claim it as hers, but when you attempted to speak out about what she did, she blackballed you against every possible internship out there. So now you’re here. And maybe you said some things you shouldn’t have. You were disrespectful and I get it. He’s the boss. But fear of speaking up is what has consistently placed women in the dark ages and had us not viewed as equals. Be bold. Be strong. And if this is where it ends for you here, remember you are brilliant and talented. Carve your own path without requiring the aid of anyone else.”
Greyson was the voice. I was bass and occasionally backup vocals. Lenox piano and keyboard. Callan drum. Asher guitar. Suzie our manager.
Why does it have to be her my dick is so eager to play with?
She is Persephone battling the darkness and monsters of the underworld.
Everyone reacts differently to loss, but true loss affects everyone the same way. That’s why it’s so hard to get over. Because once you lose someone, they take some of you with them. You’re never quite whole again and the rest of you is constantly trying to compensate for that missing piece.
I care about her. I care about whether or not she’s playing me. I care about her past and the horrible things that have happened to her. I want to know all of them so I can fix each of them one by one. In one day, she got me to care.
“I see myself.” “No. You see a talented, badass bitch who doesn’t take shit from anyone even when they come at her full-on. You see a woman who has risen to the top like cream when all odds were against you. You see a woman who does not fail and does not allow someone else to make you question who and what you are. Know your value and whatever you do, do not let Zaxton Monroe and his sexy, evil mouth derail you.”
“You’ve got this. Now get your adorable ass upstairs and show those executives precisely what you’re made of. And while you’re at it, give your boss a rub and suck.”
That’s what besties are for🤣
He may be a coldhearted, intolerable jerk, but there is something irresistibly broken about him that ensnares everyone within his radius.
She looks like a version of a woman modeling a nineteen-fifties secretary. The image is so startlingly sexy, I immediately sit down.
Lamar did good😏
Today she’s wearing an emerald-green skirt that hits her knees and a pearl-white sleeveless silk blouse that reveals a hint of her lacy bra beneath. I know Lamar fashioned her into it this morning because that motherfucker sends me pics of his redesign every goddamn morning to make sure I ‘approve’ of the length of her dress or skirt.
He is playing matchmaker😁
I watch her compulsively. Obsessively.
Only it’s now that I realize looking at her and thinking about her has become the best part of my day. I spent a week doing little else. For better or worse, she’s the first thing to wake me up in eight years.
I’ll bet you my Super Bowl ring he’ll be joining us on the shoot floor in less than ten minutes.”
Asher over here giving hints🤣
“Because a man’s blood needs to boil every now and then, and when you learn the secret to keeping his inner fire lit, you don’t squander it.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” a booming male voice calls out that instantly has me shivering in both nerves and pleasure. “And the only one taking her home tonight is me.”
“Your dress is too short again.” “Aw, so cute that you noticed. This time it was intentional.” I wink at him. And touch his forearms to make sure they’re real. Yep, pretty freaking real and pretty freaking amazing. Firm yet smooth beneath my hand. And warm. “Your skin is so warm.”
Aurelia isn’t random, and she isn’t meaningless, and she isn’t faceless, and I can’t allow her to be sex. Because she wouldn’t just be sex. I’d have a taste and I’d need more just the way I need more every time I’m near her.
“Because it’s not creepy.” Georgia flips her red head in his direction. “It’s hot. Can I get an Amen on this? Stepsibling and age-gap tropes are hot.”
🤣🤣
I flip the pages, going through her sketches. Gowns and dresses—mostly formal. These weren’t in her portfolio from school. These are special to her. These are things she wants to design and bring to life. They’re mostly classic with modern twists. Stunning. Sexy. Smart. Beautiful. Different. Like her.
His hand reaches out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear—he likes doing that a lot, I’ve noticed—and
Aurelia only blew back into my life a few weeks ago and I’m already fucked when it comes to her. She exists in the periphery of my thoughts when I’m not with her and at the forefront of my mind when I am. I can keep fighting it, and I plan to, but right now, I’m looking at a woman I want to drag onto my lap, wrap my arms around, and kiss until everything in her world is as perfect as she is to me.
“I am my own hero. Scars are simply souvenirs you collect along the way. They make you tougher and you learn from them. I’ve learned some lessons the hard way and some the soft way. That’s all I could do.
“Fine. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to fuck you, Aurelia, because I do. And it also doesn’t mean I don’t want to swoop in and be your hero, because I do. But I’m not going to act on it. That’s a promise you can hold on to. So if you believe we can play it safe with each other, that’s what we’re gonna do. We’ll pretend all this other stuff away. But like it or not, every time you see me, you’ll know how much I want you. And every time I see you, I’ll know you want me back just as much.”
“She’s clean as far as I can tell. No contact with your father other than what she mentioned previously to you, and so far everything lines up. Whatever your father has planned, I think she’s his pawn and not his queen.”
Now you know she genuine
Nate says, only for his phone to be stolen from his hands and Lamar’s handsome face to appear on the screen. He pushes his glasses up his nose and gives me the you better listen and listen good face. “Periwinkle, Liastrange. Soft, sweet hair and makeup. You are a nymph who plays with woodland creatures a la Snow Motherfucking White. Your purpose tonight is to join forces and leather is too domme for this crew and dinner. I’m thinking your hair parted in the middle with twin braids going back and thick, soft waves with shimmery eyes and why the fuck am I not there right now?”
Gosh I loveeeeeeeee Lamar. I need a bestie like him🥰
I’m definitely not thinking about all that he said in the car. That he cares. Jesus. Is he trying to make me fall in love with him while simultaneously ruining me for good?
A grunt and a groan. “Aurelia. Fuck.” An even louder groan and something isn’t right. He doesn’t sound like himself.
OMG Hahaha😂
“You were thinking about me?” “Fuck,” he hisses, closing his eyes and blowing out a breath as his head falls back, chin pointed up to the ceiling. “You know I was. You heard me. Happy now? Go!” “I want to watch.”
“I won’t look,” I tell him. “But I want to hear you. Please, Zax. I want to hear you come while you’re thinking about me.”
I don’t even know what I’m saying or doing, but all I know is I can’t leave, and I can’t get the vision of him unhinged and hard over me out of my head. I want this man and I know he wants me. But I didn’t know it was like this. This caliber of desire. Of lust. Of fucking insanity where all you can think about is the other person. Not to this extent where he has to jerk off about me before attending a business dinner with me.
“Now you know why I had to make myself come before I could see you. Incidentally, I’m keeping your underwear. And the pretty wet spot you left behind in them.”
And for the first time in eight years, I realize that’s exactly what I want to be with her. It’s a startling realization. One that knocks the breath from me.
My hands fly up into her hair and my lips fuse with hers. A groan sears past my lungs because the second my lips touch hers, something inside me shifts, and it feels so fucking good I have no words to describe it because I’m not even sure what the hell it is. Could be because I haven’t kissed a woman in… a long fucking time. I don’t normally bother with such trivialities as kissing women, but I had to kiss Aurelia. Her taste. By God, how this woman tastes. I’m a goner.
She likes the fantasy. She likes the pretend. She likes me calling her names and making her feel dirty because she knows I think... “You’re fucking perfect.” Does she have a fraction of a clue just how perfect she is to me?
I won’t risk my heart or my job on a man who I know will never be anything more than a good time. He won’t love me. He won’t date me. Hell, he doesn’t even like me. I need more than that from a man. More than attraction and heat.
“You’re not an except. You’re not a but. You’re not a however. You’re an addiction I don’t know how to claim or conquer.” My eyes close at his words, my heart lurching in my chest. “I have never wanted anyone the way I want you, Aurelia, and that’s what’s hurting my soul.”
He might never have wanted anyone the way he wants me, but I have never felt as connected to anyone as I do to him. How simply, beautifully, irresistibly broken are the pair of us?
I want to kiss her again. I’m desperate for it, in fact. To the point where I step in closer, toe-to-toe and inches apart. I stare at her lips and am hit with something so powerful I’m only now starting to come to grips with it. I could fall in love with her. I might be halfway there already.
“I’m starting to think you’re either the if I can’t have her, no one else can type or the insanely jealous and possessive type.” “With you, it’s both,”
My thoughts about you right now are darker than that. Because while it’s true, I am captivated, I’m also looking at you like a man who knows what you look like when you come. Like a man who is fighting this but deep down knows he’s going to make you come over and over, so you’ll never come again without thinking my name.”
“You’ve bewitched me. I’m no longer myself.” He takes my hand and places it over his pounding heart, his eyes wild and fierce. “You’re all I’ve been thinking about. Tell me how to make it stop.”
“I’m going to leave and you’re going to do the same in five minutes,” he tells me when I don’t answer. “Meet me downstairs in my car and we’ll talk.” “I—” “Either that, or I’m taking you to the bathroom, lifting up your dress, and fucking you here for all to hear how loud I make you scream my name. The choice is yours. I’m done pretending, Aurelia. I was on my last legs with this and then you walked in that door. Five minutes or I’ll come back up here and find you.”
“I told you what I’m doing. What I want. This isn’t just tonight for me. This isn’t just scratching an itch. This is me no longer able to deny how I want you. The question is, am I dropping you off or am I coming inside with you?”
