Page 38 of King of Guilt

“Mrs. Allen, is that man bothering you?” the driver asked.

“He can’t bother me anymore,” I sternly said after watching Kyle’s face turn pale. Turning around, I let the driver hold the door car open for me as I slid into the backseat. “Is Dean home yet?”

“No. He said he’ll text me when he needs me to pick him up.”

“Good.” I noticed that Kyle had turned around and started walking away before saying, “Take me home, please.”

eighteen

Behind Closed Doors

Dean

The fact that I had been tiptoeing all the way upstairs wasn’t lost on me—in fact, it put a goofy smile on my face. After all, the last thing I wanted was to trip or knock something over, waking Emma. As I approached her suite, however, I thought I heard her voice. Curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped in my tracks, leaning closer to the door and listening intently.

At first, I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but soon, I realized that she was crying in between syllables. Soon, my ears started filling in the blanks, causing my eyebrows to grow closer and closer.

“Mom, please try to understand me for once!” she softly wept. “I—he already gave me that money, and I really don’t care… of course it’s a problem! I’m telling you that I’m falling in love with my boss who is—any day now—going to ask me to leave!”

My eyes widened as I kicked myself in the head for being so drunk.

“No, mom.” Her words tugged on my ears again, making me listen. “I wasn’t even supposed to tell you about this. But can’t you tell that I have nobody else to talk to about this?... No, of course I didn’t tell him. I won’t…” she cried again. “He’s all over the place right now. You really want me to lay that on him right now? What do you think he’s going to think? That I’m just another vulture seizing the opportunity of being close and—… Yes, exactly, he is quite the catch, mom, thanks for pointing that out.” Her voice took a more sarcastic tone. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you any of this…”

I must have gotten far too involved in eavesdropping that I wasn’t aware of the other elements of my surroundings, like the fact that her voice was growing clearer and closer when she said, “No, he’s out with his friends…”

Next thing I knew, the door clicked open, and suddenly, Emma’s stunned eyes were staring at me, absolutely horrified.

For a moment, I froze, staring back at her like a deer caught in the headlights. The phone pressed to her ear was now slowly descending.

Overcome by everything that I had just heard, and the look on Emma’s face, all reddened and wet with tears, I reached for the phone, and she let go of it with no resistance. Lifting up the device to my ear, I heard her mom call out her name. “Emma? Emma!”

“Hello, Mrs. Nixon.” I smiled, my eyes gazing into Emma’s eyes. “She’s going to call you back.” Ending the call with a tap of my thumb, I put away the phone with one hand, while with the other grabbed Emma by her nightgown, pulling her to me.

Once again, there was no resistance. And when I kissed her, I tasted the salty tears on her lips and closed my eyes, kissing her harder than I ever had before. She made low whimpering noise in the back of her throat and stumbled backwards, her back colliding with the wall. When my mouth moved against hers, hot and demanding, she panted, making little mewling noises that made my blood boil.

Abruptly, I pulled her to me and moved us through the doorway to my room, immediately kicking the door shut with the back of my leg. Her hands moved to my shoulders, brushing over the fabric of my button-down shirt. She made an impatient noise and pushed my thick coat over my shoulders, letting it fall into a heap on the floor.

I growled and hiked up her nightgown, so it bunched around her waist. When my hands darted up, over her bare skin, I stopped at her breasts and smiled. Other than her nightgown and panties, she had nothing else on, and the thought sent another wave of desire coursing through me.

She was all mine.

And I craved every inch, every curve and every crevice.

So, I swept her into my arms and carried her over to the king-sized bed. There, I set her down, and drew back. Through hooded hazel eyes, she watched as I fumbled with the zipper of my jeans. Wordlessly, she leaned forward, the overhead light casting a soft halo of gold around her. She pushed her hair to one side and lowered her head. With quick and nimble fingers, she undid the zipper and pushed my jeans down to my knees.

Impatiently, I stepped out of them and kicked them away.

Then her fingers moved over the buttons, flicking one after the other in quick succession, while my heart hammered against my chest. When she was done, she tilted her head back to look up at me, and my throat went dry. I swallowed, and my tongue darted out to lick my lips as the shirt fell to the floor with a flutter. Once she sat back on her legs, I covered the distance between us, and we fell backwards with a thud, catching the intoxicating scent of her vanilla coconut shampoo.

The mattress dipped and groaned underneath our weight.

I draped myself over her and ran my fingers over the exposed skin. With a grunt, I sat up and looked down at her, her face flushed with desire, and her eyes filled with tenderness. She sat up and lifted her arms up over her head. Wordlessly, I tugged on the silky material of her nightgown and pulled it up over her head. With a smile, I threw it over my head and hooked my thumb over the waistband of her panties. When they were over her knees, I paused, lowered myself, and used my teeth to pull them the rest of the way.

Once they were over her feet, I sat back on my legs and threw them away. She pushed herself up on her elbows, her long blonde hair falling around her shoulders, giving her a youthful and more vulnerable look. When her hazel eyes met mine, everything else ceased to exist.

With a lump in my throat, I leaned forward and covered the distance between us. She settled underneath me, tilting her head up to kiss me, tasting like strawberry peppermint gum. I nipped on her bottom lip, and she sighed, allowing me access. Our tongues began a sensual battle for dominance until she arched her back and raked her fingers over my exposed back. Emma stopped at my behind and squeezed.

I smiled into the kiss and pinned her arms over her head.

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