Page 35 of Mob Princess

“And they’re so honorable.” I grin. He’s so serious that he sounds a bit old-fashioned. I like it.

“Lina, we have today and tomorrow morning. I want to spend all the time with you I can. When you go back to Boston, I’d like to call and text like we’ve been doing.”

His jaw tightens, and he looks away. Once again, I wait, not wanting to put him on the spot. But he volunteers nothing.

“Sean?”

“I’m not considering whether to hide this from you. I’m figuring out if there’s any good way to put it. There’s not. That trip to Canada that got postponed is back on. I have a meeting with your grandfather in a couple weeks. He’ll know by then that we’ve been together.”

“And that’s bad for business.”

He goes rigid. His gaze hardens as he looks down at me. “No. That’s bad for you. I couldn’t give a flying feck about the business end of this. Your grandfather likes money way too much to turn down a deal with my family. I’m worried about how he’s going to treat you.”

Feck. I thought I heard him say fecked-up earlier, but then I assumed I misheard. He’s said fuck plenty of times, but always in the sexual context. Won’t he swear in front of me?

“He’ll be as angry with Ewan as with you. It’ll piss him off that Ewan used me for more than intel. He won’t like that Ewan made me do something in person. It’ll piss him off that you’re anywhere near me, especially to have sex.”

“To date. Sex is part of that. But that isn’t why I want to be with you.”

I can honestly say we’ve gone on a date already but haven’t had sex. We’ve come close three times, and we’ve gone down on each other. But the date was perfunctory to get to the sex. He made it sound like we wouldn’t have sex until after dinner, so I guess that counts as two dates before penetration.

“And it isn’t why I want to be with you. But considering my father got my mother pregnant, then walked away, he won’t be very welcoming. He’s not an idiot. He’ll know we’re having sex if we say we’re dating.”

He stares at me for a long moment, mulling something over. It’s definitely not what I expected. “If it’ll make it easier for you, then we won’t have sex.”

“What? No! My grandfather doesn’t decide who I have sex with or when. He will not be the third person in this relationship. He has no say, and I won’t let either of us worrying about his reaction make us change who we want to be as a couple.”

“I won’t do anything that puts you in the path of your grandfather’s temper. I’ve seen it.”

“So have I, but he’s never directed it at me, my mom, or my grandma. He just wouldn’t. He’s like you—he’d go apeshit if someone spoke badly to me. He won’t do it.”

“Maybe not chew you out, but he can make your life difficult. He could make Ewan’s life miserable, which would make him take it out on you. That’s not something I’m willing to risk.”

“I am. Sean, I want tonight. I want whatever comes of it, and if that includes sex, then I’m down for that. I want to continue to get to know you in person like we said we would. After that, we figure out what comes next. But there will be a next.”

He cups my jaw as he gazes down at me. His expression is open and tender. He brushes his lips against mine before pressing more firmly. I open to him as he pulls the tie from my wrists. I don’t think either of us noticed they were still bound. Once they’re free, he lifts me to straddle him. His cock is between us, and he’s hard as a fucking post. I rub my pussy against him, coating him with how wet I am again.

“There will be a next, cailín. Your fierceness is yet another turn on. I’m glad you want this as much as I do.”

“I do, nounours.”

He chuckles when I call him teddy again. His hands rested on my ass after lifting me onto his lap, but now they squeeze as he helps me rock against him. I ache to feel him inside me. To satisfy my longing and curiosity. There’s so much I still want to know about him and discover with him. I pull back when we come up for air after our next kiss.

“I’m on the pill, and I tested for my membership applications. I can show you the results.”

“I believe you. It’s standard for applicants to send those in. I saw the birth control pack on the counter when we walked past the closet. I could see into the bathroom.”

The stupid circular pill holder. It screams birth control since there aren’t any other medications I can think of that come in a wheel like some types of the pill.

He’s quick to reassure me I’m not the only responsible one. “I have my results on my phone. I can show them to you. I tested a month ago. I’ve been with partners since then, but I’ve never had sex without a condom. Not as a teenager, not in college. You know I wouldn’t at a club.”

Besides the obvious reason that people often have more than one partner—sometimes in a single visit—many require the use of condoms if the people aren’t in a committed relationship and members together.

“If you don’t have anything, I have one in my purse.” I don’t know if he wants to use a condom or not. For the first time, I don’t think I want a guy to. I’ve had boyfriends who used condoms to doubly ensure I didn’t get pregnant. It wasn’t about fear of catching something.

“I have one in my wallet.”

I bite my top lip before I smile. “That’s only two. Um… Only twice?”

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