Page 72 of Burn It Down

We walk around to the front of the building and retrieve the car without issue. Dylan gets in the driver’s side and as soon as our doors close, I press the lock button on the passenger side just needing to know no one can reach me. I pull my phone out of my pocket and put it onDo Not Disturbwith Cora’s number being the only one that will get through.

“Well, that was an unexpected turn of events,” Dylan observes, making all the correct turns without me having to direct him back to the penthouse. “What did she whisper to you?”

“She called me out for wanting you.” I stare out the window, trying to process it myself.

“Before I came outside, Whitney whispered that Cora knew. That’s why I ran outside,” he explains. “How mad do you think she is?”

“Oddly, she didn’t seem mad at all. She just said we’d talk about it later.”

Maybe sheisseeing someone?The errant thought enters my mind and I actually smile. God, I hope that’s the case. Maybe she felt me pulling away and is already enamored with a new crush, herself.

The hope that spirals through me is better than winning the fucking lottery, and in this moment, the shackles locking me into a bleak, passionless future, have fallen off my wrists and ankles. Renewed with desire, gratitude, and adoration for the man in my driver’s seat, I throw my hand across the console and rub him between his legs, seeking physical contact and a landing place for all my pent-up need.

The car accelerates when he jerks and steps harder on the gas pedal.

“Jake, you should probably know that’s really fucking distracting and considering I’m behind the wheel of your most prized possession, maybe you don’t want to do that right now.”

I push my body closer to his and trail my tongue up the side of his neck.

“On the contrary, Dylan. It’s theonlything I want to do right now.”

After the longest car ride of my life, we’re back uptown, pulling into the underground garage of my penthouse and my mind is singularly focused.

Sensing the urgency of the lust coursing through me, Dylan jumps out of the car before I can grab his suit and pin him to the seat.

His laugh echoes in the cavernous space as he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the elevator. We reach for the keypad at the same time and he notices my shaky hand. After punching in the code for me, he faces me head-on.

“Are you nervous?”

“No,” I answer honestly.

“How far are you expecting this to go tonight?”

“As far as you’ll let me take it.” I appreciate his need for clear boundaries, but I’m not interested in drawing lines anymore. I want everything he’ll give me. The elevator pings and we step in, my desire dulled slightly by his hesitance. “What’s wrong?” Maybe this is moving too fast for him.

“Have you ever actually had sex with a man?”

Although valid, his question makes me bark out in laughter. “Yes. It’s been a while, but yes. Before Cora and I were officially together. My senior year of undergrad and the first year of my MBA program. I knew what was waiting for me as soon as I graduated. Cora was only sixteen at the time so our parents hadn’t pushed the issue of our relationship quite yet, but I knewthe day she turned eighteen they’d begin announcing it from the rooftops. I took my last two years of freedom very seriously.”

“So, you were a man-whore then?”

I pull my eyes from the divot at the base of his throat and move them up to his eyes, relaxing when I see the mirth dancing in them.

“Asshole.”

The elevator doors open and I’ve never been so glad to see the inside of my penthouse as I am right now.

I push against Dylan’s chest laughing and he catches my hands, holding them in place as he walks backward out of the elevator, taking me with him. In a move so fast, I couldn’t have resisted even if I’d wanted to, he spins and slams my back against the foyer wall. The air is expelled from my lungs in awhooshand instantly, he’s there, pulling the exhale into his mouth.

Wanting Dylan out of his suit, I push his jacket off his shoulders. He lets it fall to the floor behind him and I start on the buttons of his shirt, desperate to feel the warmth of his skin. The way his body has teased me, tormented me,torturedme since the day I saw him has me breaking, handing him my sanity on a silver platter.

It’s still dark in the foyer as he plants his hands on either side of my head. My curtains are closed and the lights from the city below can’t penetrate them. Using his teeth, Dylan nips at my lips while keeping an inch of space between our bodies. The lack of contact is driving me insane, forcing me to reach new levels of desperation.

I suspect he knows that.

“Dylan, please,” I beg. “I’m burning up.”

He ignores me and continues the slowest onslaught of my senses. He’s so close I smell his cologne, I taste his lips, my hands feel the hard muscles beneath his skin.

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