Page 5 of Heart of a Devil

Three

LAUREN

We go to say goodbye to Gabriel and Samantha before we leave, and I have to work hard to look cool, calm, and collected as we talk to our hosts. I don’t feel cool or calm. I feel like someone has doused my insides with gasoline and tossed a lit match on top. I can barely tear my eyes away from his rear view as I follow him through the house, and the front view is even better.

The man is as hard for me as I am wet for him, and an uncharacteristic flush creeps up my neck as I remember how forward I was. Like my usual honest self, but on a megadose of steroids.

I meant what I said though—I don’t like to play games. What’s the point of going through an elaborate mating ritual when both of us know what we want? It seems like a big, fat waste of time. I can’t wait to feel those massive paws of his on my flesh, to taste his tongue on mine, to run my hands along those muscular forearms. And that little touch of dominance at the end of our chat? Hot enough to melt the polar ice caps. I’m not usually into being bossed around. Usually, I’m very much theone in charge, but this guy is different. This guy makes me want to try anything.

“You off, Dad?” Samantha says as he pulls her in for a bear hug. “I thought you might stay over.”

“Nah, love, got a busy day tomorrow. Besides, I told Lauren here she could follow me back to the city.”

Gabriel tries to hide his smirk, and Sam arches an eyebrow at me. “Really? She seemed to find her way here just fine.”

“I’m a little nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road in the dark,” I say. “Plus, my phone still seems to think I’m in the States when it comes to maps.” I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

All four of us are aware of what’s happening here, but none of us are going to talk about it. Sam knows what kind of man her father is—a player—and she knows the kind of woman I am. Still, she looks a little surprised. I guess it’s hard for any girl to see her dad as a hottie, no matter how good-looking he is.

“Okay,” she says, throwing her hands up in the air, “I suppose you’re both grown-ups, although it doesn’t always feel like it in my father’s case. Drive carefully, both of you—one wrong turn and you could end up losing control. Those roads can be treacherous, you know.”

“Full of dangerous curves,” adds Gabriel, earning himself a slap on the arm from Sam.

I laugh and give my friend a hug. “Thanks for a wonderful party. I had a great time. I hope Max lets you sleep through the night.”

Gabriel slides an arm around Sam’s shoulders, and she gazes up at him with undisguised desire. Yeah. I don’t think these two will be getting much sleep, even if Max doesn’t wake them up.

I walk outside with Sebastian, and we make our way to the big driveway inside the ten-foot-tall electronic gates. Security isa big deal for this family, and from the stories I’ve heard, I totally get why.

Seb stops in front of a black Audi SUV, stares at my bright red Porsche Cayman—known to her friends as Scarlett O’Hara—and whistles. “That’s a hell of a car you’ve got there. Why aren’t I the slightest bit surprised?”

“Are you saying I’m predictable, Sebastian?” I place my hand on my chest and fake a hurt-feelings look.

“I have a feeling you might be the least predictable woman I’ve ever met. My head’s been spinning since I met you, and you know it.”

God, even his voice is sexy—pure London gravel. I stand up on my tippy-toes and drop a quick kiss on his cheek, loving the feel of his neatly trimmed beard bristling against my lips. “I do know it, yeah. Now, are we leaving or not?”

His brown eyes flash at the demanding tone of my voice, and I can tell he isn’t used to being spoken to like this. He is undoubtedly accustomed to being the alpha around women who fall at his feet. I might want to sleep with him, but I definitely won’t be found anywhere near the vicinity of his feet anytime soon. Still, I find the darkening of his expression strangely exciting. It’s full of promise and equally full of threat. Both of them make my pussy throb.

He nods once, abruptly, and climbs into his car. He’s there for a few minutes, and I see the light of his phone screen shining in the front seat. Maybe he’s rearranging a hot date. I sure hope he’s clearing his schedule, because I want him to myself for the next few hours.

The gates open up for us, and I follow him down quiet country lanes lined with mini mansions behind their fences and trees. I wasn’t entirely lying when I said I was nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road in the dark, and I have to suck in deep breaths as his car screeches off ahead of me.Luckily, we seem to be the only vehicles on the road, and I stick close to the glow of his rear lights as we wind through the starlit scenery.

After about twenty minutes, his blinker flashes on, and he turns off to the right. He heads down a single-lane road that eventually opens up into the courtyard of a picture-perfect thatched cottage. I stop the car but leave my lights on, taking in the cute yellow-stone building and the pretty rose garden outside it. Huh. This doesn’t look like a field. It looks like the kind of place Kate Winslet might live in a rom-com.

I climb out of the Porsche and find him leaning against the door of his own car. “I prefer not to fuck in fields.” He grins and gestures at the beautiful cottage before us. “This is ours for the night. But if you really insist on doing it outside, we have our very own field out back.”

“How did you manage this? Do you have fuck pads scattered across the countryside just in case some crazy American chick comes on to you?”

His laugh is deep and sexy, and it does something to my insides that isn’t at all unpleasant. “I don’t discriminate. They don’t need to be American. And no, I don’t have ‘fuck pads.’ It’s an Airbnb. I booked it while I was in the car. If you don’t fancy it, no hard feelings.”

The cottage is perfect, with ivy-clad walls and a bright red front door. It must have cost a fortune, and I’m flattered he went to the effort. Something inside me, though, won’t let it go that easily. This man challenges me, and I don’t like to back off from a challenge. Sometimes clinging on to that has been the only thing that’s kept me sane. “It’s nice, Seb. I suppose fucking alfresco is a young man’s game, after all.”

His brown eyes crinkle deliciously around the sides, which I love. It’s further proof that he laughs long and laughs easy, andlet’s face it, laughter is often the only appropriate response to life.

“You trying to get a rise out of me, Lauren? Or do you just want to stand out here and chat all night? I’m beginning to think you’re all talk. I’ll be inside if you want me. If not, I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

He strides past me toward the cottage and, after pressing buttons on a lockbox, lets himself in. I stare after him, momentarily taken aback.IfI want him? I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a man more. My poor vagina would never forgive me if I drove away now, and I suspect he knows it. Damn. He’s out silver-foxed me. I let out a laugh and follow him inside.

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