Page 35 of A Billion Dollar Romance
My leg slid up to the apex of her thighs and she gasped at the contact, then I moaned as her tongue slipped into my mouth. She’d done incredible things with that tongue on that first night, had had me moaningPenelopelike a fool as she knelt between my knees, but this was so much better, this was so, so fucking good, this was Edie, she wasmine–
“Yes,” she said as my kisses moved to the corner of her lips, then her jaw, then lower, her neck, that bare shoulder, soft and smooth and hot under my mouth. My hands held her still against my thigh, and she rocked against me, her body trapping my painful cock between us through too many layers of clothing. “Please–”
I slipped one of my hands up from her gorgeous ass to her hair, pulling her head back until I heard it thump against the leather books on the shelf, and heard her moan. Could I get her off like this, my mouth on her neck and my thigh between hers, as she ground into it, wanton and beautiful? I wanted to, had been desperate to hear her gorgeous sounds.
“So pretty, Edie,” I whispered against her skin. “Can you–”
A burst of applause from the main room shattered the quiet of the library, and her body tensed under mine–but not for the reason I wanted it to.
“The silent auction,” she said, jerking her head back. Her eyes were wide and round.
“Who cares,” I groaned, pressing closer, leaning into her again to nose along her pulsepoint. “I don’t care if I won anything, not now.”
Two hands came up flat against my chest, not pushing, just holding me away, and I acquiesced, pulling back. The flush on her face was visible even in the low light–the wildness of her eyes, her plump, kiss-swollen lips. She smoothed a hand over her hair, taming where I’d crumpled it.
“But I do,” she said, taking me by the hand and dragging me back out to the event.
* * *
She’d won them.
She looked to me, teeth biting her plump bottom lip, as they announced her as the winner. I hadn’t thought to check the bidding, but I was sure she’d paid too much, after all–
“I would have just given you some signed copies for free,” I said, as she returned bearing a gift bag stuffed with enough tissue paper to run the Sunday edition on. I ran a hand over the back of my neck.
“I know,” she said, glancing at the bag. “But I wanted to–to support the ballet.” Her eyes were suddenly wary. “Are you embarrassed that I bid? I’m sorry. Is it–gauche?”
“No,” I said. “Of course not.”
It was, a little bit, but mostly it was… sweet.Innocent, I thought, as she looked up at me. None of the other people in this room cared about my work, only the money that came from it.
It was the kind of thing an admiring student would do, not your fiancée.
Because shewasmy student,the hard ball of guilt in my stomach reminded me.
And despite the kiss we shared earlier, despite the way her body had fit perfectly against mine, despite the way my own body had reacted–
She wasn’t my fiancée.
“Congratulations on your win,” I said, and she smiled up at me, her lips parting. Before she had a chance to speak, I continued. “We should probably go.”
“Oh,” she said. Her brows furrowed, and I hurried to think of an explanation.
“The auction winners have been announced; the party is almost over anyway. I’ll have the car brought around for you,” I said, pulling out my phone and texting the driver. I texted Charlie, too.Bankworth Club in fifteen.
Great,he said immediately.Barrett’s chatting up an heiress so it’ll just be bros tonight.
I swiped his message away.
“You won’t–”
“Come home with you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.Fuck,I wanted to. So bad. My cock was still half-hard and uncomfortable in my pants after our kiss against the bookshelf, desperate for more.
“No, I–” she stammered, “of course not, I only meant–”
I’d slipped before, kissing her, and she’d allowed it, but…
This was just supposed to be a work arrangement.
