Page 220 of Tempting Little Thief

His mouth falls on mine then, fingers absentmindedly tracing over the collar along my neck because, let’s be honest, it’s not a choker, at least not in his eyes.

“I’m gonna fuck you in this skirt when we get back,” he promises. “Bend you right over the balcony that faces the manor, so everyone can see how good you take me.”

My core clenches at his words and I melt into him, unaware my hand is reaching for his belt until his fist closes around my wrist.

“Touch me and it’s over. I will shed your clothes from your body and the fifteen fucking minutes it took me to get this suit on will have been a waste ’cause it’ll be coming off and won’t go back on.” His knee presses where I want him, and I suck in a sharp breath when his teeth scrape along the underside of my jaw. “I’m more than good with that option, so make your move, little thief. Pull my cock out or step back.”

Goose bumps spread along my skin, and I blow out a long breath, hating being forced to go against what I want when, since Bastian stepped into my father’s shoes, he’s encouraged, dare I say, demanded I do the opposite.

It’s liberating being his, and I am his in every sense of the word.

The transition from my father to Bastian was as smooth as one could expect, and while I was sure it would take time to get the men who work for and with my father a while to accept the shift in power from the top dog to a much, much younger one, it’s been far …cleanerthan I expected it to be.

It doesn’t hurt that Bastian managed to do in three months’ time what my father couldn’t in six years—befriend Enzo Fikile, my sister’s … well, that’s a fucking mess I’ve yet to sort out.

“So, are you two fuckin’, or are we leavin’?” Hayze calls from the doorway. “’Cause I vote for the ‘bend her over the railing part,’ but give me five minutes to get over there and bang down that wicked woman’s door ’til she lets me in to watch.”

“She’s not going to let you in if you keep sending drones through her balcony doors at night,” I tell him, smoothing down my uniform and spinning to face him.

Hayze grins, holding his hands out as if to saytell me I’m pretty,and he kind of is, in a rugged, troublemaker sort of way. Like if Barbie made a boy band doll and roughed it up a bit, that would be Hayze. He’s not so bad, even if his new favorite pastime seems to be driving Bronx mad. It will be entertainingto watch him learn the hard way she hates to be chased. She’s a hunter, my gorgeous friend. Easy prey is of no value to her.

Plus, she won’t go near anyone who might actually like her for her, she’s emotionally fucked up like that.

“If she’d go back to painting naked out there, I wouldn’t have to, but that’s a problem for another day. Now is anyone gonna tell me I look like a fly motherfucker in this?” He grins, sweeping his hands down his solid, royal-blue suit, a black button-up beneath it.

Bastian chuckles. “You look good, my man.”

“Thank you, you look almost as good as me. Now let’s go.” With that, Hayze spins and walks out.

Bastian comes up beside me, grabs my hand, and leads me out of the room. We curve down the stairs, out the back door and around the fountain until we’re walking through the connecting gate to the Greyson Estate.

When we reach the others in the foyer, I’m surprised to find Kylo in a suit rather than his Greyson uniform.

My expression must give me away as he nods his chin.

“He’s moving in with me,” Bastian shares.

I look to Kenex, expecting anger or, I don’t know, sadness, but all I find is pride written across his face as if all he wanted for his little brother was for him to feel as if he belonged to the world that shunned him.

Even I shunned him, allowing my father’s words to alter my opinion rather than forming one of my own. What I’ve come to realize is I quite like him, Kenex too. They kept things entertaining for us when the world around us felt mundane, in between scheming and whatnot.

“You look nice in a suit,” I admit, and it’s like staring into my father’s eyes, the resemblance uncanny. “Almost as nice as our father.”

Kylo’s eyes widen the slightest bit, but I tug Bastian out the door before anything else can be said.

To say I’m as anxious as eager to get back to campus today is an understatement. The new students arrived this morning, Enzo’s little sister among them, but it’s more than that.

The day Bastian took his oath in front of the other Greyson families, swearing to protect me with his life, even though a guardian has never been the boss before, we swore to keep no secrets between us. He and I both know our lives could depend on it, but I held one back for myself. For today only, because it’s more of a present than a lie. It’s a prize he wants.

The gift of all gifts.

And I cannot wait for the moment his eyes connect the final dots.

Bastian

I never thought I’d like a monkey suit, but this baby is a solid A-fucking-plus. Dom proves himself more useful every day. His only flaw is one he can’t control, and that’s how every time I look at him, I think about how he knows what my girl’s insides feel like. And that he wanted to see her in a banging white dress, promising herself to him for all to see. Pretty sure I’m gonna hold on to that grudge until he finds himself a new obsession, and if my intuition is as right as it always is, I’ve got a sneaky fucking feeling he might have found her. Not that he’ll do anything about it.

No, she’s … beneath his standards, or so a rich boy might say.

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