So if I was going to lose him anyway, I wanted to know what it was like to actuallyhavehim.
Ever since Antonella’s car accident, I’d been hiding behind duty, wearing my discipline like an armor. Taking chances, branching out on my own, considering my own needs—that was never in the cards for me. My family needed me to be dedicated and accountable, not running off like Antonella. But then I’d met Nolan. Getting close to him these past few months had me wanting to give in and do something for myself for once. So I was done with making the responsible choice. I wanted this for me. Forus. Even if it was only for one night. No matter how much it hurt later.
When I heard footsteps in the hall, I paused mid makeup removal—still wearing my fancy gown—and ducked my head out of the bathroom. Nolan leaned against the doorframe, lookingdelicious. Pieces of mussed hair fell over his forehead and the long sleeves of his dressshirt were rolled up, exposing his corded forearms. A few buttons were undone at the top of his shirt, allowing me a peek at the slope of his chest. I felt his gaze like a searing touch as it raked over my body, lingering on my legs and my breasts. He lifted his eyes to meet mine, thumbing at his bottom lip.
“Are you still wearing that just to torture me?”
I smoothed my hands over my hips in a nervous gesture, apprehensive at the words dancing on the tip of my tongue. But at my movement, his azure eyes darkened to midnight blue. “How’d it go? Where’s Cressida?” I asked.
“She’s with Daphne and Cora shutting down the bar. I’d say we have at least an hour or two before they return.”
An hour or two. All alone.The desire must have been plain on my face because before I knew it, he gripped my hips and pulled me into him. My lips parted in a sigh and he darted his tongue inside, the sweet taste of him overwhelming. As if of their own accord, my hands drifted down to rub his hard cock through his pants, my hips rolling against his.
A noise rumbled low in his throat. “If you keep touching me like that, I’m taking you to the bedroom.”
That sounded just fine to me. I grabbed his belt buckle, but when he pulled back, I frowned. “I’m ready, Nolan. Don’t you want to?”
At my question, he dropped his head back against the doorframe. “Fuck yes, I want to.Bad.But I don’t want you to get swept up in the moment and make a decision you’ll regret. Because if we do this—if you choose me—I’m never letting you go. So be sure it’s what you want.”
Chills rolled down my spine, my heart pounding like a set of runaway bongos. I couldn’t think about what he meant by never letting me go—that was a question for when I was in a more rational frame of mind. I didn’t know why I was so nervous—he’d made it more than clear thathe wanted me. But some small part of me still doubted if any of this was real, or if it was all an elaborate daydream. Or maybe it was anxious anticipation because I knew what came next, after I said the words.
When he traced a fingertip down my cheek and across my lower lip, his eyes following its blistering path, warmth gathered at my core and spread throughout my body in pulsing waves.
Oh yes. I’d made my decision.
I chased that feeling and the words tumbled out of me before I could clam up. “Ever since the day I snapped at you at the bar, I’ve never felt more alive. Yeah, our situation is complicated. Not knowing what comes next is terrifying, but I know you’ll be at my side no matter what happens. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” I took a deep breath and he watched me with barely leashed desire. “I want you, Nolan. I want this—us. Whatever this is between us, I want to find out. Right now.”
Faster than a blink, Nolan took me in his arms, his mouth finding mine with an urgent need. The kiss was wild and wanting, fierce and full of tongues and teeth. When I pulled away to catch my breath, he latched on to my neck, the strokes of his tongue sending little shocks dancing across my skin.
He kissed down to the tops of my breasts, tracing his fingers across them in a teasing touch, and my nipples hardened for him. Just like I wanted, he pulled down my dress, exposing one breast to his torturous grazes. Bending his head, he flicked his tongue across my nipple before taking it in his mouth and sucking.
“Yes,” I hissed, digging my hands into his shoulders and arching into him, demanding more. In response, he turned his attention to my other breast, licking and sucking until I was a whimpering mess. But it had already been months of dancing back and forth—I wantedhimnow.
He chuckled, pulling away with a wicked look in his eyes. “It’s our first time together, Valeria. You think I’m not going to savor every delicious moment? Patience.”
All I could do was make a sound of discontent that morphed into a moan when he dragged a hand up my thigh to the slit in my dress. The throbbing between my legs threatened to overpower me as warmth unspooled in my belly. With excruciating slowness, he slid a hand inside and teased at the soaked swatch of lace covering my aching pussy. Pushing aside my thong, he traced a finger across my slickness, and I shivered. Had anyone ever been so tortured? But with each encounter, I found that Nolan knew how to wring every ounce of pleasure from my body in a way even I couldn’t comprehend. I loved the way he wound me up just to watch me shatter.
And I couldn’t wait to see how he broke me tonight.
“So wet for me already,” he said with a light stroke of his finger. Then he thrust it inside me until I was gasping. Adding two more fingers, he stretched me and nudged my legs apart with his knee. “Yes, just like that.”
My heart fluttered at his praise. “You’re enjoying this far too much,” I accused.
“Mm, I can’t get enough of you.”
Wasting no time, he unzipped my dress and I shimmied out of it, kicking it aside. Then I had an idea. In a bold move, I ripped off his shirt, buttons popping, and ran my hands over the planes of his chest and the ridges of his abs.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” he said, grinding his erection against my bare stomach. I could only lick my lips in response as my hands explored his body in long, greedy strokes. I wanted him inside me, pressed against me, all over me.
Nolan put a hand at my throat, gentle but firm, and pinned me in place against the wall as he looked at me. I stood before him in nothing but my thong, my breasts bare and peaked, wetness leaking down my thighs. As he drank me in, a ravenous hunger simmered in the depths of his eyes. Then his lips quirked in a playful smile as he knelt before me, clutching my hips. I wriggled to take off my thong, but his grip tightened.
“Behave yourself. Stay still.” He pushed my thong aside just enough so he could stroke his tongue across my entrance but left the front in place to add extra pressure against my clit. My knees wobbled and I gripped his shoulders to stay standing as he delved deeper with his tongue, alternating fast flicks and long, slow caresses that had my legs shaking.
When he started fucking me with his fingers too, the pleasure began to build at the base of my spine and a wild sound tore from my throat. I dug my nails into his shoulders, moments from detonating in his arms—
But he stood abruptly, his devilish grin drenched in my arousal.
I looked at him, aghast, panting, left wanting. “Why’d you stop?”
