She was out for something casual, no strings, but he was attached to her by hundreds of invisible strings. Like a puppet, she had the power to play him anyway she wanted, and she didn’t even know.
Out of sheer necessity, he pulled himself away from her, and nearly regretted it when she moaned in protest.
“Why’d you stop?” she asked, lifting her gaze to meet his. The pale depths of her eyes had clouded over into a silvery gray. That color was only for him. He knew it because he’d only ever seen it after he’d kissed her.
“Well, you’ve got your friends waiting down in the bar for you. It would be rude if you stood them up.”
“You said I couldn’t go,” she replied, her voice still thick with unsated desire.
He’d fix that and give her what she wanted. Later. “And you said you’d learn how to bury my dead body,” he reminded her. “Besides, that was before we agreed to be exclusive.”
“Who mentioned anything about exclusive?” she demanded, her jaw setting defiantly as she rounded on him fully, reminding him that this wasn’t an arrangement where he should call any of the shots.
Except for one he was going to insist on.
Taking a step closer to her, he lifted a hand to her and brushed his thumb along her lips and jaw. Ivy shuddered, and this time in a good way. She definitely liked to be touched there. Face, neck, shoulders. He filed the information away for later.
“Ivy Harrington, I’ll be your sex slave if that’s what you want, but I’m going to have one non-negotiable.” He tightened his grip on her neck ever so slightly and pulled her up to him, bending his head to meet her halfway, their lips a feather-width apart as he whispered, “If you’re fucking me, you’re not fucking anybody else.”
He released her, and she swayed backward, slightly dazed, before she found herself again.
“And what about you?” she asked. “If I have to be monogamous with you for the duration of this arrangement, then you sure as hell can bet I’ll expect the same from you.” Her hands were fisted at her hips. Her signature stance.
Did she notice how often she assumed that defensive, defiant position?
“No problem,” he said, shrugging casually to prove his point. He hadn’t even gotten Ivy into bed yet, but he knew once he had her there, he’d never want anyone else. Ever again.
Shit, he already didn’t. Couldn’t even remember the last time he’d wanted anyone but her.
He was doomed.
“Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter next to the wine and tossed it to her.
She caught it in one hand.
“What do you mean ‘let’s go’? This is a girls’ night. As in, no penis’, no six-packs. Well, except for Christine’s. And no testosterone.” She trailed after him as he made his way to the door. “We can’t talk shit about you if you’re there with us.”
Sean stopped and turned so abruptly that Ivy crashed into his chest. He caught her up by the shoulders. “We’re fuck buddies now, Ivy. Which means we’re about to spend a lot more time together. Starting tonight.”
“We haven’t even, um, done anything yet,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze to her shoes. “So technically we’re nothing.”
Sean stared at the top of her head and frowned. He really hated when she did that, lowered her head to him, her bangs hiding her eyes. It made her vulnerable and not in a good way. And it killed him, every damn time.
He hooked his finger under her chin and tipped her face up to his, smoothed hair away from her face. “But we’re going to be something, Ivy. Soon. Tonight.” He watched her cheeks blush pink and decided he liked that look much better. He allowed his gaze to dip to the plunging scoop of her tight as fuck shirt, feeling his body react to the sight of her incredible breasts rising from it as she inhaled.
“Any chance you want to change your shirt?” he asked hopefully, knowing full well he was asking for diatribe.
Ivy glanced at her chest, then back up at him. “But this top enhances my assets, and I have very little to enhance.”
Sean looked back down at herassets. Was she kidding him? He knew she struggled with self-esteem, and had since she showed up at his gym years ago. He’d thought they’d worked through the worst of it by now.
She’d always been beautiful. Even when he’d first seen her, hollow-eyed, haunted, and gaunt, there was a beauty about her that had drawn him instantly. Now, after years of training, she had a toned, killer body to go with it. How could she not see her many assets?
“Whoever said you had very little was lying. You have plenty to enhance, and every dick in the room is gonna notice. So, it would be great if you could go toss on a turtleneck or something.”
“A turtleneck?” Ivy’s lip curled in disgust.
“Or something,” he reiterated. Then, because of the look she gave him, he added, with a sigh, “Look, it’d make me a thousand times more comfortable if I didn’t have to worry about other guys checking out your—”Fucking hell.“Assets.”
