From one second to the next, I was in love with her. It didn’t matter that we barely knew each other, or that I was pretty sure she hated me. She was perfect, and I loved her. From that moment on—that moment of unadulterated trust and surrender—she was mine.
My orgasm ripped through me in a wave of fire. I stifled the roar that tried to escape my throat, grabbing my cock as I pulled out of her. My other hand gripped her thigh as I painted her with my release. Marked her as mine.
“Now, Deena,” I said, squeezing the base of my cock as I milked every drop. “Now you can make yourself come.”
Her fingers were stroking her clit in an instant, spreadingmy own orgasm all over her glistening skin. Through half-lidded eyes, Deena watched me watch her. I held her thighs apart so I could feel the way they twitched as she touched herself. She looked undone and messy, so different from the utterly self-possessed woman I’d come to know. My chest felt hot and tight at the realization that she trusted me to see her like this. Me, and no one else.
Unable to resist temptation, I slid my fingers inside her, curling them as I stroked. Deena’s inner walls clenched, and she inhaled sharply as her back arched. Her free hand flew down to grab my wrist, holding me inside her as she rubbed herself to completion.
It was the single most beautiful thing I’d ever witnessed in my life.
THIRTEEN
DEENA
In the aftermath,the room was too quiet. Every breath, every heartbeat, every rustle of fabric sounded thunderous in the pulsing emptiness. The sounds of the party in the next room seemed closer, and I wondered if everyone had heard. My body twitched and flushed in waves, even as Cal helped me back to my feet. My thighs were sticky. My dress was a crumpled mess.
I blinked, coming back to myself. Half of me was utterly horrified. The other half wanted to do it again.
I’d never had an orgasm like that in my entire life. Never felt like my body was not my own, like every bond I’d forged to keep myself together was broken and remade.
Cal’s belt was still unbuckled, but his pants were fastened. He moved closer to me while I reeled, his fingers touching my cheek so I’d look up at him. I gulped. We smelled like sex.
Seconds stretched as he watched me, his eyes back to their remarkable pale blue, and I began to worry that this had been a mistake.
Then he spoke. “You are perfect, Deena,” he rumbled amoment before pressing a soft kiss to my lips. Lips that were still brushing mine when he asked, “You hear me?”
The praise warmed my chest, sending tingles through my extremities. I wanted more. Desperately, pathetically wanted him to tell me that again and again. It felt like everything I knew about myself had been pulverized in this room, and I scrabbled to pull myself back together again.
I needed walls. I needed to feel like my body was my own, like my mind was mine once more. I wanted more from life than to be a man’s accessory. But he was here and he was gorgeous, and he was telling me all the things I never knew I needed to hear. Even as panic began to take root, a substantial part of me wanted to strip my dress off and beg him to take me again. Beg him to make me feel like I was flying, like every weight that kept my feet on the ground had been stripped away.
The thing was, though…Ilikedhaving my feet firmly planted on the ground. Didn’t I?
This could not happen again. But how to put distance between us when all I wanted was to feel his hands on my skin?
In my pleasure-addled mind, I clung to the one thing that had never failed me. My ambition. My brain. My business. I leaned away from Cal and said, “I’ve reconsidered your offer. I’ll work for you.”
The effect of my words was immediate. He took a step back, his eyes shuttering. “I see. What caused the change of heart?”
“Post-orgasm clarity,” I quipped.
He huffed, moving to fasten his belt. I watched the movement of his knuckles, his long fingers, his broad palms. He had beautiful hands.
I wanted him so badly I was sick with it. Tearing my eyes away, I nodded sharply. Convincing myself this was the right move.
“And how much will it cost me to hire you?” Cal asked, and it didn’t exactly sound like he was talking about money.
“You said you needed six months from me,” I continued. “I think I can make that work. Of course, if we work together, this can never happen again.” I flicked my fingers between us.
His jaw tightened. “I see,” he repeated. He watched me for a beat—long enough that I had to fight the urge to squirm—and said, “How much?”
He’d told me to name my price. The true price was never, ever giving myself to him again. If I could keep him at a distance, then I wouldn’t have to face how earth-shattering it had been to surrender to him. I could rebuild myself to the woman I knew I was. The woman who’d left her hometown and created a life for herself based on her own values, and not the ones of the family who wanted to keep her small.
That was who I wanted to be. That was who Iwouldbe.
As we watched each other, I wondered if I could make Cal go away altogether. If I demanded a high enough salary, he’d balk. He’d gotten what he wanted in this room, and now I needed to make him lose interest.
I plucked a number out of the air, the biggest number I could force past my lips. “Three hundred grand.” That would pay off my student loans, give me a small emergency fund, and allow me to actually put some money away for retirement. I might even be able to start a small down payment for my own house. I’d be financially secure for the first time in my adult life.
