Nicholas looked bigger.
Jay shut her eyes, breathing harder as his hand shifted to her hair, pushing the loose strands out of her face before caressing her cheek, her chin.
It’s what you’re here for.
“You’re shaking.” His thumb trailed over her lip. “You don’t want to look at me?”
Of all the things he could have said to her, this was what broke her wide open.
The sound she made gave him pause. And then he sighed. “Shhh. Relax, little bird. I’m very close. You don’t have to do anything.”
Adrenaline shot through her veins, and she was still heady from that potent rush of fear when his lips crushed against hers, making her gasp into his mouth at the next hard stroke.
“That’s it—” He traced her jaw possessively. “You’re so beautiful.”
No, thought Jay.I don’t want to be. Eyes still shut, she turned her head, this time tilting it back in invitation, and only someone who was very familiar with his body would have noticed the brief pause before he collared her throat with his fingers.
“No,” she said, shuddering. “Daddy, no—”
He groaned, and pressed his mouth to her temple. The heavy weight of him was smothering, and Jay gasped as he finished inside her, his body covering hers completely. She could feel the thrum of his heartbeat against her breast.
There was nothing to hide now, not like this. Not with that familiar ache blooming in her belly as he took what he wanted from her, the most satisfying lover she’d ever had. And the cruelest.
The cruelest thing he’d ever done, though, was telling her that he loved her.
She opened her eyes and saw him watching her. His pupils were large and dark, nearly eclipsing the grey. He was still inside her, and she was struck, suddenly, by his closeness, and how neatly his body aligned with her own from chest to hip. She could feel his heart pounding.
His mouth tilted into something too somber and severe for a smile, and he nipped gently at her earlobe before kissing her ear. “Who do you belong to?”
Jay parted her lips and felt him reverently trace their shape. His fingers still tasted like her.
“You, Daddy.”
Chapter Two
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“You seem distracted.”
Jay pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked away from the far-too-many tabs she had open. “Hi, Arthur. No, I’m fine. I’m just—”burned out from playing society darling? Sore from fucking my stepbrother?Her eyes skated over the jar of candies on her desk, the mug that said ‘World’s Best Cat Aunt.’ “—busy,” she finished lamely. “Did you need something?”
His smile was horribly sympathetic. “You missed our two o’ clock.”
But that meeting isn’t until two, she thought nonsensically. She swerved to look at her open calendar and there it was, highlighted in red.Arthur & Jay: 2PM.
“Oh god,” she said. “It’s two-thirty. I’m so, so sorry—”
“It’s all right, Jay.” He glanced at Annica, who was pretending she wasn’t listening. “There wasn’t really anything we needed to go over anyway, and I was thinking about canceling it.”
Jay didn’t believe that for a minute. “It won’t happen again.”
“Even the best workers deserve a day off.”
“You’re right. I’ll be sure to do that as soon as I have the time.”A time when I haven’t just royally screwed up.“Thank you for letting me know.”
His smile turned slightly wry. “You sound like Nicholas. No wonder you got along so well. You’re cut from the same cloth. The two of you would both work yourselves right into the grave, given the proper incentive.”
Jay stared at the back of his suit as he strolled back towards his corner office on the second floor.Cut from the same cloth?she wondered, stunned.Nicholas?
