Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
This was nothing like the kiss at the gala—that brief, calculated performance. This was real and raw. I kissed her like I’d been starving for it. I poured every ounce of want into that kiss, every frustrated night I’d spent trying not to think about her, every moment I’d caught myself staring at her lips and forced myself to look away.
Her fingers climbed higher, clutching at my collar, and a soft moan escaped her that nearly shattered what remained of my self-control. I wanted to drag her across the console and into my lap. Wanted to feel her weight pressing down on my aching cock, wanted to discover what other sounds I could draw from her throat.
When I finally broke the kiss, we were both breathing hard. Raina’s eyes were dazed, her lips swollen and pink, her fingers still tangled in my shirt like she was holding onto me like a lifeline.
I pressed my forehead to hers, just breathing her in before a smile tugged at my mouth. “That,” I murmured against her lips, “was about you and me, no one else. But it’s not going to be nearly enough.”
She let out a shaky breath, her eyes fluttering open to meet mine. In the dim light, I could see the desire written plainly across her features—the flushed cheeks, the parted lips, the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
“Invite me upstairs,” I heard myself say before I could stop myself.
The words came out low and rough, and I knew it was all sorts of wrong. She was my employee. We’d already blurred too many lines. But looking at her now, feeling her warmth so close to me, the taste of her still lingering on my lips, resisting her felt impossible. Desire had long since overridden reason.
“Simon…” Her voice was barely a whisper, caught somewhere between uncertainty and want.
I kissed her again. This time, there was no gentleness. I claimed her mouth with a hunger I’d been holding back for weeks, pouring every ounce of need into the slide of my lips against hers. My hand cupped the back of her head, angling her exactly where I wanted her, and she responded with equal fervor—her fingers clawing at my shoulders, her body straining toward mine across the console.
She was practically climbing over the center divider, desperate to get closer, and God, I wanted to let her. I wanted to pull her into my lap and feel her grind against me. But the first time I fucked her wasn’t going to be in a cramped car, no matter how badly I ached for it.
So I kept kissing her instead. Deep, drugging kisses that left her gasping. My teeth scraped her bottom lip, and she whimpered. My tongue swept against hers, and she melted. I kissed her until she was trembling, until coherent thought seemed to have abandoned her entirely.
When I finally pulled back a fraction, the air between us was filled with a heady anticipation and I waited, letting her decide what came next.
“Come upstairs,” she finally whispered against my mouth, the words barely audible.
I smiled against her lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Raina
This was insane.
The thought circled through my mind on a loop as Simon walked beside me toward my apartment building, his hand warm and secure around mine. Despite the way he’d just ravaged me in his car, kissing me until I couldn’t remember my own name, he was the perfect gentleman now. Calm. Composed. Like we were simply two people returning from a pleasant evening out.
We stepped into the elevator, and I pressed the button for my floor. The doors slid closed, sealing us inside the small space.
I glanced at him and caught my breath. There. The heat in his eyes hadn’t dimmed. It was banked, controlled, but unmistakably present—a promise of everything that was about to happen between us. My stomach flipped, desire curling low in my belly.
I’m going to sleep with my boss.
The rational part of my brain screamed that this was a terrible idea. That we’d already complicated things beyond repair with our fake dating arrangement, and this would only make everything worse. That mixing business with pleasure was a recipe for disaster on so many levels.
But another part of me—the part that had been aching for Simon since that first kiss at the gala—didn’t care about any of that. I wanted him. More than I’d wanted anyone in a long time. And tonight, I was going to have him.
The consequences could wait until morning.
The elevator opened, and we walked down the hall in charged silence. My hands trembled slightly as I unlocked my door, and I wondered if he noticed. Probably. Simon noticed everything.
We stepped inside, and I set my purse and keys on the small table by the entrance. The apartment was dark except for the glow of the city lights filtering through the windows, casting everything in soft shadows.