by TARA GALLINA
I nod, worried I might have done something to provoke Evan and cause this problem. "You didn't tear his arms off, did you?"
"No. But I should have. I wanted to." He curses and scoots closer to me. "Jesus, Ainsley, why did you meet him in the game room by yourself?"
"I didn't." I touch my head, trying to remember. "I thought Harper was there. She texted she was." Oh, shit. I jump up with a rush of adrenaline. "Where's my phone?"
Sebastian stands. "Sit down, Ainsley. The last thing I want is for you to bust your ass on the stairs."
"I’m fine." I'm not even swaying.
"Please, sit." His tone softens. "Your phone is right here on the table." He picks it up.
I reach for it.
He tucks it behind his back. "If you're worried about Harper don't be. I took care of it."
"How?"
He glances at the couch.
I sit, my eyes never leaving his.
"Nathan and Marcus helped me get rid of your boy and his friends."
"Don't call him that," I grind out.
"He had Harper wait inside with Riley, but he knew he'd have to tell her something. She was already asking where you were, said she sent you a bunch of texts, but you weren't responding."
"I only got one. That she was in the game room." And the one I ignored.
"She knows what happened and that I took care of you."
Oh no. My hand flies to my throat. "Was she pissed? Did she think I asked you to help me?"
"No, and even if she did, does it matter? She's with Nathan. After the fight, she attacked him and tried to tear his clothes off in front of everyone. Nathan carried her into a room and that was that. I don't think she's worried about you at all."
"Only because she hates me." I exhale and slouch. "This is the worst night ever."
"I don't know. I think it had a few nice moments." He lowers onto the couch.
I glower. "You mean before you got here?"
"Not even close." He puts his hands behind his head, his biceps bulging as he reclines into the back cushions.
"Not after you got here. You got into a fight, because of me. I'm sorry. I didn't know Evan was going to be like that."
"Nathan told me he warned you about the guys here after you announced you wanted to get laid."
"I didn't say that." My voice raises an octave. "Harper did, and it's not true. I mentioned hooking up with someone, but only because I—" I clamp my lips shut.
"You wanted to hook up with someone? Who?" He lowers his hands that are now balled into fists.
"No one." I look down and let my hair fall around my face. "I don't want to talk about this with you."
"Why?" He scoots closer. "Don't want me to know the guy you want?"
"Yes. I don't." I stare at him through the slight part in my hair. "Why do you care anyway?"
He arches a brow. "So there is a guy?"
And I’m looking right at him. Angry at myself for making another bad choice where guys are concerned, I turn away. "I should go."
"No way. You're not driving after the night you've had. You're sleeping here."
I whirl to face him. Pretty sure my hair whips his cheek as I do. When did he move closer? "Sorry." I cringe for saying the word.
"Why can't you tell me who the guy is? Maybe I can help you out, tell him what a hottie you are."
"I'm not a hottie, and I don't need your help."
"You are wrong on both accounts." He smirks like this is fun for him.
"How am I wrong?"
"You are in fact hot, but completely unaware of it, and if I know the guy, he'll need my permission to touch you."
I snort. "Oh, please."
"I'm serious, Ainsley." He uses his finger to move my hair from my face. "I like this, but I also don't like it."
"You're picking on my hair now?"
"I only don't like it when it hides your face." He peers down at me, somehow having backed me into the corner of the couch and is now blocking me in with his big body.
"Are you engaged?" I ask again, needing a reminder.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Why?"
I stare at him in silence.
"Who's the guy, Ainsley?" His tone is tender. "I need to make sure he's good enough for you."
"Oh, he's not. He's of the untouchable kind. You'd be wasting your time. And I didn't come here to be with him tonight. I also wouldn’t have sex with a random guy like Harper announced to everyone."
"I'm confused. Are we talking about two guys or one?"
"Two." Why am I explaining this?
"The one you want but can't have, and the random hook up you hoped for?"
"Yes." I lift my chin, annoyed with his persistence. "I wanted to kiss and whatever, but I wasn't going to sleep with anyone."
"You said that."
I squirm in the corner trapped by his heat and scent. "Why are you crowding me? I can't breathe when you're this close?"
"If you want me to move, all you have to do is make me."
"Oh my God. Is everything a game to you?"
"Nope. Nothing is, except for when I'm with you."
Fine. If he wants a game, a game is what he'll get. "I know how to make you move, and I'll barely have to touch you to do it."
Excitement brightens his eyes.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel that same rush inside me.
His mouth tips up at one side. "Do your best."
Chapter 3
I SWALLOW DEEP in my throat, determined to do this, even if it's the last, absolute worst thing I could do. But I'm over it. I'm over this feeling twisting inside me making me crazy whenever he's around. If I do this, I could get it out of my system and be done with him. That's what I want—to be rid of this festering ache that makes me want someone I can't have.
"I'm waiting," Sebastian sings.
I tie my hair in a messy bun above my head, so I can't use it to hide behind. A few tendrils spill out, falling around my face. Those can stay.
He watches me the whole time and once my hair is up, his gaze flits over my features, taking them in. A soft smile curls his lips, igniting a fire inside me.
Such a small gesture and yet my body swarms with need.
He studies me, his gaze taking in my faster breathing and reddening skin. When his eyes reconnect with mine, desire flares in them like he's as aroused as I am.
I lift my hand and brush my fingers across his cheek. "Close your eyes," I whisper.
He does.
Leaning forward, I push up to his level and ever so gently sweep my lips across his.
He lets out a deep groan but stays where he is and doesn't even open his eyes.
Really? I thought for sure he'd be on the far side of the couch by now. Do I suck that badly? Maybe he isn't the slightest bit tempted by me.
"Do that again and I'll be off the couch in a second." Tension fills his voice. The arm caging me in on the couch trembles like he's fighting his reaction to me.
Little me unhinging him seems unreal. It also makes me want to push him more and send him into a frenzy the way he does me. Consequences be damned, I do it again, only this time I finish the kiss by licking the seam of his lips.
His eyes pop open, flooded with lust. "Fuck." He grabs my waist and sits back on the couch, pulling me onto him so that I’m straddling his hips. "You're making me crazy. If you don't want to mess around, tell me to stop now. Because I've never wanted anyone so badly in my life."
"Neither have I," I confess, too driven by desire to care.
His jaw drops open, and then he's pulling me to him. Our lips touch, lock, and they're hot, burning me up inside. He parts his lips and I open mine, eager to taste his tongue. It's sweet like the Gatorade I had earlier, and so hot. I want to swallow him down, which makes no sense.
I moan into his mouth when he swirls his tongue with mine.
He grips me tighter and pulls me closer until his erection presses against me.
I moan again as tingles bom
bard me, heating my blood and soaking my bathing suit with want.
Never, have I ever reacted this way to a guy.
"Sebastian?" I whimper for reasons unknown to me.
"Tell me what you want?" he says, sounding as breathless as I am.
His hand slides up my back and tangles in my hair. My bun must have come loose.
"Tell me, sweet Ainsley," he murmurs and trails kisses across my jawline to my ear and down my neck.
I sigh and let my head fall back, giving him better access.
"You're so fucking sweet." He breathes against my skin, his mouth lowering to my collarbone and between my breasts.
Oh, God. I want him to touch me there. I lean back further and thrust my chest in his face.
Laughter flutters out of him. "Do you want me to kiss you here?" Keeping one arm locked behind my back, supporting me, he uses his free hand to push the triangle top of my bikini aside. Cool air meets my exposed nipple. "So pretty." He blows on it, making it pucker more, and then traces a circle around the tiny bud.
Ohgod, ohgod. I buck and squeal on his lap.
"Easy." He drags me back down to the hard erection bulging in his pants.
I rock against it, unwilling to lift my head because I want his lips on my breasts more than I've wanted anything in my life.
He moves the material away from my other nipple and gives it the same treatment, blowing then tracing a circle.
My skin tightens as heat and moisture flood my core. I feel on the verge of something big.
I want that something. I need it.
"Jesus," he sighs and releases a soft laugh. "If you keep rubbing on my cock like this, I'm going to nut in my pants like a sixteen-year-old. Slow down." He steadies my hips and slows my rhythm, thrusting to match the pace.
I lift my head, frustrated that he's not doing more, like sucking my breasts. I want it and I've never wanted it before. Sure, it's happened, but not like this, not in this way.
Sebastian draws my lips to his for another deep kiss. I let his tongue invade my mouth, sucking on it and meeting his teasing thrusts. My hips resume their torment on his arousal until that sensation is building in me again.
"Sebastian. I need…" The words die in my throat when his thumb runs over my aching nipple. "Oh, God." More pressure builds deep. "Please."
"Do you have any idea how fucking sweet you are? Your little pleas are killing me."
He dips me back again and this time, his tongue flicks my nipple.
Everything in me clenches.
He does it again and then sucks it into his hot mouth.
I explode. Pleasure bursts inside me making me convulse and cling to this new sensation sending me somewhere I've never been. I might scream his name. I'm certain I'm clawing his back, holding on for dear life. Funny thing is I don't care. I don’t care about anything except for this incredible sensation pumping through me.
Sebastian holds me tight, his face buried in my neck as he murmurs sweet words. "That's it, baby. Let it out. I've got you."
Slowly, I fade from the high and return to the present. My body feels weak. Too exhausted to speak or move. I let Sebastian cradle me to his chest, his hand at the back of my head as he rests it on his shoulder and reclines into the back cushion. His chest rises and falls under mine with his heavier breathing. Neither of us tries to speak.
I don't know how long we stay like this. Minutes? Hours?
Only when my skin cools, and the sweat dries, do I attempt words.
"I'm sorry." My voice is scratchier than usual, my throat dry from screaming? Panting?
Sebastian cups the back of my head and shifts me so he can kiss my temple. "What are you sorry for now?"
"I hurt you with my nails. And I screamed in your ear."
He tilts my head back more and kisses my lips, while I hang lifeless in his arms. "Don't apologize for gifting me with an orgasm. You're amazing. Sweet beyond anything I imagined."
"I wasn't sure what that was. I hoped I was right."
"Was that your first?" He strokes my cheek.
"Yes. I like it. Really like it."
He chuckles and kisses my lips again. "I'm honored to have given it to you."
Reason returns to my brain followed by a surge of embarrassment over how I acted. I rode him like he was my favorite grinding post. He had to slow me down. Because I was hurting him? And then I begged for him to suck my breasts. My nipples. Oh, God.
I stiffen in his arms. "I've never acted like that before. I … did I hurt you?"
"What?" He laughs. "No."
"But, I was going too fast and you had to slow me." I cover my face with my hand.
"Only because I thought I was going to cum in my pants. It wasn't a bad thing and you didn't hurt me, though I may think differently later."
"Why later?" I spread my fingers to peek at him.
"Well." He takes a moment. "When you're a guy you swell, and then you need release, or—"
"Oh my God." I cover my face again and squeeze my eyes shut. "I know about that. I thought—never mind." But now he's hard and I'm not, not that a girl can get hard, but I got off and he didn't.
Ack! I push myself upright on his lap and stare at his bulging erection. "I did that."
"Oh yeah," He agrees, unabashed.
"But you didn't, and I did and now I feel like I should, you know, return the favor."
"Why do you look scared?" His lips pinch. On the verge of laughter?
"I'm not scared." I keep my gaze on it. "I'm just not …"
"In the mood anymore?"
"No." I squeal. "I'm not good at that stuff. That's what I meant."
"Ainsley, baby. I find it hard to believe that you could suck at anything. No pun intended." He shifts, unbuttons the top button of his pants, and adjusts the head of his erection so it's poking above the waist.
I tense.
"Don't get nervous. I'm just making breathing room."
"That's way too big to fit in me." I point.
"Then it's a good thing we're not having sex." His comment draws my gaze to his face. "Thank God," he sighs. "You're staring at it only makes it harder."
"Oh. You should have told me to stop.
He chuckles and rests his hand on my bare thigh. "Well, it was that and your tits are still out. You should cover them unless you want me to take advantage of you again."
My gaze drops to my chest. Thankfully my long hair is covering most of my exposed breasts, except for part of my nipple where it peeks through a strand. Geez. I'm a mess. How did I not know?
I move the triangle fabric in place. "Better?" I ask, wanting to help.
"Better would be you completely naked on my bed. But you're not ready for that." He blows out a low rumbly breath. "Good things come to those who wait."
He's going to wait? For me? "Are you saying you want to do this again?"
"Why not?" He shrugs like there is nothing wrong with this.
"I can think of a lot of reasons why not. Harper can never know. Not that I'd ever go into detail, but she can't know anything, especially how I came on to you."
"I think the coming on to each other was mutual." He squeezes my thighs.
"I kissed you first."
"I provoked you."
"Why?"
"To see if you would, and to get your mind off the asshat you want to hook up with."
I giggle. "You just called yourself an asshat."
His eyes narrow. "I’m the untouchable guy?"
Me and my big mouth. "No." My voice is too high. I climb off his lap and retie my toga on my shoulder. "Do you have a mirror I can use? I need to fix my hair."
Sebastian rises from the couch in a fluid movement. "Why do you need to fix your hair?"
"I can't go downstairs looking like I … you know."
"Just got off?"
"It would lead to questions from Harper. She knows what just-fucked hair looks like, not that I was just-fucked." Shut up, Ainsley. "Never mind. I can use my phone." I scan the couch a
nd pat the cushions. "Can you turn on a light please, so I can see."
"Are you bailing on me?" He sounds shocked. The lamp on the desk turns on, bathing him in a yellow glow. Wow. With his shirt untucked, his pants undone, his lips red and swollen, and his hair a rumpled mess, he looks like a God.
"If you keep staring at me like that, Ainsley, I'll have to hold you hostage in my room."
I focus on his eyes. "Sorry."
He points to the armrest of the couch at the far end. "Your phone."
"Thank you." I grab it and bring up the camera app to use as a mirror. My hair is a wild mess. I'd have to wash it to tame it. Doing my best, I finger comb the wavy strands and tuck them behind my ears. "How's this?" I face Sebastian.
He stands by the kitchenette, drinking a beer with his back to me.
I walk over to him. "Do you think Harper will notice?"
He turns and lowers the beer from his mouth. "I think you wear an orgasm well. Your cheeks are glowing." He lifts his hand toward my face but then lowers it to his side.
Not the answer I was hoping for. "I can't go out there like this."
"Then don't go out there."
"Sebastian." I stomp weakly. "You're not helping."
His jaw muscle ticks. He unbuttons his shirt, opening it like he's hot, and then turns around.
So I don't stare at his glorious abs? "Sebastian?"
"What?" he snaps.
"Are you frustrated because we didn't do more?"
He exhales. "No."
"Did you like what we did?" Maybe he regrets it. "I mean, was it good enough?"
"If you're asking if you are good enough for hookups with random guys, then yes. They'll love you." He tips his head back with a chug of beer.
"That's not what I'm asking. Why are you being pissy?"
He spins to me, his taut abs on full display. "Guys don't get pissy, Ainsley. We're just dicks. Are you too good to use the word? You said fuck earlier. Twice. I was shocked."
Oh no. No, no, no. "What's wrong? Why are you acting like this? Are you mad at me for what we did? I can't take it back, and I don't want to. You gave me my first orgasm, and I loved it. I should be embarrassed admitting that, but either you're magical or I'm finally working like a normal person. You have no idea how frustrating it is not being able to have one. Before you, I never could."