by J. K Harper
It made her feel—protected.
Possessed.
"Lacey." His hazel-green eyes seemed even brighter now, as if he were lit from within by the same fire she felt crackling inside her. Desperate to get out and explode into white hot flames. "Say my name again. I need to hear you say my name again."
His other hand moved off the wall and slipped behind her head, his fingers very gently threading through her hair. Heart thumping erratically, body primed to an attention that she instinctively knew he would know exactly how to soothe, Lacey nodded. She sighed out, "Sebastian. This may be the craziest thing I've ever done, but yes. I want this," she whispered, reaching up to curve her hands up behind his neck.
A groan ripped out of him. The sound was so filled with sheer relief that Lacey's knees actually did buckle. He caught her up and gently crushed her to his chest, murmuring back, "As you wish, my sexy as hell beauty," before finally, thank god, taking her lips with his own in a ravaging kiss that knocked her sideways and inside out with the intensity of it.
She was definitely a goner.
Chapter Eleven
Sebastian's thoughts turned into fiery, nonsensical bolts of stunned blankness as his lips touched Lacey's. Her sweet, decadent taste exploded in his mouth. He didn't have to ask how aroused she was. The pliable sensation of her body as she pressed her exquisite breasts into his chest, the heat he could feel pulsing off her, told him she was already wet for him.
Waiting for him to touch her everywhere.
He pulled back just enough to murmur, “Not wasting another second.” With that, he easily hoisted her up into his arms despite her small gasp of surprise, heading straight to his enormous dark cherry oak desk. Setting her gently onto the edge of it, he stepped back from. Her eyes were wide, that gorgeous flush still coloring her features, as she watched him quickly shuck off every single last bit of clothing.
Stepping away from his pants, he let her take a long look. He was completely hard, his cock boldly jutting away from his body. Lacey's mouth, plump and luscious from the rough kiss he laid upon it, was open.
“Holy...wow,” was all she seemed able to manage. The dark marine of her eyes fixated on his cock, which both amused and pleased him tremendously.
“This is what you've created in me tonight. This is how you've been making me feel, Lacey.” His voice was low. Utterly honest. He felt his dragon beating at his mind with his wings, demanding to swoop in and claim her. Jaw tightening as he fought himself, Sebastian forced himself to stand still for Lacey's gratifyingly fascinated inspection.
Slowly, so slowly, she looked back up, letting her gaze travel in leisurely, utterly appreciative manner along his body all the way back up to his eyes.
Sebastian felt something lurch oddly inside him at the sudden gravity in her stare. The utter seriousness he saw there was balanced with a reverence for not only him, but this moment. Eyes locked together, a very long beat passed, then another, with the two of them not saying a word as something deep, wild, and genuine leaped between them.
Inside, Sebastian's dragon struggled for release.
Barely restraining himself, Sebastian managed to step to her side without simply ripping off her clothes and feasting on her lusciousness. Her captivating scent, inches away, threatened to overwhelm him. Quietly, he ordered, “Take your clothes off, Lacey. I want to see that gorgeous body of yours as naked as mine.”
She inhaled hard at that. By the rapid pulse he could sense throbbing in her neck, he knew sheer arousal roared through her as much as it did him. With only slightly shaking hands, she obeyed. Within moments, her very pretty dress lay in a neat pile on the desk, topped by her outrageously sexy pale pink bra and panties. Almost shyly, she looked back up at him. The luminous depths of her eyes caught at him again, tugging him down into something deep that might drown him if he wasn't careful.
Voice rough, he said, “You're stunning, Lacey. Now. Turn around and hold onto the desk.”
That clearly took her off guard. Her eyes widened. “I—what?” Even so, he heard the ragged cadence beneath her words. A deep craving still brimmed there, blazing with heat.
Then her tongue slipped out, just touching one corner of her mouth as she stared at him in flustered yet still obvious arousal. Sebastian's control slipped over the edge. “I had a vision of bending you over my desk, beautiful.” His voice slipped into the same raggedness as hers. “If you don't want to do that, we won't. But something,” and he leaned forward just enough to slide his tongue up her neck, eliciting a gasping little cry, “tells me you sure as hell want to do exactly that.”
Half panting now, Lacey looked at him for a long moment. Then, very slowly but with absolute certainty in her movements, she turned around so that her beautiful ass pushed against him as she leaned herself forward over his desk, bending from her waist. Turning her head to one side, she rested her cheek on the gleaming dark blood-red surface, looking at him with a sensual, increasingly excited gaze that invited him in. Tendrils of blonde hair curled onto her neck from the upsweep hairdo still pinned to her head.
Very carefully, Sebastian reached down to the thick, shiny mass and loosened the pins until all her hair fell free, flowing down. He brushed it all to one side, then slowly slid one hand from the base of her neck all the way down her bare back, lightly running his fingers over the bumps of her spine. Accompanied by the uneven breaths and eager little sounds coming low from her throat, he let his fingers reach the soft roundness of Lacey's ass, open before him without shame or fear.
Vulnerable. Willing.
His.
Even more carefully, still slowly, he dipped a finger down the soft crack, curving around her lusciously plump ass until he found the wet, welcoming heat of the sweet pussy he so desperately craved. She was already soaked, just as ready for him as he was for her. He was so damned hard he thought he might injure something if he didn't get inside her soon.
“Oh, god, yes.” The breath hissed out of Lacey as Sebastian's finger delved deep inside her, curling in and out in a beckoning motion. A crass word slipped out of her in a long, keening moan as he inserted a second finger, feeling inside her lush softness as if he'd never before touched a woman there. “Please,” she panted, thrusting back against him. “Please yes, just like that. Sebastian, please,” and she proceeded to tell him in a low, sexy growl just how she wanted it.
Somehow, he'd known it would be like this with her. Hot, dirty, and unflinchingly honest.
Leaning down so that his breath would tickle against her ear, he murmured, “I like hearing your pretty little mouth talk like that, Lacey. Now,” and he reached down with his other hand to gently urge her to spread her legs open, which she did so quickly it made a satisfied smile flash across his face, “let's see what I can do here.”
Grasping her full, graceful hips with both hands, he paused for another moment just to look at her face. Still nestled against the smooth surface of the desk, it was flushed. Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip, about making his head spin with how damned erotic that looked. Those dark blue eyes of hers, now a blueberry-black shade from her arousal, tracked his as he reached down to position himself right at her beautifully plumped out pink folds. Feeling his dragon roaring through him, Sebastian watched her face as he slowly slid his aching hard cock deep inside her.
“Ah,” she gasped, pushing back hard against him so that the base of his shaft snugged right up against her. Her fingers clenched hard on the deep edges of the heavy desk, her back bowing into an unintentionally seductive little curve as she pressed her hips back against his.
It was just about the sexiest thing Sebastian had ever seen in his life. His hands clutched her hips so tightly where they fused together he thought he might be hurting her, but her eyes were still latched on his, wide and vulnerable yet also heavy with longing. “Lacey,” he groaned, fighting the deep unfurling inside he knew was his dragon.
Desperate to get out. To surge forth and claim this woman.
She moved h
er hips just slightly, his name tumbling off her lips again in a fierce, impatient whimper, and he was lost. Something hot and rich and dark moved through him, gaining force and power as it unleashed savage emotions that shattered his control over himself.
Possession. Yearning. Tenderness. Primitive desire. The unstoppable need to thrust into her again and again.
To drive himself so deeply into her that he would mark her as his, and his alone.
His thinking brain pretty much shut down. Operating from a place of untamed urgency that blasted through him like a dragon in wild, elated flight, Sebastian plunged his thick, aching cock into her slick heat. Lacey met him each time, even when he slammed into her so hard he thought he might slide them both across the massive desk. Her eyes still on his, face flushed to a rosy glow, she fought to keep her eyelids from fluttering shut as she panted from her beautifully open mouth.
“Sebastian.” Her voice, throaty and uninhibited, whispered over him like a thousand tiny shimmering wings, leaving goose bumps in their wake as he tightly held onto her. “Sebastian!” she screamed, still looking at him even though he could tell she was about to fracture apart and tumble over the edge.
White-hot lightning crackled and seared through him as everything important in the world suddenly coalesced into this one single moment with this one single woman. “Yes,” he growled back, hearing his dragon's deep bass shudder through his own voice. “With you. Lacey, yes, Lacey!” he shouted, watching her face tense and stretch into sheer ecstasy as her sweet inner muscles abruptly convulsed around him.
His voice was a hoarse, guttural yell as he exploded inside her, Lacey shuddering around him at the same time as she gasped and keened. He never once dropped the scorching gaze they held with one another despite feeling like his eyes might roll back in his head from the gorgeous, powerful force of his release with her.
Still caught in the orgasm, feeling Lacey shake against him as she half-cried his name in whimpering sobs of bliss, Sebastian dropped his weight onto her, bringing his lips to her neck. Unable to stop himself, he felt the ancient power rise in him with a rush of exultant triumph.
His thrilled, defiantly roaring dragon side made him bend his head down.
Opening his mouth to send superheated breath onto her delicate neck.
Etching a shadow of his name into her skin, her bones, her soul, with the fire of his heart.
Claiming this woman, and only this woman, as being irrevocably his.
Damn the consequences.
Chapter Twelve
Even though small, the plane was the most luxurious one Lacey had ever been on in her entire life. Seated on a chair that was plusher than any couch she'd ever owned and could probably fit three people, she felt a bit like a princess in a fairytale. A confused princess, but a princess nevertheless.
"Mr. Bernal will be here any minute, Ms. Whitman. Would you like something to drink? We have coffee, tea, a variety of sodas, spirits, wine, beer. Water, milk, juice. Really, just about anything you'd like." The flight attendant smiled at Lacey and she hovered beside her, discreet yet clearly ready to jump at Lacey's every command. The wide aisle, which really wasn't an aisle so much as it was a living room space, the private plane, the very attentive attendant, all meant that Lacey was trying to not get too freaked out at it all.
Oh, and then there was the mind-blowing sex last night. She definitely was trying to not freak out at that, either.
"No, thank you,” she said to the attendant. “I'm fine. But thank you."
The attendant smiled at her, murmured something about calling her any moment she wanted anything, and walked away. Lacey knew she sounded like an idiot. She was positive the flight attendant was perfectly well aware that Lacey had never in her life been surrounded by the trappings of the rich, richer, and very richest in the world.
Apparently, things changed once you had a wild night of passion with a sexy billionaire. Just the thought of it brought a rush of heat to her cheeks again. She placed her palms against her face, trying to cool it.
She had had wild, crazy, deeply satisfying, thoroughly dirty sex with Sebastian Bernal all last night. In his office, for crying out loud. Bent over his desk, for even more crying out loud.
And she'd loved every single, deliciously erotic moment of it.
Afterward, he'd gathered her in his arms, leaning himself back on the desk so he could hold her close to him. He been silent for such a long time that she'd been convinced he had come to his senses, realized pursuing her had been a terrible mistake, and was trying to decide how to fire her.
Instead, he stroked her hair with his hand, fingers gently tangling in it, and whispered, "This has changed everything, Lacey. You have no idea. I'm not even sure exactly how to tell you."
The usual certainty, even cockiness, had been in his tone. But the faintest bit of doubt, or perhaps surprise, dusted the edges of his words. She hadn't really known how to respond except to nod her head against his chest. Lacey herself struggled to come to terms with not only the way he'd made her body soar in a way that never had happened before, but that she knew, deep down, that there'd been an unshakable, undeniable connection between them at the height of the ecstasy.
There had been a moment. She didn't know what it meant. She just knew it had happened.
She gazed out the plane's small window at the buildings beyond the small private runway where the plane idled as it waited for its owner. Last night, she had felt caught in a dream state. Sebastian had hovered over her the rest of the evening when they returned to the wedding reception, even when he wasn't literally beside her. She could somehow sense him, even from across the room, like a sheltering presence around her. Watching over her. She'd felt completely protected.
Cherished.
Although he wanted to drive her back to her apartment after the extravagant reception was over, she laughed it off. She'd brought her own car to work that day, after all. He'd admonished her to let him know the second she walked in the door so he knew she was safe.
She hadn't needed to, because he'd called her not fifteen minutes after she walked in the door.
And then there been the—yes.
There been the phone sex, late last night.
She turned her palms around so the cooler backs of her hands rested against her cheeks, which flamed anew with the memory. She'd never had phone sex in her life. It seemed like she never done a lot of things. Just hearing his voice on the phone had almost been enough to incite another orgasm. She'd been incredibly grateful that Gabi wasn't home.
Then this morning, shortly after 8a.m., Sebastian had called again. The low, sexy growl of his good morning in her ear had tightened her nipples and brought a blazing smile to her face. Then he asked what her plans were for the day. When she'd sleepily answered that she meant to come in to the Center for a few hours to finish up some details on the exhibit notes, he chuckled.
"Lacey, I more than understand ambition and drive. But you have proved yourself a thousand times over. It's also Sunday. You're allowed to take the day off. In fact, I mandate it."
She'd laughed at that, even as she had to admit it would be pretty nice to not tack on another five hours toward what had already been an 80-hour workweek. Sebastian had continued, "I want to take you somewhere today, Lacey. To show you something. You will allow me the pleasure of being in my company the entire day?"
Well, no, she wasn't about to deny him that. Not after the most insane night of her life.
So here she was. On Sebastian's private small plane, not to be confused with the company's private jet, which was parked at another hangar at the small, corporate airport. She was waiting for him to get on the plane so they could make the short flight to his family's hacienda, which was down south almost to San Diego.
Lacey had to admit that even without the prospect of spending the day in the company of the sexiest man on the planet, the man she would swear whose heart she'd glimpsed last night, she would've been thrilled to go to the ancestral home of th
e Bernal family. That was one place that was strictly off-limits to media scrutiny. Of course, that never had stopped photographers from taking airborne pictures of it over the years, especially recently with the invention of drones. Although she heard that those tended to mysteriously disappear every time they got over the estate. Sebastian always said that if people wanted to know about his family and his cultural legacy, they could go to Bernal Center. That was what it was for. His ancestral home was not open to the public scrutiny. End of story.
From both a professional and personal standpoint, Lacey was elated at the thought of getting to see the stunning place in person.
A small commotion at the front of the plane drew her eyes. Sebastian appeared in the doorway, nodding at the captain and flight attendant who stood at the front of the plane, before striding down the open expanse toward Lacey.
Holy…
She swallowed. She'd last seen the man less than twelve hours before, had come on command just from his voice alone through the phone no fewer than three times last night, and talked to him again this morning. Even so, she wasn't prepared for the huge rush of both emotions and physical sensations that torpedoed through her as she saw his stunning self in the flesh again.
"Good morning, Lacey. Thank you for joining me."
The rich darkness of his voice floated around Lacey, seeming to fill the very air with the sheer magnitude of his presence. He stepped up to her and bent down to brush her lips with his. Just the thrill of that little touch blasted through her, reigniting the nerve endings that had been thoroughly played with and satiated the night before.
Clearly, she was ready to go again.
All her usual calm control shot to hell, she blushed for about the millionth time since last night. Sebastian noted it, chuckling as he dropped into the seat across from her with the elegant ease of a lifetime born of wealth, power, and the obvious certainty that he knew his place and his worth in the world. Lacey stared at him for a long moment, almost unaware of the rumble of the plane as it started to taxi for take off, ignoring the pilot's voice over the intercom.