by Shel Stone
Cecily gave him a chiding look and started up the stairs to the Met. It had that heavy, somber atmosphere this time of night, only a few people silently roaming around. It was also chilly.
“My friend Sabine has a statue gallery in her house,” Cecily said.
“Must be some house.”
“Technically it’s a castle.”
They wandered aimlessly down corridors and enclosed courtyards. Guards stood intermittently, trying to be unobtrusive.
“Come home with me,” he said as he walked past her, leaning in and getting a hit of her scent.
“Really. You think I should?”
“Yes, I definitely think you should.”
“Even when you give it away so cheaply? What will it mean when it is given away so easily?”
Adrian smiled. “The way we kiss isn’t something you can fake. In fact, a rare find. Don’t you agree?”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. His lips were burning for another kiss—especially after he’d spent the last half hour watching her enclose the delectableness of her lips around a fork and savoring. Unable to help himself, he claimed her lips. Sweetness suffused his mind.
A discreet throat clearing came from the guard and Cecily pulled away. Her lips looked even more delectable if that was possible. And he loved the fact that he couldn’t actually touch her here. It was forbidden.
“I prefer the Greeks to Roman statues,” Cecily said.
His mind didn’t even try to think about what she said. The only form he was interested in was a transplanted but returning American in a gorgeous dress that he wanted to divest her of. His body was on fire as they walked through the cool space. Her cheeks burned pink and he had her caught every time she looked at him.
The minute they stepped out of the museum, he grabbed her and drew her into another kiss. That fire, that desire was becoming familiar now. The taste of her becoming familiar and compelling. Still tasted like a hint of chocolate from the cake.
But it wasn’t time just yet.
Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead to hers, loving how she looked after he just kissed her. A little bit lost, a little bit wild. It was almost as if he saw the true her. The more he kissed her, the more he saw. There was danger there.
“A drink?” he suggested. “I know this place.” The place he had in mind was dark and discreet—a cool bar with a bit of a Moroccan theme, lots of cushions and light patterns from brass lanterns.
“Okay,” she said.
It wasn’t the kind of place he went to normally. It was too intimate. Too suggestive. Then again, he didn’t normally take girls to dinner and then a wander around the Met, full of half-naked statues. But there was something very exciting about this. Something bone deep, and he didn’t understand why.
Chapter 14
ADRIAN HAD HER IN his arms the moment they opened the door to his apartment. It was utterly silent, but she didn’t care about anything except that they finally had privacy. Heady kisses distracted from every other consideration. The taste of him was just addictive and she needed it like air. With his palm, he protected her from the wall in the entrance. His lips were on hers, searching, teasing, demanding.
His tongue plunged into her mouth and she welcomed him, wanting as much as he gave. All night she’d been feeling this, wanting this. And it went both ways. Every smile, every slight touch had promised this, and it delivered.
Breaking the kiss, his heavy breath mingled with hers. His body solid and firm along hers. Reaching for a kiss again, he denied her and she looked up into his eyes—deep, dark and glassy. And then he reached forward to kiss her, just the slightest touch. He wanted control right then and she let him. Things had perhaps been running a little too hot and he was slowing them down.
The soft touch of his lips to hers and her mind stewed in a brew of endorphins. Each little kiss wasn’t enough, just a tease that never gave enough. Taking her wrists, he placed them against the wall over her head. His lips teased down her cheek, just reaching the corner of her mouth. Cecily’s breath was so hard, the dress must be threatening to rip. The material was delicate.
Teasing down her jawline, he reached her neck. Sensation within her felt so multilayered, she didn’t really know where to focus. His fingers had reached into her palms, her nerve-endings feeling every movement.
“You want me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied breathily.
Finally he kissed her properly and it was worth the wait. Her eyes drifted shut with the assault of pleasure. They seemed to fit so perfectly together. Moisture was seeping out of her and she needed friction. Her insides meltingly hot.
As if reading her mind, his hands left her wrists and grabbed behind her thighs, drawing her legs up and around him. She ground her hips to him, being rewarded by the flare of sensation radiating out as he ground back. Her breath hitched as fierce pleasure built. Seriously, she was going to come from just this if she didn’t calm herself.
Kissing her again, he carried her until she felt something soft underneath her. “Is this your room?” she asked, looking around. It wasn’t immediately obvious. Clearly not a guy with a room full of pictures and things. It was functional, a laptop, a desk, a bed.
“Yes.” Now was not the time to explore his artifacts, because there were much more interesting things to focus on. He stood above her for a moment and she could see that he wasn’t unaffected by their exploration. “My, Miss Chambers,” he said with a smile. “You look absolutely gorgeous when you want.”
And what she did. Her body felt cold and aching without him. So aching. She rubbed her legs together, knowing her skirt had ridden up her thighs. Not that she minded. All in all, she wasn’t a prude when it came down to in.
“Such delicious abandon.”
Slowly, he undid the bowtie and then the buttons of his shirt. His skin was tanned and smooth underneath and he placed a knee on the bed, then trapping her between his arms.
“I think you like me a lot,” he said. “Not sure that’s wise.”
“You haven’t promised me anything. I haven’t promised you anything.”
He smiled. “Always so pragmatic. Except when I touch you.” Placing his palm on her chest, he spread his fingers out. “And we should definitely get that dress off you.” Reaching to the side, he found the carefully concealed zipper and drew it down. It relented the constriction of the dress and she could breath.
Drawing the shoulder down, her revealed her, one breast and then the other. The dress hadn’t allowed for a bra and she wasn’t sorry now. He groaned at the sight of her as if just seeing her gave him pleasure.
With his hands at her sides, he sank down and stroked her hard, pebbled nipple with the tip of his tongue. Sensations quickened inside her, a gasp escaping her with the sharp trace of lightening between her nipples and down deep into her core. Her legs were parted for him, but as of yet, he hovered above her, as if denying her the full feel of him. And she wanted it so badly, to feel the weight of him on her, the feel of his skin to hers.
Shimmying the material down, she got it down her thighs so she could be rid of it, which left her in just her panties, aching for him to join her.
But he leaned back on the bed, sitting back and drawing his warm hands down over her breast and then across her stomach, tracing fingers until he reached her panties. With his thumb, he reached inside and ground it to her clit. The sensation was so sharp, she jerked as it pierced through her body. Wetness seeped out of her and her hips met his ministrations.
No one had ever made her this hot before, so all-encompassingly caught in every sensation between them. A groan escaped him, even as he was just watching her respond to his touch. “So, Miss Chambers, as much as I adore being irresponsible, there are limits even to how far I will go.”
“I’m on the pill,” she said breathily after trying to bend her suffused mind around what he was saying.
“Perfect.”
With one hand, he undid his belt while still kne
ading her clit with the other and Cecily bit her lip as she watched him, wanting to record this sight in her memory.
Freeing himself, he stroked down his length and then shifted until he placed his tip at her entrance. They were going straight for it—not that she minded, because she couldn’t take any more teasing.
Widening her legs, she welcomed him as he pushed into her. Every inch pressing inside her, making her body yield for him. The fullness was glorious. Every muscle in his body tight and corded. Maybe the most beautiful sight she could think of. Pressing in until he was fully enveloped in her, his breath hitched.
Again his hands came to her wrists, leaning on his elbows as he retreated and pushed in again. Cecily didn’t know what to do with all the sensation rendered in her. It was so sharp, she almost had an instinct to escape it, but at the same time needing more. A delicate balance between too much and not nearly enough.
His lips claimed hers again, into a deep kiss that seemed to consume as much of her as possible. Sharp spears of pleasure saturating through every part of her.
“You want me, Cecily?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied, her voice thin and shaky.
“Say it.”
“I want you.” He ground harder to her and surges of pleasure stoked inside her.
“Again.”
“I want y—.” Her breath faltered. Her body, her hips, sought more and met him as he thrust into her. Moans escaped her throat. It felt so good, so wonderful.
His hands abandoned her wrists and moved to her hips, grounding her down harder to him with urgency. Pleasure built so strongly, she was caught by it, unable to move or think. All she needed was more of him, her orgasm roaring up and overtaking her in a rush. Exquisite surges of pure pleasure flowing out from her pussy to every part of her body. Heavy pulses of sensation stealing everything she was from her.
His body stiffened, driving her down into the mattress as he released deep inside her. How was this not the best thing in the entire world? It was the only thought in her mind, like a celebration. Everything good was here, the creation of life, the triumph of love. Not that there would be a start of life in this case, but it was poignant that this was how it was achieved.
His weight crashed down on her and she folded him in her arms, loving the feel of him to her. What was there not to love about what they’d just done?
“Fuck, Cecily,” he mumbled and she smiled, kissing his damp head. They stayed like that until their breaths recovered, him still buried inside her as he grew soft. Well, for how long that lasted.
Chapter 15
SITTING AT THE DESK in his bedroom, Adrian noted the message that came through on his phone. It was from Cecily, but he didn’t look at it. She’d left early that morning, had probably gotten into trouble with her dad, but that was nothing compared to the kind of trouble she was about to be in.
Tapping his thumb on the black lacquered desk, he looked out at the gloomy weather beyond his floor to ceiling windows. Central park stretched out before him, but the clouds were dark and low, the perfect weather for a day like this, for revenge. Revenge didn’t suit a sunny and clear day, did it?
The fucking had been spectacular, the kind you couldn’t not be fully engaged in. Truthfully, he had perfected the art of unengaged fucking, but with her, it had utterly absorbed him from the moment he’d touched her. Maybe it was the revenge that had made it so very sweet. And her clear eagerness. Cecily Chambers didn’t hold back.
In fact, he’d edited the video to make it less spectacular than it had been, because he didn’t want guys getting off on it. This wasn’t about sharing—this was revenge, even if there was a part of him that was torn, that was doubting. Doubt wasn’t something he’d ever given into and he wouldn’t now. This was the plan from the day she’d walked into the school and he wasn’t wavering now.
Reaching for his phone, he uploaded the video, his finger hovering for a moment before hitting send. A rush went through him as he did. “Goodbye, Cecily Chambers.”
With a clunk, he put the phone back again and walked away from the desk. He needed to move, to burn this energy inside him, and to burn away that small part of him that hated what he’d just done. It had been a while since he’d heard that part inside him, but it had sought to defend her. There was absolutely no reason to explore why. Yes, fine, there was a part of him that had liked her, but that was irrelevant. The Chambers had to go, had to be punished for what they’d done.
Chances were she didn’t even turn up to school tomorrow. She could be gone out of town by sundown. Most likely she’d be gone out of the country. She should have stayed in Europe.
In his closet was his racket ball gear. It had been a while since he’d played, but it was the best thing when he needed to go hard, and right now, he had a lot he needed to burn out of his system.
Chapter 16
AFTER THE OBLIGATORY DRIVE to the North Shore to see her grandmother, Cecily was exhausted. Sitting with her little brothers in a car through Sunday traffic had been a hell like no other. She was still exhausted now as she grabbed a piece of toast for the ride to school. Yet again sitting in the car with her raucous brothers.
This time, they dropped her off first as there were roadworks on their normal route. With her bag over her shoulder, Cecily got out and slowly walked up the stone steps to Carterton Academy’s main entrance.
“Nice,” a guy said as he passed her. She didn’t know who he was, or what he meant, but dismissed it. People were weird and sometimes it wasn’t worth wondering why.
The halls were as busy as always and she saw Audrina ahead, giving her a hard look. Maybe she was upset that she and Adrian had missed the actual ball. “Seriously, could you be more embarrassing?” Audrina asked. Cecily’s mouth fell open. “I don’t know you,” Audrina continued as she pushed past, hitting Cecily hard on the shoulder. All Cecily could do was stare after her, goosebumps creeping up her skin. Something bad had happened—she could feel it in her bones. This wasn’t just slightly pissed because she hadn’t shown. This was worse.
Turning around, she looked at people and saw their stares at her. This was bad, in public bad. Adrian had done something. And then she thought it was strange that thought would immediately occur to her. He’d been lovely. They’d had an awesome time. But in her gut, she knew he’d done something.
In the distance, she saw Morgan and Mishti. They looked sad. Oh, this was bad. Terrible.
“Nice tits,” a guy said, leaning in with a snigger. A sinking feeling drew her down into despair. There had to be pictures.
Mishti shook her head and walked off, but Morgan walked toward her. The look of sadness on her face was inescapable. People just stared and laughed.
“He is such a dick,” Morgan said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Are there pictures?”
“You haven’t seen it?”
“No, I was busy all yesterday. I didn’t have time.”
“A video,” Morgan said.
Panic rose through Cecily, and she had to escape, run from there and all those eyes on her. He’d filmed it? And now it was out. Everyone had seen it.
“Did you agree to this?”
“No, of course not!”
Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and she only just noticed, angrily wiping them away. “Why would he do this to me?”
“Come, let’s go,” Morgan said and drew her away. Cecily followed, having no idea where they were going. She was too caught up with the shock of this, and the disgust of the people around her. One guy even cupped himself and then laughed.
Somehow they ended up in the gym and retreated to the far side where there was a space between the wall and the side of the bleachers.
“Not sure there is any point in you seeing it,” Morgan said, sitting down. Cecily followed, sitting with her back against the wall, openly crying now. Her mind was trying to think through what to do, but what was there to do? “You can hire people to scrub the Internet. They have agencies specifically f
or that.”
“What good is that going to do? Everyone has already seen it.” Pulling her bag over, Cecily drew out her phone. There were countless messages, even from her friends in Europe. Everyone knew. The whole fucking world. With disgust, she threw the phone down. “Is it bad? Like really bad?”
Morgan bit her lip for a moment as if she didn’t know what to say. “I mean, it could be worse. You guys are clearly fucking. You’re like… riding him.”
“Oh god,” Cecily cringed, her stomach turning over.
“You didn’t see the camera? It was like on the bedside table.”
“No, of course not.”
“Fuck, I’m so sorry, Cecily,” Morgan said. “It’s fucking unbelievable. You could sue him for this. Technically it must be illegal. Revenge porn or something.”
“Yeah, so we can drag this out for years? His team of lawyers against my team of lawyers so he can get a slap on the wrist.”
“True. They’d never put someone like him in jail. His dad probably golfs with the mayor of the city. But your dad is powerful too.”
Turning it over in her head, Cecily tried to think what to do, but her mind was still in sheer panic. “The best thing I could do is find some rock to go hide under.”
Morgan shifted closer and hugged her. It only made Cecily start crying again. “We should get out of here. I know this place that does fourteen scoop sundaes.”
“Ice cream can’t fix this.”
“No, but it will taste good. Come on,” Morgan said, urging her to rise. “Let’s go out this way.”
“That’s an emergency exit. It will be alarmed.”
“So?” Morgan said and pushed it open. An alarm started blaring, urging Cecily up and out. “I wouldn’t watch the video if I were you,” she said as they walked down the street outside. “But if it’s any consolation, you looked really hot.”
“Well, at least I’m a really hot-looking skank.”