by Molly McLain
For a moment I think I was so shocked by the idea that Gage was kissing me that I’d missed the first few seconds of a kiss I had been longing for.
When I was finally able to register what was happening I lifted my hand to place it around the back of his neck, holding him there. I was so scared he would end it before I had the chance to take all I needed.
I waited for far too long for this moment and in no way did I intend to let it slip by me.
I swiped at his lip with my tongue and he made a sound that resembled a growl, as he gripped my waist tighter and pulled me close.
Even in my fantasies, our kisses were never this good.
Gage was taking charge, conquering my mouth and leaving me mind blown.
The way his mouth moved with mine as he held my body to his, made me feel as if no one else in the world existed.
“You taste unbelievably sweet,” he whispered. “But I already knew you would.”
He smiled against my lips as he pressed another kiss to the corner of my mouth, moving across my cheek toward my ear. “Let’s not focus on the reason we shouldn’t be together, but instead on all the reasons we should be.”
And I couldn’t have agreed more.
“Sounds good to me,” I said in return as his body began to sway against mine.
His mouth still pressed to my ear, the heat of his breath blowing over my neck. It was only heightening my desire for him.
Jesse Kingston’s voice filled the room as he sang a slow breathtaking melody. I loved that man’s voice, it had a way of making you melt on the inside. I imagined the words he sang were meant for me and Gage even though I’m positive they were words written for his wife alone. But a love like that gave hope to those that dreamed of feeling adored like Lucy Kingston was.
I relaxed in Gage’s arms and he held me so delicately that my heart felt as if it had begun to melt. I knew in his arms would be a place if I ever got the chance to visit I would never want to leave.
And that explained my current predicament.
For once I felt like I mattered. And yes, it may seem silly to some, but Gage knew how to hold a woman.
“What are you thinking about, beautiful?” he asked and I closed my eyes, irritated that I had allowed myself to get so lost. “And before you say nothing, I already know that something is going on inside that head of yours because I’ve seen it before.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked wondering when Mr. Reynolds had actually paid enough attention to me between all the times he pushed me and my advances away.
His lip lifted in a smirk. “I only ever said we should keep our distance not that I didn’t want what you wanted. I think we both know that staying away was hard on the both of us.”
I only nodded because it being hard was not even close to a good enough way to explain it.
“So for tonight let’s just pretend that we have nothing stopping us from being together,” he added. “We’ll deal with the consequences later.”
“So just for tonight we give in to temptation?” I asked and pulled back enough to look up at him. He arched his brow but before he could reply I continued. “And tomorrow we go back to ignoring the feelings that I know we both feel?”
“I’m not saying that,” he said lifting his had to brush back the tendril of hair that hung in my face. “What I’m saying is that I’ve fought this for months. I’ve tried to pretend that each time you’re close you don’t affect me, but we both know already that isn’t true. So what I’m saying is tonight I think you and I should stop fighting it, stop pretending that we can resist and just enjoy one another fully. Tomorrow, we’ll decide what the best way is to break the news to your father that you and I are now an ‘us’.”
“An ‘us’?” I said just wanting confirmation once again that I heard him correctly.
Instead of answering me he leaned in and kissed me once more and that was reassurance enough that he finally stopped fighting this thing between us.
And I couldn’t have been happier.
Tonight was like a fantasy of the best kind. A dream where the princess finally gets her prince. My heart raced with each passing second.
Every gentle touch, each soft kiss. And the way he smiled at me, I had longed for those smiles from him.
“I just hope that when your father fires me, you’ll give me a roof over my head,” he added with a chuckle making me smile in return.
“Don’t worry, Gage,” I said placing my hand to his cheek. “I’ll always make sure you have everything you need.”
Chapter 7
Gage
We made our way to the bar, both in need of something to drink after we spent time dancing and kissing. I allowed her to lead the way and grew irritable as I watched a few men turn their attention to Shay as she passed them.
Suddenly feeling possessive of the beautiful woman in silver.
As she stepped up to the bar I wasted no time stepping up behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist, caging her in against the bar. She looked up at me with a knowing look.
“What?” I asked.
She laughed as she turned in my arms and placed her hand upon my chest. “This is definitely a complete change of events.”
“Meaning?” I pressed for a better explanation.
“Meaning that only a few days ago, you actually pretended to be in a meeting to avoid me, but now you’re getting all territorial when a man glances in my direction.” I guess I hadn’t been so subtle when it came to my need to stake my claim.
“That obvious, huh?” I asked.
She nodded and smiled brightly. She was so eating this up.
“Are you complaining?” I asked stepping closer now, feeling her body pressed tightly to mine. Wondering just how in the hell I had avoided her for so long. Knowing now that in no way would I be able to walk away after even just the few kisses we’d shared.
After ordering two glasses of wine, we moved to the nearest available table and I took a seat in the chair closest to her. Again she smiled feeling obviously pleased with my need to be as close to her as possible.
“Good evening, Gage.” I turned toward the direction of the greeting and felt my heart race immediately.
“Hello, Rosa,” I replied trying not to reflect the feelings inside of me. “How are you doing?”
She shrugged and look over her shoulder toward a tall man that seemed to be moving in our direction. I recognized him once he stepped up to her side as the man she introduced to me as an old friend the last time we’d run into one another.
Rosa and I had some history.
At one time we were both looking for ways to blow off a little steam. I, after a long strung-out divorce, and her after a nasty break up of her own. We found that we both weren’t looking for anything permanent but more of a casual hook up now and again so it worked out for the both of us. For a while anyway, until she decided she did want more. So we parted as friends deciding that our fun times were over.
“Pearce,” she said as she turned toward the man and placed her hand on his arm. “This is Gage Reynolds and…” She faded off as she looked at Shay who still remained quiet at my side.
“Shay Hendricks,” I responded quickly, “my girlfriend.”
I wasn’t about to let Shay brush us off as simple friends. Granted, I wasn’t sure exactly what the best way was to describe our current stage. Hell, we had already crossed a line, why not go for broke?
I almost chuckled at not only the surprised look on Shay’s face, but on Rosa’s as well.
“Well, it is nice to meet you, Shay,” Rosa added politely. “Do you mind if we join you?”
Before I could respond Shay was waving her hand in the direction of the two empty chairs across from us. “Please,” she said politely.
Had she known that Rosa and I knew one another on an intimate level, I’m not so sure she would have been so willing to agree to our newfound company joining us.
As the two ladies began talking of dresses and the extravagant decoratio
ns that surrounded us I attempted to strike up a conversation with Pearce. Which quickly routed me on a dead-end path. He wasn’t much of the conversationalist. And his wandering eyes were really beginning to piss me off.
There beside him sat the woman I was sure was more to him than a friend, yet he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Shay’s tits.
I leaned over toward Shay’s direction and placed a kiss against the spot on her neck just beneath her ear. I simply needed the connection with her, to show this ass that I was, in fact, well aware of the beautiful woman at my side. And, yes, to show the prick that she was mine.
It was a dramatic change compared to before, I know, but I had crossed the imaginary line I had drawn out for myself and there was no going back.
I chose to ignore the asshole sitting across from me and instead focused on the conversation between Rosa and Shay. I truly appreciated how Rosa played it off as if nothing had ever happened between her and I rather than just two people who knew one another in passing. It made the time they spent at our table relaxing.
“I’ve always been intrigued by fine art. I could honestly get lost in any gallery for hours.” I sat back and watched Shay as she explained to Rosa one true love she had that I truly wouldn’t have expected. “I visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, at least twice a year. To some it may seem as if it is pointless to see the same paintings over and over, but to me each time feels like the first. The details, they are mesmerizing. It just gives me this unexplainable feeling of bliss.”
In that moment I found that piece of Shay I knew she’d been hiding. That articulate part of her that seemed to be squashed by her father’s need to control.
And the beauty we could all see by just looking at her was nothing compared to the beauty she held inside.
She was not just this rich girl who lived off her father’s money. She had a spark in her that made her shine bright. I could feel it each time I was near her but until now I’d never been granted the gift of seeing it.
She must have felt my intense stare, because she looked over in my direction and smiled.
I wasted no time at all leaning in to give her the gentlest of kisses.
“You are so beautiful,” I whispered and she closed her eyes taking a moment to accept my compliment. But I wasn’t just talking about the vision before me. I was referring to the woman inside that had remained hidden for far too long. The woman I planned to get to know more and more, with or without the blessing of her father.
Chapter 8
Shay
I could feel things shifting between us.
The way he looked at me made me feel like he actually saw the real me.
It gave me confidence, gave me the courage to be me.
Because for so long I lived in the shadows of my father, being the person he needed me to be. And for so long I felt lost, felt as if I had no true purpose.
But there was something about Gage that made me feel like I didn’t have to hide the true me any longer. He listened, intrigued by my words. He didn’t brush off the things I said as nonsense, but made me feel as if each word had meaning.
Just being near him made me feel strong.
There was something so genuine about his smile.
And each time he kissed me, it was better than the last.
With each passing minute it only became harder to resist the urge to drag him off somewhere that we could be alone.
It was just before midnight when he once again asked me to dance and I was more than ready to be back in his arms.
He wasted no time pulling my body in close to his, kissing along my jaw, nipping at my ear. “I wasted so much time fighting this,” he whispered. “So many months pushing you away, hiding behind your father’s threats.”
I leaned back and looked up at him as he continued.
“I need you to know that there was never a time I didn’t want you. But with my life being flipped upside down by my divorce I just couldn’t take the chance of ruining everything it took me five years to rebuild.”
“And now?” I asked.
“And now I can’t think of anything that is worth missing out on another moment with you,” he said without hesitation. And my heart melted.
I watched this man burying himself day after day, month after month, under the demands of my father.
He was dedicated and devoted to his job.
And, yes, I watched him go from a broken man in the beginning to the confident one that now looked back at me. But never had he ever been more appealing than he was in this moment. His pure honesty was the sexiest thing I had ever witnessed.
Placing my hands on the back of his neck, I pulled his face down toward mine and pressed my lips to his. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” he asked in return.
“For finally admitting that you feel it too.” I had been trying to get beneath his shielded heart for so long I was truly beginning to think that it was a task that could never be accomplished.
But he’d proven me wrong.
When I least expected it, he let go of his hesitation and gave in to temptation.
He didn’t reply, only leaned in and took my mouth in a heated kiss. One that made my toes curl and my body ache for more.
My nipples hardened and I could feel the slickness in my panties as I imagined his tongue doing other things to my body. The skillful way he sucked on my tongue, or the way his own rolled with mine, made me believe he knew just how to please a woman. As if I had ever doubted that very thing.
Gage had a sinful look about him that screamed dirty.
His hand spread out over my lower back as he pulled my body even tighter to his. I could feel his erection pressing against my stomach and I pleasingly moaned.
“Let’s go upstairs,” I whispered against his lips.
“Don’t you want to stay for the fireworks?” he asked as he nipped at my lip.
“No,” I said breathlessly. “I prefer the kind of fireworks we can create on our own, in the privacy of your suite.”
I wanted him to ravish me. I wanted him to make me so weak with need that I felt as if I would combust. And then I wanted him to take from me all he needed while giving me all I imagined and more in return.
“Please,” I whispered causing him to pull back and look me directly in the eyes.
It was as if he was weighing my words.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked and I nodded my head.
“There’s no going back after we leave this room,” he assured me and I still showed no signs of fear. “It changes everything and we both know that what it will bring will be nothing short of a battle.”
“I’m not afraid of my father,” I told him. “He’s stubborn and likes to be in control, but he’ll just have to face the fact that this is one thing he has no power over.”
Gage watched me closely as I continued.
“I want you,” I whispered. “I’ve wanted you since the moment I first walked into Hendricks and found you standing at my father’s side. No one has ever appealed to me the way you have and I know no one ever will.”
For a brief moment he remained perfectly still just watching me and I suddenly felt as if I may have said too much. Until he took my hand in his and began leading me toward the exit.
And my heart raced harder and faster with each step I took.
This was happening.
And nothing was going to stop it.
Chapter 9
Gage
My entire body felt as if it was shaking.
The thought of fulfilling the dreams I’d been having of Shay for months had my heart racing. I knew this was wrong, I knew I should stop it, but I just couldn’t. I wanted her so badly it literally made me ache inside.
With my hand holding hers firmly I continued to lead her throughout the ballroom toward the nearest exit.
More than once we were stopped along the way, being pulled into menial conversations that if I was asked about later I wouldn’t
be able to convey a word.
All I thought of was her.
All I felt was her.
And I swear I could hear her breathing, panting more like, and I knew just what she was feeling. I, myself, felt like a caged animal. I was hungry and felt almost primal to seek out the only thing I knew that would tame this desire inside me.
“Excuse me, sir,” I interrupted as the older man before me continued to talk. I couldn’t even remember what he had said his name was. “I apologize for the interruption but I have somewhere to be and someone waiting on me.”
I heard Shay giggle at my side and I briskly pulled her toward the exit, stopping for no one.
“What’s the rush?” she said with humor.
“The rush is that if I don’t get you upstairs to the privacy of my suite, the attendees of the gala may get more of a show than they bargained for,” I assured her and her gasp gained my attention as I looked back over my shoulder.
“You wouldn’t.” She wrinkled up her brows in the cutest way and instead of expressing the humor it caused within me, I arched a brow at her instead.
“Try me,” I said as I came to a stop in front of the elevators. My finger hovering over the call button and her gaze shifting between me and the button.
“Are you daring me, Mr. Reynolds?” she asked with a challenging look.
“Maybe I am,” I said.
She took a step closer, bringing her body closer to mine and thrust her breasts out. The pressure of her tits against my own chest only heightened the excitement of the moment.
“You should know one thing about me, Gage,” she cooed as she rose up on her toes and brought her lips closer to mine. I waited, even though everything inside me screamed to attack. “I don’t back down from a challenge.”
I caught the meaning of her words.
I was a challenge and not once did she stop pushing at me to give in to temptation. In fact, she was the main reason we were in our current situation.
Because Shay Hendricks was definitely a woman who got what she wanted.