Cruel Money

by K. A. Linde

  Natalie

  19

  Melanie threw up as soon as we got out of the cab in front of Penn’s building. It wasn’t pretty.

  We hurried her up the elevator and into the bathroom where she was probably going to stay most of the night.

  “What a nightmare,” Amy muttered. “I didn’t think she’d be this sick.”

  “I think it’s the alcohol and her grief about the relationship.”

  “Yeah. I don’t think I was ever this sick about a guy.”

  “No, you weren’t,” I said with a laugh. “But you also never dated someone for ten years before he dumped you for your best friend.”

  “Yeah, fuck that guy.”

  “Pretty much.”

  The elevator dinged again, and I heard Totle’s distinctive clicks as he raced out into the living room.

  “Well, that’s my cue,” Amy said.

  “Wait…what?”

  “I saw you two out on the dance floor. Go for it, Nat.”

  “Ugh! I feel like there’s too much between us from before.”

  “That was six years ago. You’ve changed. He doesn’t seem like the douche you made him out to be. Maybe you should give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Maybe,” I conceded. “But I don’t know if I can give in to this. It would complicate things.”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “Only if you let it. Casual, Natalie. Casual.”

  “Do you know me at all?”

  “Yes, yes, I do. That is why I’m saying that you should do this. I know that you’ve never really been a casual dater.”

  “I’m a serial-relationship person!”

  “But you’re not in one now,” Amy hissed. “So, you should have some fun for the next month. You don’t know what you’re doing after this job. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “I’ll catch feelings that he doesn’t reciprocate, and I’ll have to drag my ass back to Charleston, brokenhearted.”

  “So dramatic. All that is going to happen is, you will have a month of incredible sex with a fucking hot billionaire and come home to Charleston, out of your dry spell. Then you can have a serious relationship like you always do.”

  “None of that is going to happen.”

  Amy held her finger up. “Actually, I was talking to Daron and Zachary the other day, and Zach asked about you.”

  My eyes rounded. Zachary Tipton and Daron Hartage had been the hottest guys in all of Charleston when we were in high school. I hadn’t even known that they knew who I was.

  “What?”

  “Oh, yeah. He said he saw us on the beach one day and thought you were hot. He also didn’t realize that you were the same Natalie from high school, but whatever.”

  “Sometimes, I love and hate you. The point is that I shouldn’t have a casual fling with Penn. And before you go on with your master plan, I don’t want a relationship with someone like Zachary Tipton, who has no clue who I am!”

  “Just go get fucked and stop complaining,” Amy said, shoving me down the hallway.

  “Bitch,” I hissed at her.

  “Slut!” she shouted right back.

  I ducked as if I could save Penn from hearing Amy scream that word at me. But she just laughed and hurried into the guest bedroom.

  With a deep breath, I continued my steps. Totle found me first, jumping up and down with excitement. I hoisted him into my arms and carried him into the living room with me. He was a good barrier between us.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “I got Melanie a water bottle and some crackers. I also picked up a Gatorade when I walked Totle. I figure she’ll need that and some Tylenol when she’s finished being sick.”

  “That’s…really nice of you.”

  “Least I can do.”

  I watched him in the kitchen, arranging everything he’d gotten for my sister. He’d removed his suit jacket, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He’d clearly been running his hands through his hair again, as the ends were sticking up all out of place. He looked…handsome and wild.

  Could I be casual with a man like Penn?

  Did I want to find out?

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked tentatively. My stomach was in knots at all the ways this conversation could go.

  “You don’t have to say I told you so,” he said quickly.

  I blinked, taken off guard. “About what?”

  “Your sister.” He glanced up at me in apology. “You were right that we shouldn’t have taken her out to get drunk. Now, she’s just miserable. It would have been better if we had gone to the beach house.”

  “Oh, well, yeah. But we all had such a good day. I wouldn’t want to trade that. We probably shouldn’t have let her drink with strangers.” I shook my head and soldiered on. “But that isn’t why I came out here to talk to you.”

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I want to have a month of casual sex,” I blurted out.

  He arched an eyebrow and just stared at me with that cool blue gaze. “Excuse me?”

  “We’re not just friends. Not after what happened in Paris. Not after that kiss. I’m here for another month. We might as well make the most of it.”

  “And to you…that means a month of casual sex?”

  “Uh, yes,” I said hesitantly. I’d never done anything like this before in my life. I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking right now. “Unless you don’t want to…and I’m making this awkward. And I should just stop talking…”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

  “Wait, just like that?”

  “What guy is going to say no to that?” he asked with a smirk.

  I opened my mouth to respond and found I had no answer. Obviously, nearly every guy in existence would be interested in sex with no strings attached. It was just something I had never really thought about other than when I was in Paris. Apparently, Penn brought it out in me.

  “Well, I think that we should set up some rules about…”

  One second, Penn was standing in the kitchen, listening to me talk, and the next, he strode to where I was standing, grasped my jaw in his hands, and kissed the breath out of me. Having his lips on mine was like sweet relief. As if the past week together had just been the buildup to this moment. The questions I had about entering into this dissolved with the touch of his tongue.

  I’d wanted this last week and stopped myself. It had felt so right, and I had forced myself to believe it was wrong. Maybe it was wrong. Maybe we should stop all of this. But I didn’t want to.

  It was crazy that one day out with my sister and best friend had completely changed my mind. But it had. There was no reticence in his demeanor. None of the carefully crafted bullshit from Paris. None of the Upper East Side bad boy. I’d seen him for him without all his many versions layered on top of that persona. And I liked what I’d seen.

  Amy was right. I was here for another month. Why not try this?

  “No rules,” he murmured against my lips.

  “But…”

  His hands skimmed down my body and then hoisted my legs around his waist. I gasped as I held on to him. He effortlessly carried me down the hallway and into his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him before Totle could follow us.

  I’d been inside his bedroom that one embarrassing time when I stormed away from him and into the first available room. I’d admired the controlled chaos of the space, the stacks upon stacks of books, and his cherry wood French writing desk. Now, the only thing I could see was the king-size bed against the window overlooking Central Park.

  Penn set me on my feet at the foot of the bed. He kissed my lips one more time and then waited until my eyes fluttered open. My breath caught at that look. That all-encompassing feeling like I was diving deep into that gaze. Lost to him.

  And I wondered if I was doing this right. Casual sex. Because one look from him turned my insides to goo and pitched my breathing low and heated
my body. It didn’t feel casual. It felt like the culmination of weeks spent in that house, alone together without release. Watching him run and cook and drink and write…god, his furious indulgent writing in that notebook. It felt right.

  This felt more like a reason to finally be with him. Whatever excuse I could grasp at. And I was going to take it because I wanted him even if I knew I couldn’t keep him.

  Then he slid the zipper down the back of my dress, and I forgot to care.

  His hands were careful and methodical. Easing the zipper down slow and steady while maintaining my gaze. It was utterly sensual. I shivered at the touch, at the trail of his finger down the length of my spine. Until he reached the apex of my ass where he hesitated for just a second with an indulgent smirk on his face, and then he continued between my cheeks and over the lace of my thong, bringing the zipper to the base.

  He left me in place and walked leisurely around my body until his chest was nearly pressed against my back. His hands moved up my exposed back to my shoulders and gently brushed the sleeves off.

  “As I recall,” he said, lowering his mouth to the spot where my shoulder met my neck, “you enjoyed this.”

  He pressed his lips to the spot, and my entire body erupted into goose bumps.

  “Oh god,” I breathed.

  His tongue swept across the spot. Then he sucked in until my core throbbed with desire.

  Fuck, he’d actually remembered that. How…how had he remembered that?

  He deftly unclasped my bra and tossed it on the floor. My breasts hung heavy with my nipples erect with desire. He pulled me back against his chest, cupping my breasts in his hands. My ass pressed up against his cock, hard and firm through his suit pants. My mouth watered to taste him again.

  I swirled my hips invitingly as he continued to teasingly kiss me while kneading my nipples between his fingers. He pinched one roughly, and I cried out as pleasure hit me anew. He nipped my shoulder and then walked me forward to the bed.

  My knees hit the mattress, and then he tapped my legs further apart. I groaned when his hands skimmed my inner thighs.

  I wanted him. Fuck, I fucking wanted him. I didn’t need the foreplay. I didn’t need anything but his cock inside me right now.

  But he had other ideas.

  He pushed me forward, bending me at the waist to lie across his bed. My pussy soaked my panties. He could slip inside me right now with no resistance. And I wanted him to.

  “Fuck, I have wanted you since the day I saw you walk up that beach.”

  He ran his hands down my back and to my ass, hooking a finger under my thong and dragging it down my legs. I stepped out of the material, leaving me exposed to him. And I didn’t care one bit.

  He returned to my ass, gently squeezing my cheeks before moving to the apex of my thighs. I bucked against the bed at the first touch against my core. He slicked a finger through my wet center. I swore, I knew his satisfied smirk was there without even looking at him.

  I thought he was just going to undo his pants and take me right then and there. Honestly, I kind of hoped so. But the Penn from six years ago had believed in multiple orgasms, and it seemed that hadn’t changed. And well…thank fuck for that.

  His knees hit the hardwood floor. I glanced back in surprise, and then he buried his face in my pussy. I cried out, dropping my head, as all at once, I was overcome with sensation. His tongue was inside me. His thumb pressed to my clit.

  This had…never happened to me before. I’d had oral, obviously, but from behind? And oh my god! Oh my fucking god! It was incredible.

  I couldn’t see him. I had no idea what he was going to do next. And it heightened every sensation.

  I tried to turn around to look at him again, but he pushed my chest back down into the mattress.

  “Oh fuck,” I groaned as he brought me to the edge.

  “Come for me, Natalie,” he commanded.

  And I was so close. Only a few more strokes of my clit as he lavished me, and I was there. Seeing stars. Utterly gone. Moaning into the duvet and clenching it for dear life.

  His hand tangled in my hair, wrenching me backward. It wasn’t entirely violent, but it wasn’t exactly gentle either. Somehow, my body got more turned on.

  “Mmm,” I moaned as I arched my back to look at him.

  Then his lips were on mine, rough and all demanding. I could taste my own arousal on him. I wanted more.

  He wrapped an arm around my middle to help me back to my feet. I turned in place and saw that, in the midst of my orgasm, he had somehow gotten his shirt unbuttoned. All I could see was the six-pack abs beneath a sky-blue button-up. I ripped his shirt off of him and then ran my nails down that toned physique.

  As much as I wanted to admire every single abdominal muscle, I moved past his sexy V to get to the main event.

  I couldn’t unbutton his pants fast enough, and then I hastily reached inside his boxer briefs to hold his long cock in my hand. It was firm and thick and mine for the night. I’d been young and innocent and had no clue what I was doing the last time we were together. That was no longer the case. And my body wanted another round.

  “Get on the bed,” he said.

  “My turn.” I stroked him up and down.

  “I want inside you.” He eased me backward onto the bed. His cock jutted out between us, and I licked my lips. “Next time, you can suck me off all you want. Right now, I want to own your body.”

  I slowly crawled backward, baring myself before him, aching and ready. “I don’t know if you know,” I muttered with a feral smile on my face, “but we are breaking the standard view of sex.”

  He stilled halfway to the side table and turned back to look at me. “Is that so?”

  “Uh-huh.” I opened my legs wider. “Philosophically speaking, we’re going against the ethically appropriate way to behave.”

  “You have never been sexier.” He snatched up a condom and rolled it on with practiced ease.

  “You don’t think this is…wrong?” I teased.

  He crawled onto the bed toward me. “With you? Never.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “The amount of pleasure we’re about to have can’t possibly be wrong.”

  “You know, we could almost call this research for you.”

  His eyes bored deep into mine. A deep, animalistic desire ran through that look as he tangled his hand back into my hair. His other pressed my hip down into the mattress. His cock was poised at my opening. He was in complete control, and I just wanted more, more, more.

  “I think we’re going to need to do a lot of research,” he growled before pushing deep inside me.

  I cried out as he filled me to the brim. Then he pulled out and slammed back in. Over and over again.

  “A lot of research,” he repeated. “Maybe all night.”

  “Oh god,” I cried as he exposed my throat, kissing his way down my shoulder, never relenting on his pace.

  “What do you think, Natalie? Up for an all-nighter?”

  “Harder,” I gasped.

  He chuckled against the shell of my ear. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Then he obliged me. Our bodies melded together. Him owning me and taking every single ounce of pleasure I offered him. I could hardly breathe. My heart galloped. My legs shook uncontrollably. And still, it wasn’t enough.

  Then he tugged both of my legs up onto his shoulders and drilled deep down into me, hitting a spot I hadn’t even known existed. I screamed at the top of my lungs as my orgasm hit me so hard I felt like I might black out.

  Penn came with me, as unrelenting as the sex had been. Then, we both collapsed, covered in a sheen of sweat and throbbing almost painfully. It was the most pleasurable pain I’d ever experienced. And I wanted it again.

  He gently kissed my shoulder once. “I think you should talk dirty philosophy to me every time.”

  “Every. Time,” I agreed.

  “And you…you like hair pulling.”

  My lower half pulsed in ag
reement, and he chuckled.

  “I can’t wait to learn every single thing that turns you on.”

  “Mmm,” I purred happily.

  “This silver hair turns me on.” He trailed his fingers through the long silvery-white strands that were my signature look.

  “Oh yeah? Not too different for Mr. Upper East Side?”

  “It’s you. It’s perfect.”

  I stilled under those words, but he was already getting up and heading to the bathroom to clean up. Hardly casual sex words. But he’d done this before. He was the man who was writing a book on how sex in noncommitted relationships could be part of ethical living. I was probably just overthinking it.

  Anyway, I liked that he liked my hair. I liked every single thing about what had happened. I just needed to figure out how to keep this all casual.

  Because, when he walked back into the room, fully nude with a smile only for me, I knew it would be too damn easy to fall for him.

  Natalie

  20

  The sun streaming in through the window woke me the next morning. I blinked open my eyes, and the previous night rushed back to me. Penn. His bedroom. Sex. Lots of sex. So much sex that my body hurt when I shifted. And not just between my legs.

  But the strange part was…the heater seemingly attached to my leg.

  I lifted the covers and found Totle passed out between me and Penn. His unusually long legs were stretched out until he had shifted us about as far apart as we could be and still both be on the bed. It didn’t even make sense that a ten-pound dog could take up so much space. But then he nuzzled against my leg and sighed happily, and I forgot any frustration. He was seriously the cutest puppy in the world.

  “You’re too cute. You know that?” I said as I scratched Totle’s head.

  “Why thank you,” Penn murmured from the other side of the bed.

  He rolled over, and those blue eyes cracked open. And for a second, I froze in place. He was still there. Still right where I’d left him. I knew it was irrational to think that he might have left, even while I was in his place with his dog, but he’d done it once before, and I couldn’t stop the fear from seizing me. But it had been unwarranted. He was here. And he was looking at me as if I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.