by Nina West
“I heard more than one woman come in, Ronan.”
“You’re right, you did. There are two. And they’re with your brother.”
“Both of them?”
I sense his smile. “Both of them.”
“Oh.” Relief overwhelms me even as I try to block that visual out.
Ronan’s hand slips back, this time peeling my panties down past my knees. I lift my legs until they fall to my ankles and I can shake them off. “You thought I’d bring someone else home while we’re doing this?”
“Well, yeah. We made no commitments and you said only the one night.”
“You’re right, I did.”
“What changed?”
There’s a long pause as if he’s gathering his words. “I don’t enjoy the girls I pick up at the bar.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I heard how much you enjoyed that girl, remember?”
His breath skates over my cheek. “I enjoyed the part where I came. But it didn’t make me feel better about Tasha leaving me. But you feel different. You don’t feel so pointless and impersonal. Even if we have nothing in common and this is just for now, I feel better when I’m with you. Is that wrong?”
“No. It’s not. You’re still in love with someone else.” My heart pangs in my chest with a rare glimpse at Ronan’s pain. “And here I thought you were just another cocky asshole taking advantage of a vulnerable girl,” I tease.
“I am a cocky asshole. But I’m not a complete dick. While we’re messing around, I won’t be with anyone else. That’s the only commitment I can make. If that’s good enough for you.” A soft gasp slips from my lips as his fingers slide inside me.
“Actually, there’s one other thing I want from you.”
“What’s that?” he asks curiously.
I reach up to touch his stubbled cheek and run my thumb over his bottom lip. I’m torn between wanting to see his face and enjoying the liberty that comes with complete darkness. But there’s one thing I know I want. “Kiss me.”
“Ryan....” I sense him searching for a way to deny me.
“Please?”
After a long moment, he leans in and presses his mouth against mine. His lips are softer than I imagined, and he kisses me in a sweet, sensual way that I hadn’t expected from him.
“Like that?”
“Exactly like that.” A sigh escapes my lips, and he slides his tongue along the seam. I open wider, my tongue reaching for his, needing it against mine, needing to taste his mouth. He obliges, pressing in deeper, his hand down below stalled, as if his undivided attention is now on kissing me. I want his lips on me all night long.
“Finally. First base,” I murmur.
His lips stretch against mine in a smile, and then his mouth is shifting south, along my jawline, my throat, the heat from his wet lips thrilling. He tugs at the spaghetti strap of my nightie. “This is different.”
“Easier to remove.” And a lot sexier than the T-shirts I’ve grown accustomed to sleeping in.
He tugs at the top, uncovering my breast for his waiting mouth. I moan as he pulls my nipple into his mouth and begins to suck. How is he so good at everything he does?
My legs stretch apart without thought, opening up for him, a deep ache growing between them that he works to satisfy, stretching me with first two, then three fingers as I roll my hips against his hand, all while I grip the back of his head, holding him against my breast.
I’m writhing under Ronan’s touch, moments away from coming, when heavy footfalls sound in the hallway.
There’s a knock and then, a moment later, Ronan’s bedroom door creaks open. “Hey, bro. I need your help with these two. I’m way too drunk to handle them both.” A pause. “Ronan?” Connor slaps the wall. He’s turning the light on, no doubt.
“Shit,” Ronan hisses against me, pulling away.
Shit is right. Connor may be dense sometimes, but even he will put two and two together now. If he does, will that be the end of this?
Scrambling out of my bed, I adjust my nightgown and then open the door a crack. And quickly avert my gaze. “What the fuck, Connor!” He’s naked.
“Sorry! I didn’t think you’d be up.”
He didn’t think, period. I keep my eyes on his face. “Of course I’m up, when you’re yelling outside my door.”
He points to Ronan’s room. “Where is he?”
“How the hell should I know? I heard his door open a few minutes ago, so I guess he went somewhere. I can’t keep up with all the whoring going on around here. Yours included.”
Connor furrows his brow. “I’ll bet he hooked up with Vera. She was all over him in the elevator the other day, wanting him to come and fix something.”
Vera—a thirty-five-year-old divorcee with enormous breasts who wears skintight gym clothes and too much bright pink lipstick twenty-four seven. Connor slept with her about a year ago. “Good for him. Now go back to your room and let me sleep.” I slam the door for effect.
A moment later, I hear Connor’s footfalls against the hardwood as he leaves.
Ronan groans. “That was close.”
I push the straps of my nightshirt down, letting the thin cotton fall to the floor. Then I climb into bed. “Do you think he’s actually mad at you?” I fumble in the dark until I feel his smooth, warm skin beneath my fingertips again.
“It’s hard to tell with him. I know I’d kill him if he got into my sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yeah. Younger one.”
I didn’t know that. Of course I didn’t. I know nothing about this guy I’m living next to and sleeping with. And that’s how I want it, I remind myself.
I reach out, tracing his stomach muscles. “Well, I don’t think he’d have a right to be. He practically forced you on me by letting you move in. What did he think would happen?”
Ronan shifts, rolling on top of me, positioning his hips between my legs. “That you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off me, obviously.”
With crisis averted, my thoughts turn to something else. “So, do I want to know what he meant by ‘helping’ him?”
His lips trail over my jawline. “Probably not.”
“Do I want to know the kinds of things you’ve done?”
“Probably not.”
He’s right. Because I’ve heard a couple stories at work—one including my brother and another crew guy named Jake sharing a girl—that have dropped my jaw.
And I’m not with Ronan for anything but the very thing he’s giving me right now, and knowing that is somehow so liberating. There’s no pull on my heartstrings, no desire to stay up until the morning learning everything there is to know about him, no wondering if this will last. I know exactly how long it’ll last—for one more week. And then he’ll go to Alaska and try to fill this void in his heart by screwing who knows how many women and I’ll get back to my life. Hopefully feeling a little better about myself, after having had a guy this attractive in my bed. He makes me feel better about myself after what happened with David.
And that’s what this is all about—me, helping myself move on after a horrible breakup.
I hear the foil wrapper tear and the snap of the latex as Ronan sheaths himself. “You’re always careful though, right?”
Collecting my hands in his, he pins my arms above my head, pressing his whole body against mine. I revel in the feel of it. “Always.” He traces my jawline with kisses, all the way to my lips, whispering, “I’m completely yours for the week, Ryan. Use me.”
I angle my hips upward. “Gladly.”
With our fingers entwined, he lines himself up and begins pushing into me.
I close my eyes as the first moan slips out.
Chapter 11
All is quiet in the condo on Sunday when I wake up, two hours later than I should have. Ronan went back to his room after a slow and sensual round of sex, very different from the last two times but no less pleasurable. He still made me orgasm. That’s something I’m going to sorel
y miss when he’s gone.
I heard nothing from the women Connor brought home. Either he quietly packed them off last night, or they’re all still in bed together. I shake my head at the thought. I can’t imagine that. It’s just not me. I doubt it’ll ever be me.
But it is Ronan. Had Ronan not already been in my bed, he probably would have gone to Connor’s room. What would the four of them have done together? I can’t even imagine. It’s a good thing this thing with Ronan expires in a week, because I doubt I could keep him interested for much longer.
I’m brewing myself a coffee when a door creaks open.
It’s Ronan, staggering from his bedroom, his eyes still half-closed, buck naked, his dick long and hard with morning need.
I don’t avert my gaze.
With a lazy wave, he disappears into the bathroom and I go back to fixing myself a coffee.
A few moments later, he pokes his head out. I can hear the shower running. “Hey.” I love how gravelly his voice is in the morning.
“Hey.”
He crooks a finger, calling me to come. To take a shower with him, I gather.
My stomach tightens in anticipation. But I set my jaw and plaster my face with a mock frown instead.
His brow arches. “Really?”
“I’m busy.” Leaning against the counter with my coffee in hand, I sip away.
A slow, wicked smile curls his lips. He steps out and begins stalking toward me.
I stand up straight, my eyes flashing to the short hall leading to Connor’s room before turning back to Ronan in all his beautiful nakedness, his dick hard and bobbing with each step. “What are you doing?” I hiss.
He takes my cup right from my grip. “I can’t wait until tonight. We’re either fucking in the shower, or right here in the kitchen. You have until I’m finished this coffee to decide where you want me to take you.” His free hand slowly strokes over his length as he takes long gulps from my mug, his heated gaze on me.
His words, the sight of him…. Damn it. There’s no way I’m getting an ounce of schoolwork done now. I want to be naked with him. I want him pressed against me, inside me. Right now.
With a shuddering sigh, I stroll toward the bathroom.
Chapter 12
Kyle is emptying his mail box when I walk into the building on Wednesday night, struggling with my backpack. “Fancy meeting you here.”
He chuckles as he reaches for the strap. “It looks like you’re carrying a dozen textbooks. Here, let me help you.”
Normally I’d decline the offer, but I’m too tired and it’s too heavy.
He grunts under the weight. “God, I don’t miss these days.”
“Trust me, I can’t wait until it’s over.”
He presses the button for the elevator. “It’s been four years since I graduated and I still sometimes wake up in a panic, thinking I’m late for an exam.”
Four years. That would make him around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, if I had to guess. Not that much older than me.
“So, when do you write?”
“Next Wednesday.”
Kyle hits the button for the fourth floor. But not the one for the second floor, I notice. “Are you ready?”
“I don’t know. Honestly. I work full time, I just broke up with my boyfriend, I’ve been...” Fucking my roommate, every single night. “The last couple weeks have been distracting.”
The elevator doors open onto the fourth floor. Kyle holds the door for me and then steps out behind me. I reach for my backpack but he’s already moving around me and down the hall. “This way, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, if you’re free on Friday night, you could come over. I’ll help you study. We could order in Thai or something.”
“Actually, my roommates are having a goodbye party on Friday night.” That I have no interest in being around for. “Can I let you know?” I peer up into kind, blue eyes.
“Sure. I’ll be home all night.”
I collect my bag from him. “Thanks for carrying this.”
He grins and I catch a glimpse of his deep dimples. “Maybe I’ll see you Friday.”
I watch him walk back to the elevator. Did Kyle just ask me out on a date? I think he might have.
I’m smiling as I walk into our condo. Ronan’s in the kitchen, hovering in front of the open fridge, shirtless, the view of his back mesmerizing.
He turns to me. “What’s that smile for? Good night in class?”
“Kind of.” I drop my bag on the ground, exhausted. “Where’s Connor?”
“A concert.”
That guy and his concerts. I frown. “Are you eating my yogurt?”
Ronan licks the spoon. “Yup. It’s my second one.”
“Why?”
He shrugs. “I was hungry. And bored.”
“You shithead!”
“What are you gonna do about it?” he taunts, his eyes roving over me.
Oh my God, this guy is a machine. I’ve never had so much sex in my life. Every single night, sometimes twice. There’s no denying him either, not that I’d want to.
Still, I toy with him. I pretend that I have the willpower to say no. It lasts all of ten seconds. As soon as his lips are on me, I’m a goner.
“Nothing. I’m going to sleep.” I bolt for my room with a shriek, making it all the way to my door before his arms rope around my waist and I’m laughing hysterically. “Put me down!”
He tosses me onto my bed and yanks my shoes and socks off, followed by my pants, then my panties. I help him by tugging my own shirt off and unfastening my bra. In seconds, I’m lying naked in front of him. Waiting.
He pauses to peer down at me, his gaze softening for a moment. “You know, I’m gonna miss you.”
I smile up at him. “I’m gonna miss you, too.” Maybe with a bit more time together, I’d consider him a real friend.
He drops his pants—he’s not even wearing briefs tonight. “How do you want it tonight?”
“Well, seeing as you ate my food, it’s only fair….” I stretch my legs wide.
With a grin, he drops to his knees.
~ ~ ~ ~
“Did you hear?” Jean hisses, startling me in my cube.
I sigh. What will today’s gossip be? “I doubt it.”
“Henry Wolf is in Miami.” Her onyx eyes dance with excitement.
That piques my interest. Henry Wolf, acting CEO of Wolf Hotels, who will one day officially take over the luxury hotel chain from his father, is like a celebrity to most Wolf employees, and the source of a lot of racy gossip. I’ve only seen pictures of him, but the man could easily grace a most beautiful people magazine cover. No wonder I’ve sensed a strange buzz around the office today.
Every female is in heat.
And from what I’ve heard, that’s exactly the way he likes it.
Regardless, I’ve always wanted to see him in person, to see what all the hype is.
“They’re in the Pacific, having some big meeting, but Darian said they just called her to arrange for a car to take them to lunch, off site, for noon.”
I glance at my watch. That’s in five minutes.
Jean grins. “Feel like a walk to the lobby?”
I lock my computer and grab my lunch bag.
~ ~ ~ ~
“They’re saying it’s going to be one of the nicest Wolf locations in the world,” Darian gushes. The tall, willowy brunette is a popular concierge. There’s usually a circle of businessmen around her desk.
“That’s what I keep hearing, too,” Jean says. “Plane rides and tours to see grizzly bears. And the scenery alone, with all the mountains and lakes and wilderness!”
I’ve seen the pictures and I already know it’s going to be an incredible place. Had I not been in school, maybe I would have considered applying. Then again, I don’t know if I could handle the living conditions. “The staff are all in cabins. Like six people to each, or something like that.”
Darian and Jean both look at me with blank ex
pressions.
“Absolutely no privacy?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jean agrees. Her eyes widen. “I don’t know how Connor and Ronan are going to handle that.”
“Something tells me they won’t care one way or another,” I answer dryly. A prickle of jealousy sparks in my chest. I quickly chase it away. I don’t want to date Ronan, I remind myself. It’s just... I guess I don’t want to think about him with someone else, either. Not just yet. I’ve selfishly enjoyed him too much. I’ve barely thought of David.
That Connor hasn’t caught us is mind-boggling. I’m beginning to question my brother’s intelligence. He confronted Ronan about Vera the other day. Ronan said nothing, merely smiling and letting Connor come to his own conclusions. Thankfully those conclusions haven’t included Ronan and me together.
But our fun is coming to an end. He leaves for Alaska Saturday morning, and tomorrow’s the party.
“You know, you’re going to miss them when they’re gone. I don’t care what you say,” Jean says.
“I know.” I’ll even miss my big, dumb brother. But it’s also for the best, because I can’t concentrate on anything when Ronan’s around. I’m going to fail my exams if I can’t clear my head.
“There he is!” Darian suddenly hisses.
All three of us—and pretty much every other female in the lobby—zone in on the five-man conglomerate that strides out of the elevator, heading for us.
Speaking of not being able to concentrate....
I’m not one to openly fawn, and yet there’s no ignoring Henry Wolf. Not his piercing blue gaze, or his sharp, angular features, or his dark, thick hair, styled in sexy waves. I watch the way his muscular body moves smoothly, how his tailored suit falls perfectly with each step as he approaches, preoccupied with conversation.
I’m mesmerized.
“What’s with the beard?” Jean whispers. “Is he going lumberjack for Alaska?”
Darian giggles. “I heard he’s going to be up there a lot. The hotel is his pet project.”
Henry Wolf’s eyes slide over Jean and me before moving on to Darian. My face instantly flushes.
“I believe there’s a car for us?” he says, smoothly. Beneath that scruff, I can make out a set of plump lips. If rumor is correct, those are reserved for Victoria’s Secret models and other gorgeous celebrities, not lowly Wolf staff members.