“Jessica is also the daughter of one of my old team’s sponsors. I hired her when she got laid off. I already knew her and her family.”
So he was just doing her a favor? And I was thinking too much of it.
“Oh,” I said.
It was about money. Everything was about money. I wasn’t certain where I fit in anymore.
* * *
When I got home that night, I checked my voicemail messages and saw that Tasha had left a message about going to a party. It was too late to call her back, but I’d make sure to give her a ring tomorrow.
I looked in the mirror on my vanity at my reflection. I had been missing out on sleep for the past month, staying up at night before bed, dreaming about Sean and the weekends we spent together. As I pinned my hair up for the night, I couldn’t help but think about Jessica again. I hadn’t been pleased to meet her at all. Something about her wasn’t right.
The way she’d sneered at me when Sean was at my side. The way she’d looked at Sean after she had caught us kissing. I was no fool. Jessica had an obvious thing for Sean. I mean, who wouldn’t?
Her body language gave everything away. Her timing was so perfect—the way she’d met Sean and me at the exact same time we’d pulled up at the house. I wondered if Sean knew that his assistant had a crush on him? He didn’t seem to realize it. Either that, or he didn’t care.
11
“How about this one?” Sean asked, picking up a see-through fishnet babydoll as we passed through the lingerie section of the department store.
After mentioning to Sean that I had nothing to wear to the dinner date his brother, Marcus, had invited us on, he’d insisted on buying me something. Now we were in Lenox Mall, cruising the aisles, looking for the perfect dress. Or at least I was.
“Sean! You know I can’t wear that anywhere in public,” I said, smiling. “Come on, put that back.” I reached out and took his hand and we walked over to the section with the formal dresses.
“I like this one,” I said, pulling a red, knee-length, spaghetti strap dress off the rack. “See, it has a black belt that will match your suit,” I added, putting the dress up to my body.
“That’s sexy. I won’t be able to keep my eyes off you.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.” I picked my size off the rack. “Let me try this on.” I left him to go to the dressing room. He sat down outside of the room in some chairs located conveniently outside the door as I walked in to try on my new dress.
Good thing I’d brought along a pair of black and red shoes in my tote bag. I’m sure Sean wouldn’t have minded, but I felt weird pinching off him for money to buy clothes.
I pulled the dress over my head then turned around to admire it in the mirror. It was a little big on me around the waist.
I opened the dressing room door. “Sean!”
“Yes?” I heard his voice call out from the door.
“I need a smaller size. Do you remember where those dresses were? Can you get me the next size down?”
“Okay, I’ll try…”
I turned around and took another look at myself in the dress and confirmed that it was a little too big. My time at the gym had been paying off. Either that, or I’d been burning major calories with Sean between the sheets. I grinned, looked at my ass in mirror, and danced around.
“Karlina, I found one.”
“Can you bring it in really quick? I’m undressed!”
He protested. “This is the woman’s dressing room. I can’t come in there.”
“Oh, come on…there’s no one in this dressing room but me. Just come bring it quickly and run right back.”
There was silence, and then he said, “Which dressing room are you in?”
“All the way in the back…the very last one.”
“Oh, my gosh. Are you serious?”
“Come on…we’re wasting time.”
He was quiet again, and then I heard a knock at the door. “Here you go.”
I opened the door to get the dress. “Thanks…”
“I can’t believe that I’m in the lady’s—” he began, but stopped short and turned to look towards the door. “Someone’s coming…”
I gasped, opened the door, and pulled him into my stall.
We were both quiet as we heard some rustling and a door close on the other side of the dressing rooms.
“I can’t believe I’m in here,” he whispered.
“Shhhhh, no one will notice if you be quiet.”
“If they come back here, they can see my feet.”
I looked down. I was barefoot, and he had on dress shoes that most definitely looked like they belonged to a man. I giggled, “No one's coming back here.”
As if he was just noticing that I was naked aside from my panties and bra, he whispered, “Hmmm, you weren’t bluffing when you said you were undressed.” He reached out and caressed my waist.
“Oh! Don’t you dare,” I hissed. “As soon as that lady is gone, you are out of here!” I reached for the dress he’d just brought me and began to take it off the hanger to try on.
He snatched the dress from me and hung it by the straps on the hook on the door. He pulled me closer to his chest and began to kiss my neck.
“Don’t dare do what?” he whispered.
“We can’t do this here,” I whispered back.
“Why not? You said no one’s coming back here,” he teased, touching his lips to mine.
The warmth of his body felt so inviting against mine; his kiss felt so soft and tasted so sweet. Literally.
“Are you still eating those Twizzlers from earlier?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re my favorite. Next to you, of course.”
A door slammed nearby.
“She’s gone?” he whispered.
“I don’t know…I think so…”
He bent over and looked under the door, checking the floor for all the other dressing rooms across the aisle from us. “She’s gone,” he confirmed.
“Good.” I reached for the dress from the hook. “If we don’t hurry, we’re going to be late for your brother’s dinner.”
He pulled the dress out of my hands again and placed it on the hook behind him this time. Before I could protest, he kissed me again, softly, caressing my back with the palms of his hands. When he undid my bra to reveal my breasts, I didn’t complain. He bent his head to kiss my skin and lick my sensitive nipples.
Without missing a beat, he reached up to hang my bra on the same hook with the dress. My knees were already giving way, weakened from the pleasure overtaking my body.
He reached down the front of my panties and caressed my pussy, rubbing the outside lips.
“Sean,” I gasped.
He ignored me and placed both of his hands on my ass, squeezing it and bringing me closer into his body. “I want you. Now.”
“I know you do.”
He pushed me back farther until my back was pressed up against the wall. I watched as he pulled one of my knees up and placed my foot on the bench beside us. “You don’t mean to…”
“Yes, I mean to…” he whispered into my neck as he fumbled with the zipper of his slacks. One of his hands was still preoccupied, rubbing the front of my panties. When he finally got his belt unbuckled, his pants fell to the floor around his ankles.
“Oh, my gosh. We can’t do this here. Someone will…” I began.
I stopped talking when he lifted my other leg up off the floor, supporting the back of my knee with his hand. I was in a very compromising position and could feel his rock-hard erection probing at my thigh.
He buried his face in my chest, kissing my cleavage. He used his free hand to pull my panties aside and finger my clit. “You’re so wet, baby…”
“Please…”
“Please, what?”
“I want you, too, Sean.”
“We have no protection, but I’m clean. I’ll have to pull out.”
“No, I’m clean too and I’m on birth control.”
; “You sure? I can please you some other way…” His fingers were playing fiddle with my clit, but I needed something more.
“Fuck me,” I demanded.
I let out a sharp gasp when I heard my underwear being torn away from me as if it were made of cheap plastic. I bit my bottom lip to keep from making any more outbursts. Just as I did, he thrust his erection into me in one long, slow motion. I could feel his body tense up as I held him tightly, my nails digging into his back muscles.
“Is this what you want?” he mumbled.
“Oh, yes,” I replied.
He kissed me again, exploring my mouth with his tongue as he pumped harder and faster. He was holding my thighs in his hands, tighter, using all of his strength to try and keep me supported. I felt the pressure building up in my body as his strokes got deeper. The sensations I was feeling made me forget about where we were. At this point, I didn’t give a damn where we were, I was so caught up in the moment, I just didn’t care. All I could do was bite my lips to keep from crying out.
“Baby, I need to come,” he whispered, placing his face in the crevice of my neck, breathing uncontrollably faster.
“Do it,” I whispered back.
He surprised me by lifting my other leg up from off the bench and pushing me against the wall behind us for support. Now, both of my knees were cradled in his arms as he pushed my thighs farther apart with every stroke. As if he couldn’t get enough of me, he began to thrust even deeper with longer strokes. I couldn’t hold my release any longer and felt the ripples consume my body. I leaned forward and pressed my mouth against his chest. At the same time, I felt his dick throbbing inside me and then felt the urgency of his need when his hot semen flood my core.
I shivered as he released my feet to land on the floor.
“Oh. My. God.” I giggled. “Are you kidding me?”
He grinned. “We didn’t even get caught.” He pulled his slacks up and began to zip himself up.
I put my bra back on. “We should do that more often.”
Sean held up the panties that he had ripped in two. “I guess you won’t be wearing these…”
I snatched them from him and put them in my bag. “We’d better hurry.” I checked the time on my cell phone. “We have ten minutes to get there.” I quickly pulled the dress over my head, careful not to mess up my curls any more than we already had. Sean had taken a seat on the bench, looking at me as he waited.
I looked in the mirror and smoothed the dress over my body. I smiled. Even though the material was form-fitting, the dress wasn’t too tight or too revealing. Though it did feel a little snug on top.
“Perfect,” he said, matching what I was thinking.
I took off the dress, got re-dressed as quickly as I could, and exited the dressing room. We thought we had made it out unnoticed, just as a woman turned the corner and headed into the dressing room, meeting us at the door. The woman stopped in her tracks, looking at us in disbelief. Sean and I made brief eye contact, grinned at each other, then quickened our pace, heading toward the registers. I grabbed a new pair of panties from a rack as we walked past the lingerie section again.
“Hi!” The sales associate smiled. “Did you find everything you needed?”
“Yes, we did,” I replied.
After Sean paid for the items, the lady handed him the sales receipt. “Here’s your receipt. At the bottom, there’s a one eight hundred number you can call to tell our corporate offices about your shopping experience today. If you participate in the survey, you can be entered to win a ten thousand dollar shopping spree.”
“Thanks! Don’t worry,” Sean said. “We had a great shopping experience today. It was the best ever.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing, but Sean couldn’t hold himself together. The sales lady was looking at us like we were crazy. We took each other's hands and walked out of the store.
With no time left to waste, I found the restrooms in the main area of the mall and freshened myself up in one of the stalls before changing into my new outfit and the shoes in my handbag.
Sean had driven one of his sports cars tonight, so he slipped in and out of traffic easily on the way to the restaurant.
12
When we finally got there, we were lucky to only be thirteen minutes late. Marcus introduced me to his fiancée, Tanya.
“Sorry, we’re a little late. We both took too much time getting ready,” Sean said, pulling my chair out for me.
“No problem,” Tanya exclaimed. “We understand.”
The waiter brought out two more menus, and Marcus ordered a bottle of their best champagne and some appetizers.
“Everything’s on me tonight, guys,” Marcus said.
“Thanks, bro,” Sean said. “And I’ve got the tab on our next double date.”
“Next date?” Marcus leaned forward on the table. “Really? Things must be getting serious with you and Karlina.”
I smiled.
“I am serious about Karlina,” Sean confirmed, lacing his fingers with mine under the table.
After we had finished our dinner, none of us had much room for dessert and decided to call it a night and go our separate ways.
As Sean pulled up in the parking garage of my condo, he turned to me and said, “You know, I was serious tonight about what I said.”
“You mean about us being serious?”
He nodded. “I’ve never felt this way with anyone. And I trust you. I’m not just saying that.”
“I believe you,” I said.
We rode the elevator up to my tenth-floor apartment.
I knew just as well as he did that I was emotionally attached to him. Every time we saw each other or spoke to each other, I was content and I felt safe. But I also felt that we were moving along too quickly. I needed time to make sure that this was what I wanted—to feel so strongly connected to a man that nothing else and no one else mattered. But I didn’t want to lose Sean during the process. We finally arrived on the tenth floor and started walking up the hall to my condo.
“Emotions lie, but the heart doesn’t. Have you ever heard the saying, follow your heart?”
I nodded and turned, my back to the door of my condo.
“Well, I am following my heart, like for the first time in forever. And I have no control over it. Not this time. There’s a difference between being in love and loving someone. Karlina, I—”
I placed my index finger lightly against his lips and gently moved his face down to mine with my other hand on the back of his neck. “Don’t talk…just kiss me.”
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the satin-smooth touch of his lips and the warmth of his tongue tangling with mine. He placed both of his hands on my waist and pulled me closer to him. His body felt so good against mine; it felt like we fit together perfectly. I moved one of my hands to meet his on my waist and moved it lower to my ass. He didn’t pass up my blunt invitation and moved his hands under my skirt so that we were skin to skin. He caressed my panty-less hips, thighs, and ass.
“I could make love to you right here,” he whispered against my lips.
“Let’s go inside.” I pulled away from him and unlocked my condo door.
As soon as he got the door closed, he pulled my dress straps down my shoulders, unfastened my bra, freed my breasts, and was already kissing me there. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He carried me over to the living room and lay me down on the sofa, without pulling our bodies apart. We kissed until our lips were swollen.
“Karlina, I can’t get enough of you. I’m addicted to you, like a drug. I feel fulfilled, pleased every time I’m with you. I would give up my Twizzlers if I could eat you every day.”
We both managed to giggle amid the passion.
He directed the head of his dick to my center.
“Sean,” I gasped.
“Karlina, I love you.”
He plunged himself into me and sent my mind and body to some other level, rendering me speechless.
&
nbsp; After we had both reached climax, we lay enveloped in each other's arms as our breaths regulated and our body temperatures returned to normal. He finally pulled out of me but lay on his side so that we were facing one another on the sofa.
“Did you really mean that?” I asked.
“I always mean what I say, Karlina. I promise you, that was no lie or exaggeration. I just wanted you to know, and I’ll prove it to you.”
“Sean, I…I’ve never said those words to any man.”
“That’s okay. I don’t want to push you. But I hope that you feel the same way that I feel about you. I’ll give you time, Karlina. If that’s what you need, I’ll give you time. But I want us to work.
Sean broke the uncomfortable silence by kissing me on the cheek. “Can I start a bath for you?”
“Only if you join me.” We got up, and I led him into my bedroom.
My oversized bathtub was just big enough for the two of us to soak in with my back rested against his chest while we enjoyed the jets.
We sat in silence, and I thought about what had just happened. A man had confessed that he loved me. Those three little words had only been said to me once before. I didn’t want to get caught up in the emotions because I knew all too well that when the feelings were gone, love would soon diminish.
Oh, yes, we had hot, steamy sex and couldn’t get enough of each other. But what would happen when sex wasn’t enough or no longer desirable, would he love me then? What, then, would happen when the love was gone? Would we drift apart and never hear from each other again? There was no way I would bring another man home to my parents, only to have them disappointed a short time later when we broke up because he wanted something different. It had happened before and I wasn’t going through it again.
What about the things that I didn’t know about Sean? A man with everything going for him was in love with me. Me? Why was he single? He was handsome, he was wealthy, he was smart, he had a dick to die for, and he was a very generous lover. Was he too good to be true, or was he just everything that I needed?
I turned around and looked at Sean. He had his eyes closed, but he opened them the instant the water moved around us.
Seduced by Sin: Sean (Rugged Riders #3) Page 6