by Serena Grey
“Oh, good.” We walked over to the next picture, which featured an overgrown field with a little boy jumping for a ball at the far end.
“Are you into photography or did you just come to support your roommate?”
“I think it’s both at this point.” I was about to explain how Amy’s work had piqued my interest in photography when I felt the unmistakable awareness that told me Jason had found me.
His voice confirmed it.
“Daphne, here you are.” He came to stand between me and Mark. “Amy was wondering where you were.”
“She was?” I tried to look beyond his expansive chest toward where Amy had been standing with Colin when I last saw her.
“She was,” he confirmed. “And I volunteered to find you.” He gave me another one of his small smiles and I felt my lower body melt. I wondered what he would say if he knew how much time I’d already dedicated to thinking about the ways I wanted to fuck him.
He turned to Mark. “Jason Wild.”
Mark had to look up at him. “Mark Cutter,” he said after a pause. “Any relation to Amy?”
“I’m her brother.”
“Oh.” Mark turned back to me. “It was great talking to you, Daphne.” Then he walked away.
“Friend of yours?” Jason asked as I turned to him, realizing then that we were standing alone in an area somewhat shielded from the rest of the gallery. The realization made me wary—wary, yet excited.
“No.” My voice was a little too thick. I cleared my throat. “No, actually I just met him.”
“Okay.” Jason nodded. “I saw you step out of sight with him and I wasn’t sure if I should come over to check on you. So, I did.”
I narrowed my eyes. “So, Amy wasn’t ‘wondering’ where I was?”
“Nope. Between showing her work and gazing into Colin’s eyes, I doubt she remembers we exist.”
“Awww, your baby sister grew up and got a boyfriend.”
He laughed at the sad face I was making. “Cute.”
“You should be happy for her. Everybody says how hard it is to find love these days.”
“Everybody says?” One eyebrow went up. “What about you? How’s it been for you?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t tried to find love, not ever.” I paused and met his gaze. “Have you?”
I already knew the answer to the question. He lives up to his name, Amy had said. Wild. Still, I wanted to hear him say it. For some reason, I needed to hear him say he wasn’t interested in love and relationships.
“No.” His voice was low. “I’ve never had any interest in looking for something that doesn’t exist.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say love doesn’t exist.”
“Why not? Have you ever been in love?”
I shook my head.
He raised one shoulder in a triumphant shrug. “See?”
“My parents were in love,” I said softly. Why was I telling him that? Why did I want to convince him he was wrong? Why did I care? “I’ve seen it happen,” I continued. “Even though it’s never happened to me.”
He shrugged again. “It’s easy to make all sorts of assumptions about other people’s relationships, but personal experience is what I go by, and love? No.”
I didn’t understand why his conviction on the topic made me feel like I had lost something more than an argument. It wasn’t like I wanted him to fall in love with me or anything as ridiculous as that. As he looked down at me, a lock of hair fell from his crown to his forehead. Absently, he pushed it back. I balled my fingers, shaken by how much I wanted to smooth them through his hair.
I bit my bottom lip. “So…you just do casual sex?”
“Among other things.” His eyes stayed on my lips, and they practically smoldered. I caught my breath, wondering how I would extricate myself after digging into this hole, alone, with him. “I work hard,” he continued, “and I play hard.”
“And what happens when you play with someone who wants more? What happens when your ‘playmates’ fall in love with you? You just break hearts?”
“No.” His voice was soft and he moved closer to me until our bodies were almost touching. “Everyone who gets in bed with me gets exactly what they want, great, mind-blowing sex.”
I was thinking of all the ways I wanted to fuck him again. “You’re very confident,” I said. My throat was suddenly dry.
“I am.”
I pulled in a breath. “Whatever works for you, Jason.”
“What about you?” he countered. “What works for you?”
You. You, Jason Wild.
“Right now?” I shrugged. “Nothing. I’m taking some time to be with myself…for now.”
“What does that mean?” He looked very interested. “No dating, no sex?”
I nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly right.”
“Are you saying that because you think I’m trying to get you into bed?”
“Would it scare you off?”
He smiled. “No.”
I exhaled. “I said it because it’s true. No dating, no sex.”
He looked amused. A smile danced at the corner of his lips for a moment, and then he let out a small chuckle.
“What?” I said. “You can say it.”
He held up his hands. “I want to say I’m not quite sure how that works, but I’m guessing it’s none of my business how you choose to get off…or not.”
His gaze burned through mine and I tried not to remember all the fantasies I’d already had about him.
“You’re right,” I said. “It’s none of your business, and I don’t want to spend tonight talking about it.”
He nodded. “We should go find Amy.”
As we walked, he put his hand on the small of my back again. I doubted he thought anything of the small gesture, but it made my heart race and my skin flush. I was hungry, starving for his touch. My self-imposed celibacy had never seemed so impossible to sustain until now.
Chapter Four
Amy was staying behind and leaving much later with Colin, so I found myself sharing the back seat of Jason’s car on the ride back home. I stared out the window, my hands clasped in my lap, trying to ignore the fact that his presence alone was an assault on my senses. Everything about him seemed made to turn me on; the faint hint of his cologne, the way he spread his fingers on his lap and tapped them silently, the fact that he was just an arm’s length away…
I let out a sigh and felt him turn in my direction. “You okay?”
I turned my gaze toward him—big mistake. In the dim light inside the car, the intermittent lights from streetlamps and headlights outside played up the sculpted planes and angles of his face. He looked like a Greek god, a Roman sculpture, an avenging angel from a Renaissance painting. I closed my eyes for a moment to get a hold of myself.
“Sure, I’m fine.”
He gave me a look like he didn’t believe me. “Why did you move out of your last place?”
“Lease expired and I decided to get something closer to work. It was also too big for just me.”
“Too big?” He laughed. “Most people usually start small and move into bigger places when they start earning more.”
“Yeah, I kinda skipped all that.” I chuckled. “I got into town, got a studio…” I thought about my old apartment, the scene of many intimate nights with men I barely remembered. I realized now that I didn’t miss it, not at all.
“Must have been expensive.”
I hesitated. “I could afford it. My parents…left me some money.”
He was quiet for a moment then reached across the seat and squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry,” he said simply.
Tears stung at my eyes. Somehow, I hadn’t expected him to understand that any day, any time, I’d have chosen to have my parents back instead of the money. I hadn’t had to explain that sense of loss I carried around with me; somehow, he understood.
“So, you decided to move closer to work, and you found Amy—match made in heaven.”
“
Yeah,” I said softly. Amy was everything I hadn’t even dared hope for in a roommate, and I was glad to have found her. I looked at Jason, wondering what he was thinking. Besides the many other reasons for my self-imposed celibacy, the fact that Amy was my roommate played a huge part in why I wasn’t already intimately acquainted with what lay beneath his clothes. A tiny part of me suddenly wished I didn’t live with her. It would be one less complication standing in the way of exploring…whatever this was between him and me.
We remained silent the rest of the way. This time the drive was shorter, and soon Leonard was pulling up at the curb in front of my building. The car stopped, and I reached for the handle without looking at Jason.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said quickly. “Good night,” I added. “Good night, Leonard.”
“Good night,” Leonard’s quiet voice from the front.
Jason reached out and touched my arm. It was a casual touch, barely there, really, but I felt a jolt as if a current had passed through me. “Wait.” His voice was oddly gentle.
My skin prickled. My heart raced. “Yes?”
“I…” He seemed to be searching for words. His eyes went to his hand on my arm, and when he looked back up at me, I could see the dark desire in his gaze. I wondered if he could see the same in mine.
“Why don’t I walk with you?” He turned and climbed out of his side, joining me on the short walk to the door.
I entered the code and the outer door unlocked. Inside, there was a small reception area with a desk then the stairs. I placed a hand on the door but didn’t push it open. I didn’t want to go in, didn’t want to share the last moments of the night with whoever was behind the desk. I also didn’t want to invite Jason up for some privacy, because if he came up with me, I would sleep with him. There was no use denying it. The door was my only protection against the pleasure and ecstasy I knew I would find in his arms—pleasure and ecstasy I knew I shouldn’t want.
He was facing me, looking at me—really looking at me, like his eyes would drink me in if they could. It had been a while since I’d felt so desired by a man. It was heady.
“I’m really glad my sister found you,” he said softly. “I’m a little too protective, I’ve been told. So, I was worried about moving out and leaving her alone in the apartment. I was worried when she said she was going to find a roommate, but you’re perfect…as far as roommates go.”
I chuckled. Somehow that hadn’t been what I was expecting him to say. “She’s not a baby, you know.”
He smiled. “I know, but I don’t ever get to stop being a big brother. That’s how it works.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I think I get it.”
“So, as I said…” He took a step closer to me so there was barely an inch between us. I could feel the heat from his body and the expanse of his chest only inches from my breasts. “I’m glad she found you, and I glad you’re her roommate, but you know…I wish to God you weren’t.”
My stomach twisted. “Why?” I whispered, though I already knew the answer.
“Because then I wouldn’t feel so conflicted about wanting to fuck you every way, every day, until you forget you’ve ever been with anyone else.”
Something clenched between my legs, pulsing and needy. Warm desire dampened my panties. I was moments away from dragging him upstairs with me, consequences be damned. It took all my self-control to hold myself back, to act like I wasn’t a mess of desire inside.
“Forget everyone else?” I forced a laugh. “That would take a while, Jason, and you don’t do long term—and neither do I.”
He laughed, and it was a fucking sexy sound. “One night would do it.”
From any other guy, the confidence would have been a turn-off, but from him, it only made me want him more desperately.
I placed my hand on his chest, a small and ineffective barrier between us. “Too bad we’ll never find out,” I said, forcing a lightness into my voice that I didn’t feel.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Too bad.”
One minute I was facing him, about to say goodnight again, and the next, he had taken a step forward and placed one hand on the small of my back.
“Jason…” I started, but he was already lowering his head, and then our lips met and I didn’t want to talk anymore.
His lips covered mine and his tongue pushed inside my mouth, exploring and tasting. He tasted like wine and lust and sex, and my pussy ached with how much I wanted him, his tongue, his hands, fingers, him.
The kiss was much too short, and when he pulled away, we were both breathing heavily. I was wet and panting, my nipples were aching, and I could barely stand.
He took a moment to make sure I was steady on my feet then he stepped back. His chest rose and fell, and he looked as if he’d been hit by a sledgehammer, which was exactly how I felt.
“Daphne,” he said, his voice low and rough. “There’s no way in this world we aren’t going to fuck each other’s brains out.”
My lips parted. I was going to respond, was going to invite him up. Today is as good as any other day, my body screamed, but he had already turned and was walking back to the car, leaving me a confused mess of hopeless arousal.
Chapter Five
“Hello hotshot.” Amy’s voice on the phone was a welcome distraction from my work. “What are you doing tonight?”
“I’m definitely not a hotshot, and I’m doing absolutely nothing tonight.”
“Great! Jason wants to take us out to celebrate all my pictures selling out at the exhibition. You ever been to Wild Things?”
Jason’s name barreled into my mind like a rollercoaster and I barely heard the other words she said. It had been almost two weeks since the exhibition, and I hadn’t seen or heard from him. After that scene outside my building—after kissing me and leaving me hopelessly aroused on my doorstep—he’d just disappeared. I was strung out, needy, and consumed with thoughts about him…and that annoyed me quite a bit.
“You there?”
“Yeah.” I tried to remember what her question had been. “It’s a club, right? I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never been.”
“Well, we’re going there tonight. Jason owns some percentage of the club, so VIP treatment all the way. Yay!”
“Yay!” I replied, though I was unable to match her enthusiasm. I looked at the manuscripts on my desk. “Actually, I don’t know, Amy,” I said. “I’m kinda wiped out. I was hoping to go home straight from work and pass out.” I was lying—there was only one reason why I didn’t want to go. Jason. Fucking. Wild.
“Come on! What are you, middle-aged? We’ll sleep when we’re dead,” she sang. “Please, Daphne, it’s Friday night. It will be so much fun.”
Will it? I wasn’t sure being around Jason and dying of lust qualified as fun.
But…I wanted to see him.
So much.
I was a mess.
“Okay,” I capitulated.
“Yes!” she whooped. “You’ll love it, don’t worry.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m sure I will.”
Getting dressed was stressful. What did a girl wear when she was going out to see a man she wanted to fuck but wasn’t going to fuck because she was under a ridiculous, self-imposed celibacy rule, and also because he was her roommate’s brother?
Complicated.
I settled on a short nude sheath with high heels in the same color and obsidian studs in my ears. My hair I left in a wild mass that fell over my shoulders and back.
“Wow!” Amy’s mouth dropped open when I emerged from my room. “You look…wild and untamed!”
“Is it too much? It’s been a while since I hit the clubs.”
“Are you kidding? It’s perfect.” Amy was wearing a cream minidress with a glittery gold band around the hem. Her hair was in a messy bun and gold hoops dangled from her ears. She looked sweet, but also club appropriate.
“Looking like this though”—she gave me a knowing look—“it’s going to be hard to convince anyone you’re cel
ibate. Might even be harder not to, you know, fall off the wagon.”
I laughed. “I wasn’t addicted to sex before, you know. I can do without it, and I’m not in danger of becoming an insatiable nympho even if I do hook up with someone.”
She stuck out her tongue. “I have a feeling this is going to be an exciting night.”
I didn’t say anything, but yes, I was excited. The thought of seeing Jason had me on edge, though I was determined that nothing would happen between us, especially since he’d left me in the lurch for two weeks. However, I did want him to see me looking like sex on legs. I wanted to see him regret every minute of the past two weeks that he hadn’t spent trying to convince me to let him make good on the promise of his kiss.
I sighed. That fucking kiss still made me catch my breath whenever I thought about it.
“I’m ready,” I told Amy.
She looked at her phone. “Uber is one minute away. Let’s go.”
The club wasn’t very far away, so the ride was short. There was a long line of people outside, but Amy led me straight to the door and grinned at one of the bouncers. His face split into a smile and they caught up for about a minute then he let us in.
Inside, there was an eerily quiet anteroom, and beyond it, through transparent but soundproof glass, I could see the mad crush of people inside the dimly lit club. We neared the doors and they slid open, the modern, catchy sound of loud club music enveloping us immediately.
“Wow!” I could feel the loud beat inside my chest, and it made me want to let go of all my inhibitions and just dance.
Amy looked at her phone. “Colin is up in VIP, come on.”
I followed her past all the writhing bodies on the dance floor and up the stairs. The club lights in the VIP area made it hard to see the faces, but knowing the club’s reputation, I guessed there would be a couple of famous people here and there.
“You’re here!” We reached a table and Colin got up to greet us. He gave Amy a long, drawn-out hug then hugged me too. “Jason was here,” he said. “He had something to discuss with his partner, but he said it won’t take long.”