I smiled, feeling stupidly giddy at the idea that even as a homeless waif, I’d had the power to stun Killian O’Dea. “I never would’ve guessed that.”
“Well, it’s true. I knew you had different-colored eyes because when I was researching you, there were a few internet articles about it. But you can’t truly appreciate how beautiful they are until they’re staring back at you.” He smoldered. “Or how good it feels to gaze into them as you come around my cock.”
I flushed. “Good morning to you.”
“Morning.”
“And as to your other point, I do have to work hard to look good. It takes skill to eat as much peanut butter as I have to get my ass back.”
His beautiful eyes dropped to my mouth. “The effort is much appreciated.”
My hand shot up between us as he leaned in to kiss me. He raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t brushed my teeth.”
“Move your hand, Skylar.”
“Nope.” I slid out of the bed, blowing past him so quickly he barely had time to blink.
I heard his chuckle as I dashed into the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush. Once I’d brushed, I came back out with a sheepish smile.
Killian was waiting for me, arms crossed over his chest. “You’re very weird.”
“Uh, something you knew before you threw me to the carpet and fucked my brains out.”
“You keep describing it like that and I’m sensing you’re not going to let me forget it went down like that anytime soon.”
I sauntered over to him and he grabbed me by the waist, hauling me up against his chest. Without my heeled wedges, I felt short in his arms. I looked up at him with a playful smile. “Why would I want you or I to ever forget that it went down like that? It was the hottest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He wore a smug, pleased look. “Me too.”
His answer made me feel smug and pleased too. “Yeah?”
“Aye,” he muttered, bending his head.
This time I let him kiss me. It started out sweet, lazy, but I made the mistake of moaning and Killian’s hold on me tightened. His kiss grew hungry and I found myself stumbling back into the wall as he pressed the entire length of his body against mine.
Heat and need flushed through me and I slid my hands under his T-shirt, pushing it up, desperate to feel his warm skin against mine. He took the hint and drew it over his head and threw it away. He caressed my stomach under my tank, the rough calluses on his fingertips making me shiver, and then he dipped them beneath my underwear, zeroing in on my clit.
I gasped into his mouth as he played me, my hips undulating against his touch. “Shit, you need to stop,” I pleaded. “No condoms.”
We’d used the only two he had in his wallet last night.
“I don’t need a condom for what I want to do to you,” he murmured thickly in my ear and then lowered himself to his haunches, his eyes on mine. They darkened as I sucked in a breath of excitement.
I bit my lip, my chest rising and falling quickly, sharply, as he curled his fingers into my underwear and pulled them down my legs. I stepped out of them, growing wet with anticipation, and he clasped the back of my calves, caressing me all the way back up to my inner thighs. He pressed them open and I widened my stance for him.
“Take your top off,” he demanded, his voice hoarse with need. “I want to see all of you.”
I grabbed the hem of the tank top and pulled it over my head. My breasts had filled out as I’d put weight back on, but I’d never be a big girl. Apparently, that didn’t matter to Killian, who stared at my nakedness like I was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
He got on his knees, his fingertips tickling my inner thighs as he leaned in to drop a sweet kiss on my stomach. “Do you know how gorgeous you are?”
I felt a ripple of need just below where he’d kissed and reached for his head, running my fingers through his hair as he peppered kisses down my belly toward where I wanted his mouth most. “Killian,” I heard myself pleading.
He turned his cheek against my skin and I felt him smile.
“What are you grinning about down there?” I tugged gently on his hair and he leaned back to look up at me with mischief in his eyes.
“You’ve not got one submissive bone in your body . . . until the promise of an orgasm. If only I’d known that sooner.”
I looked up at the ceiling and spoke to an imaginary god, “How can he be this irritating and sexy at the same time?”
Killian’s answer was to yank my leg over his shoulder and press his mouth to my sex. The sharp movement made me let go of his head for purchase against the wall.
And then nothing else mattered but the feel of his tongue as he licked and sucked my clit until I was gasping his name and begging for more.
When he slid his fingers inside me, the tension, already stretched to breaking, snapped into shattering bliss. I cried out as my orgasm rolled through me like a tidal wave, my hips shuddering against his mouth as he continued to lick me through it.
My body sagged against the wall as Killian got to his feet, his cheeks flushed as he stared at me with hungry eyes. His hands rested on my waist for a second and then traveled upward to cup my naked breasts as we gazed at one another, mine full of awe, his full of need. He squeezed my breasts and I let out an exhalation that surprised me. How could I want him again so soon? His head bent to my chest and he wrapped his hot mouth around my nipple and sucked.
“Gah . . .” I held onto him as he took his time kissing, licking, and sucking at my breasts. Finally, he pressed his body into mine and rested his forehead to my shoulder, breathing heavily.
I could feel his hard-on digging into my stomach.
I reached between us for the zipper on his jeans and he lifted his head. His eyes searched mine, as if seeking an answer to an unspoken question. I yanked his zipper down and he grabbed my hand. “You don’t have to.”
The fact that he would say so, that he wasn’t looking for reciprocation after he’d gone down on me, made my heart swell. “I want to,” I promised.
He caught my chin between his forefinger and thumb, his voice low. “Still . . . I only ever want to give with you. I don’t want you to feel like I’m ever taking from you.”
It was a moment that could ruin this feeling between us if I let it because I saw the sincerity in his eyes, and I realized that he truly had no idea how much he was planning to take from me as soon as that damn album launched.
It hurt my heart. So much.
But there was a much bigger piece of my heart that had quickly grown addicted to this. To being with him. To feeling more alive than I had in years. I couldn’t let that go. I wanted this feeling to last forever.
I replied, “Don’t you think making you feel good makes me feel good?” I pushed my hand under his boxers and fisted his steely hot length.
Killian hissed in pleasure, falling immediately into my touch and quickly reaching for the wall to brace his hands on either side of my head.
I wanted him to be distracted all day by the memory of me on my knees with his dick in my mouth. I wanted to have power over him like he had power over me.
He tensed when I let go of him to yank his jeans and boxers down; I lowered myself in front of him. “Skylar,” he rasped as his eyes flared.
And then he was groaning my name over and over, rocking his hips with building desire as I licked and sucked him. Watching him pant, his face contorted with raw lust, made me so turned on my own hips undulated.
“I’m going to come,” he warned on a groan and I slipped him out of my mouth to fist him through his orgasm.
“Skylar, fuck!” He came all over my breasts and I felt my lower belly ripple in a mini-orgasm.
Sex-fogged desperation still clung to me as Killian came down from his climax. I got to my feet, reaching for him, for his mouth.
He kissed me hungrily, falling into me as I leaned back against the wall and took hold of his wrist, pulling it from the wall at my head and leading his hand be
tween my legs.
He immediately slipped his fingers inside me and I gripped his waist for support, rocking against the thrusts of his fingers. “I’ve got you,” he muttered, “I’ve got you.”
It took very little time for my orgasm to shatter through me.
We slumped against each other, limbs loose with satisfaction. After a moment of trying to catch our breaths, I felt his soft lips pepper kisses along my shoulder, all the way up my neck to my ear. “I think we both need a shower.”
“You’ll be late.”
“Do you think I care?” His hands roamed down my waist like he couldn’t not touch me. “I now have the memory of you on your knees with my cock on your mouth. Whenever I want to, I can have that image in my head. That’s more than worth being late to the fucking office.”
I chuckled. Men were so easy. I dragged my fingernails softly down his muscled back. “Let’s not make you any later. We gotta shower.”
The hot water poured down over us and we took time exploring each other as we cleaned ourselves up. I asked tentatively, “Should I see about going on the pill?”
“Definitely,” Killian said.
I hated to broach it but a smart woman always should . . .”I hate to, um, mention it . . . but well, I took those tests when I got that health check and I got my all-clear—”
“I’ll get checked,” he cut me off and then kissed me softly.
“Okay, good.”
Afterward, I slipped into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, following Killian out into the living room where he’d left his phone. “You sure you can’t stay for a quick breakfast?”
He looked up from his cell. “Wish I could but I have three missed calls and a bunch of emails to look at.”
“Okay. Let me walk you out.”
When we got to the door, I had just taken off the chain when he pulled me into his arms. “I’ll call you later,” he promised.
Realizing he was worried I was worried, I smiled. “I know you leaving for work doesn’t mean anything.”
“So, we’re okay?”
“We’re more than okay.”
“And you’re all right with us keeping this a secret for now? Even from my sister?”
I slid my hands around his shoulders. “I think it’s kind of hot.”
“Don’t get me started again, you insatiable wench.”
I laughed, loving this side of him more than I thought possible. “No promises.”
We were smiling when we reached for a kiss and that made us laugh. I can’t explain how amazing a feeling it was to be laughing between kisses with Killian O’Dea.
“I have to go,” he groaned, reaching for the door handle.
“Uh-uh, one more.” I drew him back to my mouth as he opened the door and licked my tongue against his.
Just like that, the kiss got out of control as we fell against the hallway wall and hungrily devoured each other.
It was only the sound of a throat clearing that stopped us.
We tensed against each other.
Oh, fuck.
Breaking the kiss, we turned to face the intruder.
Autumn stood in the open doorway with two Starbucks cups in her hands, grinning at us with more than a hint of triumphant happiness.
* * *
“WELL,” KILLIAN LOOKED BETWEEN ME and his sister and then ducked by her, “I have to get to work.”
My hands flew to my hips in amused indignation. “That’s right, you leave when it gets hard.”
Mischief curved his mouth into a grin. He started to respond with something I knew was going to be dirty.
“Don’t say it!” I cut him off before he could.
He gave a huff of laughter and leaned back in to give me a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back tonight.”
And then he was gone.
Leaving me to deal with telling his sister. I slammed the door and she smiled at me like the cat who got the cream. “It’s not fair.” I marched down the hall, reaching in to shut my bedroom door because the room smelled of sex.
“What’s not fair?” Autumn followed me into the living area.
“All he has to do is smile at me.” I threw a hand up in exasperation. “And I’m ready to sacrifice my firstborn for him. Do you think he might actually be the devil?”
“Uh . . . I think I want to know what happened—but spare me too much detail. He is my brother.”
But I wasn’t really listening. I was musing over the addiction I had for him. “I think it’s because he doesn’t smile a lot. It gets me off that I make him smile and laugh. Is that sick?”
Autumn gave a sympathetic smile. “I think it’s love.”
My heart jolted at the very idea of it. “Autumn, it’s not like that, it’s—”
“If you’re about to tell me that you’re fuck buddies, I don’t want to know.”
I felt the urge to screw with her a little like she did with us last night, but it would break her sentimental heart too much so I quelled the impulse. “No, we’re definitely more than that. The truth is we don’t know what we are. We care about each other. We’re attracted to each other. That’s what we do know.”
She shook her head, chuckling as she slid onto a stool to sip her coffee. She pushed the other cup toward me. “I came over here ready to face your wrath for setting you up like that last night.” She shimmied giddily on her stool. “But it worked.”
I sat beside her. “Yes, it did work. But you need to gloat on the inside because we’re keeping what’s happening between us a secret. And it’s imperative that you don’t tell anyone about us.”
I felt the air chill and all the joy fled from Killian’s sister’s face. “You’re kidding me?”
Confused by her reaction, I hesitantly shook my head.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
Her eyes widened. She looked at me like I was a moron. “Because Killian needs to realize that you’re more important than anything else or your relationship will never work.”
My stomach dropped at the cold splash of reality she was delivering. Was it necessary? I didn’t think so! “Autumn—”
“No. This is a bad idea, Skylar. Tell him you can’t keep your relationship in the dark. Fuck his career!”
I blinked, taken aback by such vehemence, and I felt a mix of sadness and anger as I stared into her disappointment. “It’s not just about his career.” I found myself getting defensive. “What do you think the tabloids will do when they find out I’m sleeping with the nephew of the head of my new label? They’ll have a goddamned field day with that information. Skylar Finch returns after her mysterious disappearance and she brings a new romantic drama with her. The fans are going to be pissed as it is that I disappeared on them without any updates on my well-being—do you think they’ll forgive me for doing that if I return to the limelight with someone who isn’t Micah on my arm?”
“Screw your fans,” she huffed. “Screw my uncle. Screw Killian’s ambition! What does any of that nonsense matter in the long run?”
Her blowing off my concerns as if they weren’t valid hurt. “You can say that . . . not knowing what it’s like to have the whole world judging you for every life choice you make. Do you know how exhausting it is to not only have to think about how you feel about something or someone, but to have to factor in your band, your manager, your label, and millions of fans? To have to think about how a newspaper might spin a single decision? To have to plan it this way and that in the hopes that you spoon-feed it to them in a way that reflects best upon you? It was making me crazy. It made me into someone I no longer recognized.”
She reached for my arm in comfort and then leveled me with her next words. “Which is exactly why Killian needs to realize now, rather than later, that you are more important. You know what I’m talking about, Skylar.”
I pulled away, clenching my jaw to stop myself from railing in fury at her for bringing it up. I didn’t want to hear it. Struggling for calm, I finall
y replied, “Don’t. Autumn . . . please don’t.” I looked at her. Pleaded with her. “We aren’t there yet. And I woke up happy this morning. Actually happy. Not numb. Not surviving. Not healing. Not moving on. Just happy. I can’t remember the last time I felt truly happy.”
Autumn studied me a second. Then she slumped in defeat. “Well, I can’t argue with that, can I?”
“I’m hoping not.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “I . . . Killian isn’t the only one who cares about you. I want you to be happy. I want my brother to be happy and I’ve never seen him behave this way with a woman. You do make him smile more, you know.”
Relieved, I grinned. “I know.”
We were silent a moment as I enjoyed our truce and sipped at my coffee.
And then Autumn said, “Killian told me you need a laptop. If you’re not too exhausted by whatever happened last night—you’ve still to tell me, FYI—do you want to go buy one today? Because I was thinking that if you’re getting a laptop, you may as well upgrade that brick you call a phone.”
Suddenly the idea of googling the band and Micah put a knot in my stomach. That was information that would one hundred percent ruin my happy. I didn’t want to ruin my happy.
It was selfish, self-indulgent, and the opposite of the kind of person I wanted to be, so I promised myself two days. Two days of enjoying Killian, and then I’d return to the reality of moving on.
“Let’s leave it for a few days.”
“HAVE YOU HAD SEX WITH anyone famous?”
Killian lay on my bed in nothing but his boxers and gave me a low-lidded, dry look. It was hot. Okay, to be fair, everything about him was hot. “You know, in some cultures they call what we just did sex.”
I huffed. “I meant with someone other than me.”
I saw the curiosity in his eyes. “Are you trying to ask me if I have a thing for famous people?”
Chuckling at the ridiculousness of that, I shook my head. “No. I merely wondered, since you’re in the music business, if you’d ‘shagged’ someone famous.”
“Don’t say shagged,” he said, laughter in his voice.
As Dust Dances Page 24