Chapter 18
Xander
Her heartfelt, genuine thank you seeps through me, warm and intoxicating, like the best Macallan. Fuck it, not even the best whiskey makes me feel this powerful and powerless at the same time.
Like my next breath already depends on her next thank you, her next smile, next sass.
If I were a better man, I would acknowledge that this cloud will hit the truth head-on.
It will burst into a storm of epic proportions. But I let myself float on it, anyway. Fuck the consequences. I want to collect these moments with her.
I drink in her gratitude and just study her for a moment. She’s feeling better, and she said yes to my fucked-up scheme.
This morning couldn’t get any better.
The talk about her good-for-nothing fiancé dampened the mood a little. I don’t feel in competition with the guy a decade later. I still hate his guts for knowing her before me, as irrational as that is. For winning her before me.
But that’s not the real problem here. I should tell Cora what a douche he was, but I would have to explain where my information comes from.
Roxy’s file on Cora wasn’t the most comprehensive, but it was informative enough. I didn’t even think twice before I sold the bike. She doesn’t need that kind of trauma in her life.
“Do you have any other conditions?” I rasp, the moment between us tightening my throat.
“I think I covered all my concerns. But I have a question.”
The air is thick with our need, and I stifle the groan. “Ask away.”
“How long do we stay married?”
Forever.
And fuck, why is she already thinking about the end? We haven’t even started. I’m not planning to be done with her anytime soon.
It makes no sense. It’s not my usual modus operandi. It’s inconvenient. But I still don’t want to change it.
Coraline Winslow is mine.
“One year maximum, to make sure I can deliver on my side of the bargain. Or we can divorce as soon as I get the board seat,” I lie.
I don’t even feel bad about it. It’s a placating lie, so she stops overthinking this.
“Okay. And then what? We just stop pretending in front of people? Your father will see through that.”
Even in a moment like this, giving up her freedom, she thinks of my relationship with my father. It’s satisfying and infuriating. Has she ever put herself first?
“Let’s worry about that when the time comes.”
If the time comes.
It won’t.
“Okay. I’m concerned about meeting your family, though. I don’t belong in your world.”
“Cora, the last time I checked, you’ve been a part of my world for a few months now. Stop feeling less, stop projecting this you’re not enough attitude. It doesn’t suit you. You sass me all the time; I’m sure you can stand your ground in any situation.”
She lets out the air through pursed lips, her expression skeptical. “I wish I had your confidence about this, but okay. Do you have any questions?”
“How many cats do you really have?” I ask, to lighten the mood that got too serious for my liking, but also because, fuck, I really hope it’s just the two of them.
She laughs, and it’s like the most moving musical score. I want to make her laugh. All. The. Time.
“You will have to count them yourself.” She bites her lip.
“I’m going to fuck the information out of you.” I fist her hair and fuse my lips with hers, lowering myself to my knees.
She whimpers into my mouth, and I almost blow into my underwear. I’ve been half-hard for hours, for fuck’s sake.
She leans into the kiss, her nails scraping my skull, and I want her to draw blood and never stop.
Hoisting her legs around my hips, she slides on her seat closer to me.
Only a flimsy fabric is between her clit and my cock as she seeks friction, gyrating her hips. Jesus, this woman will be the death of me.
“I thought it was we’d marry and then we’d fuck,” she murmurs into my mouth. Her words are at odds with her actions.
I hook my fingers in her shorts and yank. “Stop stalling, Coraline, or my dick will fall off.”
She laughs again and lifts her hips, so I can peel the garment from her hips. But the way she is positioned, wrapped around me, I don’t get it low enough.
“Fuck it.” I rip it off.
Cora gasps and then chuckles. “It’s a good thing you’re filthy rich.”
“Finally, you understand the advantage. And the filthy I’m about to show you will make you revisit all your beliefs.”
I scoop her legs and throw them over my shoulders. She loses balance and collapses into the armchair with giggles, her back hitting the cushion while I lift her pussy to my face and blow gently.
“Fuck, this is the prettiest pussy ever.”
“Xander,” she breathes.
“Call—and scream—my name freely, Coraline. I will make sure you have enough reasons to do so.” I look at her from between her thighs, grinning. I like this vantage point very much.
“You’re overly confident.”
“I’ve dreamed about this pussy for long enough to deliver.” I look down and spread her with two fingers. “Look at that pretty cunt of yours. So ready for me.” I blow on her clit again, and she buckles. “And greedy.”
She moans, and the sound is a pure aphrodisiac, dripping need through my veins. I lower my head and inhale her, the primal scent adding to the intoxicating feel.
Cora tenses, her thighs fighting to close. “What are you doing?”
“Getting high on you.” I run my nose up her thigh, licking and kissing her silky skin. “Relax, Coraline.”
“You don’t have to—”
“If you’re under any illusion I’m forcing myself to do anything here, you’re still delusional from your fever, sweetheart.”
She is still strung, her hips locked. “Ethan didn’t like—”
“Have you just mentioned another man while I have my head between your legs?”
She stares at me, bewildered. “I don’t want you to do this.”
I lean back on my haunches, gently putting her ass down on the seat. “You don’t like a man going down on you?”
She blows a raspberry and straightens up. “We probably should talk.”
“There is too much talking involved in this for my taste, and not the right type of talking.” I yank her closer, wrapping my arms around her and tucking a loose strand behind her ear.
She rests her forehead against my shoulder, tapping it a few times like she’s trying to knock some sense into herself.
I kiss her hair. “I’m not going to do anything you don’t consent to, but I have a feeling you’re basing your reaction on some shitty experience with a man who didn’t deserve you, and certainly didn’t know what he was doing.”
She groans.
“Talk to me, Cora.”
She leans back and looks at me. “I thought there was too much talking for your liking.”
“Don’t be a brat.”
She lets out a long breath. “Okay, here goes. I haven’t had sex in… a while. And I’m not very good at giving head. And if you do that…” She looks away. “I will have to—”
I cup her face and force her to look at me. “I want to eat your pussy. I want to taste it. I want you to come all over my face. I really fucking want that. It’s my fucking dream, Cora.”
Her brow furrows, but her lips twitch like she’s skeptical, but trying hard not to like what I just said. “Really?”
“Yes, but we can do other things if this is not something you want to do. And whoever made you believe oral is a question of reciprocity deserves a death sentence.”
She snorts. “Okay, I’m happy to make your dream come true, but I don’t think I’ll relax enough, definitely not to come all over your face.”
“You know what my favorite pastime is? Proving people wrong.”
I stand and scoop her up bridal-style while she squeals. “What are you doing?”
“I’m done talking.”
I carry her to the bed and throw her down.
“Hey,” she pretend-protests while she takes off her T-shirt.
I stop for a beat, feasting my eyes on the beauty in front of me. The sight hits me with a feral need.
But it’s the realization that I will get to touch, kiss, and caress every inch of her that spreads a warm feeling through me.
I don’t know what this is, because for the first time ever, I want to stop time. Like this is no longer about my need, but about her pleasure. The feeling is… new, potent, and somehow essential.
Cora squeals again when I yank her to the edge and drop to my knees.
“Open wide,” I command, and she obeys. Finally. “This pussy is mine,” I hum. “Understood.”
“I thought you were done talking.” She grins at me.
I want to slap that ripe cunt of hers, but she isn’t ready for that. So I lower my lips to her clit and alternate between sucking and licking.
She’s tense at first, holding the sheets in a white-knuckled grip. I flatten my tongue and lift her hips to lick her from the back hole, over her entrance, to her clit, a few times, lapping her juices like a starved man.
The feel of her body loosening in my hands, under my tongue, is hypnotic. Her submission strums every string in me. Soon enough, she is writhing to escape and bucking to get closer. To get more.
And I’m happy to oblige, because fuck, this woman stripped me of my free will, and the only thing I’ve been able to do is to gravitate to her orbit.
I lift my gaze.
She’s breathtaking, with her hooded eyes and slightly open lips.
She lets go of the sheets, and her hands are squeezing her tits, her fingers playing with her nipples. The sight is arresting.
Cora cranes her neck. “Why did you stop?”
“You’re fucking beautiful. Just…” I return to her clit before I make an idiot out of myself and say something we’re not ready for.
She moans. “Yes, there, there.” She pants. “More.”
Her fingers grip my hair as I add a finger to the mix, first teasing her opening and then plunging one and immediately another digit in. She is tight as fuck. God, I can’t wait to sink my cock in there.
Her reactions. Her response. Her eagerness. It’s everything. And not enough at the same time.
“Come for me, Coraline.” I crook my fingers and suck on her clit.
“Xander,” she cries, and I almost blow as I feel her walls tighten around my digits, her muscles rigid before they loosen again.
It’s like her body is an instrument I was always meant to master. I haven’t even fucked her yet, and I’m satiated just from her reactions.