Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Del
He’s a freaking animal-saving, real-life hero, nerdy geek who looks like a sex god and makes me laugh. I’m defenseless against that.
Against him.
And holy shit, can the man kiss! His lips move over mine, almost savagely. His tongue is a raw weapon of carnal possession.
I whimper, melting into his chest, his mouth. Craving more.
He growls in reply, nipping my bottom lip before charting a path of hot, nibbling kisses down over my jaw, the side of my neck, up to my ear. His long fingers cup my throat as he captures my earlobe with his teeth.
A hitching cry of pleasure and consent falls from me, my sex heavy with wet need.
“Oh, God…” I rasp, eyes closed, rolling my head to grant his masterful mouth more access to my throat. “Lachlan…”
He moves his lips to the curve where my neck becomes my shoulder, scraping his teeth against my skin.
He grabs my arse with those big, hard hands of his before dragging one up to the swell of my breast straining against the rigid prison of my corset.
His fingers dig into the soft flesh spilling over the top, and I arch into his touch.
“Christ, Del,” he groans, mouth at my ear, hand on my boob, my butt. “You drive me fucking wild. You’re a vixen, a goddess. I want to spread you out on my bed and make you—”
Something solid thuds against my shoulder, almost knocking me sideways off my chair. Out of Lachlan’s carnal hold.
“What the—” he snarls as I grab at the seat and swing my stare up at the intrusion.
“Shit.” A tall woman dressed as Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings if Galadriel was on OnlyFans giggles, the cocktail glass in her hand listing toward the ground. One of Stevie’s university friends, I think. “Sorry.”
She slides a blurry look back and forth between Lachlan and me, and then she drops a dramatic wink at me.
“Well done, Delly.” Delly? No one calls me that.
She giggles again. “Don’t be too busy you miss the wedding rehearsal tomorrow though,” she continues, waving her glass at me.
Purply-blue liquid sloshes out, splashing her feet. “Stevie’s counting on you.”
Guilt hits me like an icy slap. I shrink back in my seat, away from Lachlan, even as our stares clash. That’s the second time this mountain of a man has made me forget why I’m up here. What am I doing? I’m here for my cousin, not to…
Make out? Get laid? Fall in love?
Jolting to my feet, I step away from OnlyFans Galadriel and Lachlan. “I gotta go,” I say.
Lachlan straightens from his chair, a potent force rising. His stare traps me. Refuses to release me. “Go?”
“Me too.” Galadriel giggles and pivots in a lurching semi-circle before stumbling off in the direction of the homestead. “Byeee.”
I swallow, looking at Lachlan. “My cousin…” Will understand if you spend the night riding Lachlan McKenzie like a cowgirl.
His jaw knots. “Can I see you tomorrow?” He rubs at his mouth. “For the contract exchange?”
My heart squeezes. Of course, it’s all about him buying Cloudkiss. Not us. The kiss that shook me to my very core? That tilted my world? Just performative subterfuge to him.
A strangled sigh bursts from me. “Y’know what? You can—”
At my hip, in the small black latex purse I made to go with my outfit, my phone vibrates.
Without a word, I pull it out, giving Lachlan my back. This will be Stevie, no doubt. Wondering where I—
My throat slams shut at the text on the screen.
I’d like to pluck those fairy wings off your body.
“Del?” Lachlan’s deep voice rumbles behind me. Worry cuts the single syllable.
Lifting my head, I scan the dark garden. The party is winding down. There’s just the string of fairy lights slung between poles and trees and the gazebo lighting the area. Some stragglers wander away, wings and heels dangling from their fingers. Someone has even silenced the music.
“Del?” he murmurs, stepping in front of me. “What’s wrong?”
I look up at him. Swallow. “I…”
An air of tension crackles around him. His jaw knots. “What’s spooked you?”
I drop my stare to my phone. To the text there. It’s from the fan who somehow got my phone number, and it’s on an entirely different level from their previous all-caps OMG I LOVE YOUR WORK.
Why didn’t I block their number? Why did I think ignoring them was the way to go?
Because you were worried about losing a follower. Idiot.
Lachlan takes my phone from my hand, his long fingers gentle. “Can I see?”
He skims the screen, and a low growl tears from him like a threatened predator. “This from the Instagram follower invading your privacy?” He’s closer to me now. When did he do that? I didn’t see him move.
I love that he has. I feel safer.
“I think so,” I answer. If I bury myself into his strength, will he hold me?
Do it.
His eyes find mine, their gray depths charged like an upcoming storm. “No way I’m leaving your side now. You know that, right?”
I lick my lips and let out a weak, wobbly chuckle. “So your room or mine?”
His nostrils flare. “Our room. Now.”