Chapter 18 #2
Truth be told, everything about Sloane tempted him. His gaze kept falling to her lips, and he thought about just how great she tasted. “I don’t tend to have friends.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
It was.
“Debra is your friend. You’ve been close to her for years.”
Is that what Sloane thought? That they were close?
Because of some long-standing friendship?
“My adoptive parents paid Debra to keep an eye on me until I was twenty-one. She always made sure I had extra protection while I was here, growing up. After my kidnapping, my parents moved to Cashiers. They wanted a fresh start for me. Their protective instincts went into overdrive.” A roll of one shoulder.
“Debra watched out for me because she was paid to do so. When my parents died, they left a significant amount of money to the town. To her. She’s still grateful for that cash. ”
“You honestly think she’s watching out for you because she was paid to do so?”
Yes, that was exactly what he believed.
“And is that the same story for Frankie and Noble? Are they paid to be your friends? That the tale you’re spinning?”
“Frankie has been a bodyguard who worked on my payroll for years. I have money.” Flat. Not bragging. Just stating the truth. “Money can attract a certain amount of danger. Employing bodyguards can be a necessity.”
“You’re stupid rich, that’s what you are. You’ve got like, seven homes. Businesses and real estate ventures everywhere. I’m pretty sure you just built a forty-story tower in Miami, and by pretty sure, I mean I discovered that info while doing my research on you.”
He didn’t speak.
“Wealth can attract danger, I get it.” Her head inclined toward him.
“You hired bodyguards. Makes sense. People without wealth attract danger, too. Danger can sneak right up on you. It can be right there, hiding behind a charming smile.” Her own smile came and went.
A quick flash. “Just because you pay someone, it doesn’t mean that person can’t be a friend.
Pretty sure people can pull double-duty.
A woman can be a sheriff and a friend. And someone can be a bodyguard and a buddy. ”
There were no buddies in his world. “I don’t pay for friendship. Frankie does a job. He gets a salary and benefits. End of story.”
“And Noble? You really going to try and spin the same tale with him? Because I won’t believe you, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t lie directly to my face.”
Dammit. She knew. “You and your research, huh?”
“Yes. Me and my research.”
They were having this conversation all while his dick still saluted her. While he thought about how easy it would be to strip her and fuck her. While her nipples pressed against her pajama top. Tight nipples.
He thought of the way the rain had soaked her white shirt. “I wanted to punch those bastards who were gaping at you in the rain. Sonsofbitches should have been more professional.” He swallowed. “And yet here I am, staring at your nipples and thinking about how badly I want them in my mouth.”
A gasp slid from her.
He turned away. The better to not stare at what he wanted so badly.
“I’m not a safe place for you tonight.” Or any night.
Preston took one last look out of the windows as the lightning flashed.
“You can stay down here. Stare out. Breathe.” She could take the haven.
“I’ll go upstairs.” Or into his study. It had damn windows, too.
But her hand pressed to his back. “I came to find you. If you leave me, then I’m basically failing at my whole mission.”
He stiffened. “You…really shouldn’t touch me right now.”
“Why not? Because your dick is hard and you want to fuck me?”
She wasn’t dancing around the truth. He wouldn’t, either. “Because my dick is hard and if you don’t get away from me, we will be fucking.” He’d left her before. Left her naked and on his bed. Left thinking that they shouldn’t rush. That he needed to handle her with care. Because…
She’s important.
Something that he understood all the way to his soul.
But now all he could think was that the predator was out there. Sloane could be taken. Sloane could die. And he would lose her.
Fate was cruel, he knew that, and it would be just like that twisted bitch to give him everything he’d ever wanted and then to rip her away from him.
“Well, if that’s the case…” Sloane’s breath blew over his shoulder and her hand reached around him. Her fingers stroked his dick through the boxer shorts. “Let’s get going.”
His hand flew down and curled around her wrist. “Sloane.”He kept his touch careful. He had to be careful with her.
“It’s okay. That’s not the bruised wrist. You’re not hurting me.” Her fingers stretched. Caressed.
His back teeth clenched.
“I’m not nearly as fragile as I appear, by the way. I can stand in a storm and not get blown away. Didn’t you realize that earlier?” Another stroke.
Fuck.
“I can take you and all that you have to give me.” She slipped around his body. Her mouth pressed to his chest. A light, soft, sensual kiss. He felt the lick of her tongue against him.
His breath shuddered in.
Out.
His heart beat far too quickly.
She positioned herself between him and the window pane. “Let go of my hand, Preston. Let me touch you the way I want.”
“It was hard enough to walk away from you last night.” If she kept stroking his dick, if she—
“Good thing I don’t want you to walk away. I want you to fuck me. Don’t think I can get much plainer than that.” A pause. “You don’t need to slip into a shower and masturbate to the fantasy of me. You can have the real thing. Right here. Right now.”
She’d seen him?
Then she lowered in front of him.
He still held her wrist.
She glanced up at him. “Let go…and trust me.”
His fingers eased away from her wrist. She pushed the boxers down. Leaned toward him. One hand curled around the base of his dick. The other guided his thick cock toward her mouth. Her lush lips parted.
She took him inside.
So fucking good. His hands flew up and slammed against the window. She was in front of him. On her knees. Licking and sucking his dick. Lightning flashed. Rain fell.
She had his cock in her mouth.
His control didn’t splinter. It obliterated. A growl built in his throat, and his hips pushed toward her mouth. She sucked him, taking his dick in more. Pumping him with one hand while her lips and tongue savored him. So incredibly good. “Sloane…”
She hummed around him.
Fuck, fuck! He felt the vibration, felt the lick of her tongue, the way she sucked him—I’m going to come. I’ll explode in her mouth. He was already on the edge. So eager. Too ready.
But he didn’t want to come in her mouth, not this first time. He wanted to be in her. He wanted to claim her. To mark her. To possess her completely. Preston pulled back.
“I wasn’t finished!” A desperate protest from her.
Hell, no, they weren’t finished. He kicked away his boxers and hauled her to her feet.
She was in front of the array of windows.
No one should be able to see them but… “Lights off,” he snarled.
The dim lights that had been on instantly shut off as his system followed his command. They were plunged into darkness.
Sloane sucked in a quick breath. She reached for him.
Lighting flashed, illuminating the den. A quick streak of light. There, then gone.
But she’d tensed when the light vanished. He held back, his own muscles going tight because she seemed afraid.
If it was the dark she feared, then he could fix that. He turned her body so that she faced the window. “Look out,” he told her.
The lightning flashed every few moments, spilling illumination across the mountains.
Her hands rose and pressed to the window pane.
Preston shoved down her silky pajama shorts. Sent lacy panties fluttering down with them. His hands swept over her. Around her. His body slid against her as he curled over Sloane. She seemed so delicate next to him. Breakable.
But he would not break her. Not ever. He would never let anyone break Sloane.
Her legs parted and his fingers dipped into the heaven that waited.
Her hot core. She was slick and wet and ready for him.
Two fingers pushed in her. Thrusting. Stretching.
His thumb raked over her clit. Again and again, he dragged it over her, and she shot onto her tiptoes.
Her hands pushed hard against the glass in front of her. “Preston.”