Chapter 11
11
KERRIGAN
I woke to the feel of a warm breath against the back of my neck. Aston’s arm was heavy around my waist, his body molded against mine from behind. I could feel every inch of him, his chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm. And the unmistakable press of his morning erection nestled right against my ass without anything between us.
My body flushed with heat, memories from the night before playing like a slow-motion movie behind my closed eyes. His mouth on my breasts, his hands in my hair…and his dick deep inside my pussy. How he’d coaxed multiple orgasms from my body before finally taking me. The way he’d looked at me as though I was a masterpiece he’d spent his whole life searching for.
The room was quiet except for the hum of the ceiling fan and the sound of our shared breath. I just lay there, letting myself be held while I breathed him in. Aston’s scent lingered on my skin—soap, sex, and something spicy that I couldn’t quite name.
As though he sensed I was awake, Aston shifted behind me, his hand splaying over my stomach, pulling my back tighter against his muscular chest.
“Mmm. You’re awake,” he murmured, his voice thick and gravelly with sleep.
“Barely,” I whispered, a smile tugging at my lips.
His nose skimmed the back of my shoulder, and then he pressed a lazy kiss there, his beard scraping against my skin. “ Bien . I’ve been hard for you since the second I opened my eyes.”
The words sent a jolt of arousal through me, pooling low in my belly. My breath hitched, and I shivered as he pushed his hips forward, grinding the thick ridge of his dick against the curve of my butt.
“You feel that?” he rasped, nipping my earlobe. “That’s what you do to me, ma petite miette . Every damn time.”
A soft moan escaped me, and I arched back instinctively. “Then maybe we should do something about it.”
“Oh, we’re going to,” he promised, and suddenly, he was on his elbow behind me, his hand slipping between my thighs. I gasped when his fingers found just how wet I already was.
He groaned, low and filthy. “ Mon Dieu , you’re soaked.”
“It’s your fault,” I whispered, writhing under his touch. “I woke up remembering all the naughty things you did to me last night.”
He pressed his lips to the back of my neck again, then trailed kisses along my shoulder blade as his fingers explored me, slow and teasing. “I’m nowhere close to finished with you yet.”
I hoped he never was. “That sounds promising.”
He shifted me onto my back, pushing the sheets aside. The room was filled with soft light now, just enough to see the hunger in his stormy-gray eyes as they raked over me. There was a possessive gleam in them as he took in the curves that he’d been the only man to ever touch.
“Except I missed the chance to wake you up with my mouth on your sweet little pussy.” He moved down my body with deliberate slowness, spreading my legs wide with his hands as he settled between them. “You like the sound of that, ma petite miette ?”
All I could do was nod, breathless. My thighs were already trembling, and he hadn’t even tasted me yet. At least not this morning. Last night was a different story—one that involved his lips, teeth, and tongue giving me plenty of orgasms.
My body softened as he kissed the inside of one thigh, then the other. Each press of his mouth made me ache more. Then his tongue was on me, and I cried out, my fingers diving into his thick hair. He moaned against me, the vibration making my hips buck against his mouth.
Flattening his tongue and dragging it through my wetness, he circled my clit without mercy. His fingers joined the game, sliding into me in a rhythm that matched the strokes of his mouth, curling just right.
It was too much but somehow not enough all at the same time.
My orgasm was already building fast due to how sensitive I still was from the night before.
“So close,” I gasped.
“You’re going to come for me, ma petite miette . Right now,” he growled against my clit. “I want to taste it.”
That was all it took for me to shatter. White heat exploded through me as I arched off the mattress, crying out his name, my whole body trembling as he kept licking and stroking, coaxing every last wave of pleasure from me.
When I could finally breathe again, he crawled up my body, kissing his way back to my mouth. I tasted myself on his lips, and somehow that only made me wetter.
“You’re mine,” he whispered fiercely. “And I’m not letting you out of this bed until you’ve come again—with my cock buried inside you.”
“Forget promising…that sounds amazing.”
At my urging, Aston rolled me on my back, threw my legs over his shoulders, and filled me with one powerful thrust.
“ Merde! ” he groaned, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
I was still new enough to sex—even after how many times he’d taken me through the night—that it took me a moment to adjust to his invasion.
He held still, giving me the time I needed. When I wiggled my hips to see if there was any pain, he asked, “You good, ma petite miette ?”
“Yesss,” I hissed, circling my hips again.
“ Au putain, merci mon Dieu. ”
He pressed my body into the mattress and wedged his arm between us to pinch my clit. As he began to drive into me hard and fast, I raced toward another orgasm, my inner walls squeezing his dick.
“Aston! Oh, yes! Yes!”
When I flew apart, he slowed his pace and let me catch my breath before he quickly built me up to another orgasm. My pussy clamped down hard on his thick shaft.
“Give me another,” he commanded, his hand slipping beneath me to give my butt a not-so-gentle slap.
The contact of his palm striking the rounded cheek sent a shock of pleasure directly to my core. Something he didn’t miss since my inner walls tightened even more around me. “That is so hot, ma petite miette .”
After spanking the other side, he picked up speed, working his dick in and out of my tight heat at a furious pace. It was all I could do to hold on for the wild ride he was giving me. I clutched his shoulders, my nails digging into the bunched muscles there.
“You feel so fucking good.”
“Incredible,” I agreed on a gasp as his dick dragged against my sensitive inner walls.
“ Incroyable, ” he echoed in French, driving into me with abandon. “Come for me again. Get your cream all over my dick.”
He slammed into me four more times before we both reached our peak together. I came so hard, fireworks exploded behind my eyelids.
I felt the splash of his hot come as he shouted, “ Oh, oui, baisez-moi! Je jouis! ”
As we caught our breath, he fell to his back, rolling me over with him so I sprawled across his chest while he remained inside me. Still hard, somehow.
“That shouldn’t be possible.” I circled my hips. “Are you a sex robot? It would explain how you’re so perfect.”
He stroked his palm down my back. “Only for you, ma petite miette. ”
“See? Perfect.” I pressed a kiss to his pec. “Which is why it sucks that I have to get up soon. After you run me home, I’ll definitely need to take a shower before getting ready for work.”
His hand slid down to cup my butt. “Take one here instead.”
“There’s a zero percent chance that I’d make it out of the bathroom without you dirtying me up all over again,” I teased.
“ C'est juste. ” He wrapped my hair around his fist to tilt my head back and claim my mouth. “But we’d have fun while I was doing it.”
“Too much,” I pointed out. “Then I’d be late for work, and my boss would not be impressed.”
He stroked his thumb across my cheek. “You could use one of my contacts to make a splash. I’d be happy to pull some strings for you, ma petite miette. ”
I appreciated and was sorely tempted by his offer. Unfortunately, there was no way I could accept it. “Thank you, but I’d like to prove myself on my own.”
“I assumed you’d say something like that.” He brushed his lips over mine. “It’s the only reason I haven’t brought it up before now.”
I beamed an appreciative smile at him. “You know me so well.”
He winked at me. “Even better after last night.”
“Mm-hmm.” There was no denying the truth of that.
My cheeks filled with heat, and he chuckled. “There’s no need to blush over simple words when I’ve touched and tasted every inch of your delectable body.”
“And if I don’t get out of here soon, I’ll be too tempted to forget about work and have you do it all over again.” I gave him another quick kiss before pushing off his chest. “So do me a favor and stop being so darn enticing.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible.”
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes as I tugged his shirt over my head. Then I searched for my bra and panties, putting them on before finding my pants. Aston remained sprawled on the bed while he watched me, his gray eyes burning as they swept over my body. “You look magnifique in my clothes.”
“So do you,” I murmured with a grin. “Now please put some on so we can get out of here.”
He muttered beneath his breath but did as I requested. Then he led me to his convertible, keeping the top up since it was cooler this morning than it had been last night. Placing my palm on his thigh, he interlaced our fingers and drove one-handed for the twenty minutes it took to get to my apartment.
When he pulled up at the curb in front of my building, I heaved a sigh. “Being an adult sucks so hard sometimes.”
“ Désolé, ma petite miette .” He claimed my mouth in a passionate kiss before promising, “But we won’t be apart for long. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’m very much looking forward to whatever you have planned.”
His lips curved into a smirk. “I may alter them so that we can spend the entire evening in bed instead.”
“I love the sound of that plan.”
He lightly smacked my butt as I climbed out of the car, making me giggle. Glancing over my shoulder, I blew him a kiss and headed inside.
Melanie was asleep, so I was quiet as I got ready for work, rushing through my shower and getting dressed as much as I could. I was close to being late when I headed back out. Maybe that was why I didn’t pay much attention to the white van as I circled around it.
Before I knew what was happening, strong arms wrapped around me from behind. The van’s side door rolled open and I dropped my purse as I struggled with my captor. I tried to scream, but he clamped his hand over my mouth and wrestled me into the back of the van.
Pain radiated in my side as I crashed into something. “Ouch.”
“Careful,” the man sitting in the passenger seat growled. “We aren’t supposed to hurt her.”
“Too late,” I mumbled, rubbing my hip.
Glancing up, I noticed he wore a matte black balaclava to hide his face. So was the driver and man who’d grabbed me. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not, but I hoped the fact that they didn’t want me to be able to identify them meant that I was going to make it out of this alive.
“No more harm will come to you so long as your man cooperates with our demands.”
“My man?” I echoed, my brows drawing together.
“There’s no use in pretending you’re not dating Aston Couillens,” he muttered.
The driver nodded. “Not after we saw you kiss him after he pulled up in front of your building.”
“I don’t understand.”
The guy who manhandled me tugged on my arms to pull them behind my back. He forced my wrists together, and the ratcheting zip of plastic rang out like a warning. The tie bit into my skin, tightening with each harsh pull until my fingers almost went numb.
Once I was secured, he crouched in front of me. “Don’t play dumb. We know that you’re aware the Caravaggio is a fake.”
I shook my head. “How do you know of my suspicions about Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence ?”
“Your museum should pay closer attention to their cyber security,” the driver sneered. “It’s almost as though they’re practically begging for a smuggling operation to hit them with how easy it was to get into your emails.”
I thought about the message I’d sent to one of my former professors with a groan. They were a Baroque specialist, so I’d reached out to see if they had any more details about the painting. “I have no proof that the painting auctioned off was a forgery. And I certainly don’t know where the real one is.”
“That’s where your boyfriend comes in,” the man in the passenger seat drawled.
“He doesn’t know anything about the painting,” I protested, hating that I’d dragged him into this mess with my meddling.
“You have no idea who you’ve been parading around town with, do you?” I couldn’t see his expression, but there was no missing his surprise. Or the thread of humor in his voice. “There isn’t anything about the black market for art in Georgia that Aston Couillens doesn’t know about. Which is why you’re the perfect leverage to use against him. Normally, there are no chinks in the armor surrounding the DeLuca’s operation, but it’s clear as day that their top forger would do just about anything to keep you safe. Including betraying the Mafia.”
Holy crap. The man I’d been falling head over heels for wasn’t just an art expert. He was a forger. For the freaking Mafia.
“You’d better hope we’re right about his interest in you,” the man who grabbed me grumbled.
Only an hour ago, I would have shouted from the rooftops that Aston would do whatever was needed to keep me safe. But that was before I found out that he’d been lying to me the entire time I’d known him.
If only I’d learned all this before falling into Aston’s bed. Or listened to my gut when I realized how much he’d distracted me from my investigation into Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence .
Maybe then I wouldn’t feel quite so devastated by his betrayal.