Chapter 12
REID
“You can’t just go around commanding everyone to do what you want.”
I loved her fierceness. Her fire. It drew me to her like nothing else.
“Generally, I can. But that wasn’t my intention here.”
Honestly, I had no fucking idea what my intention had been. I’d called Cameron on a whim, which went against everything I knew about myself.
“So what was it, then?” Her eyes flashed. I wanted to kiss her. Lift her up in my arms, hold her against that bar and bury myself inside her.
“You’re beautiful when you’re all worked up like this.”
Her cheeks flushed. “I’m serious. I want an explanation.”
“I don’t have one, Hailey.” I stepped right in front of her, breathing her in, losing myself in her citrusy scent, the shape of her lips. “I’m not an impulsive man, never have been. I don’t make spur of the moment decisions, and I definitely don’t act irrationally.”
I’d always been the type to think everything through, to weigh pros and cons before acting. I wanted to do everything differently with Hailey. Correction. It wasn’t simply that I wanted to. It was something stronger. I had to.
I cupped her cheek. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t attempt to move away.
“Since meeting you, I keep doing things I never thought I would do.”
I cupped her other cheek as well, and when she parted her lips, darting out the tip of her tongue just a bit, licking that lower lip, I couldn’t control myself anymore. I buried my hands in her luscious hair, kissing her hard. I needed to explore every single curve.
Most of all I needed to know what she needed and give her exactly that.
I moved to kiss her cheek, up her temple, then down to her neck.
Hailey hummed slightly, and it was all the encouragement I needed.
I slipped a hand between us, touching her breast, circling the nipple until I felt it tighten and push through the fabric.
I remembered how it had felt to touch her in the pool, how I’d barely kept myself from slipping my hands under the tiny bikini and touching her bare skin.
I couldn’t hold back tonight. It was impossible.
I lifted her dress, turning rock hard when I realized she already had goose bumps on her thighs, as if she’d been yearning for my touch just as much as I’d been craving to give it to her.
I let my hand glide slowly toward her inner thighs, so slow that I could enjoy every whimper I drew out of her, every breath of anticipation. When my thumb nudged the edge of her thong, her knees buckled. I secured her with an arm around her waist, feeling her smile against my lips.
I couldn’t stop kissing her, couldn’t stop touching her, and if I continued like this, I’d end up taking her here, on the bar, or maybe on that corner on the couch, if I found enough self-restraint.
I retrieved my hand, letting her dress fall to her knees again.
Her whimper of protest nearly had me pinning her against the bar.
And when she reached out to my belt, undoing it before I even realized what she intended, I kissed her so hard that we both stumbled backward.
I jutted my hands out, propping them against the counter to keep Hailey from colliding with it. She seemed too lost in the haze of lust to notice much—too lost in me.
I liked that.
I gripped her ass with both hands, kneading those cheeks, pressing her against my erection.
The small sound of pleasure humming in her chest made me lift her up.
She wrapped her legs around me the next second.
Fuck, it would be so easy to slide her thong to one side, lower my zipper, and just bury myself in her right here.
We weren’t going to make it to the bedroom, I knew that.
But I found it in me to walk with her across the living room until we made it to the couch.
I lowered her on it, and then nearly crushed her with my weight as I slid on top of her, my mouth ravishing her neck, kissing her breast over the dress before I sat back on my haunches and pulled the dress over her head.
If I hadn’t already been rock-hard, the sight of her in lingerie would have done the job.
She was wearing black silk that contrasted with her flushed skin.
While I took an eyeful, Hailey worked on ridding me of my clothes, taking off my T-shirt, then running her tongue over my chest, lightly biting my nipple. I fisted her hair.
“Fuck, Hailey.”
Her breath was coming out in short, rapid bursts. And the way she looked at me, as if I was the only man in this world for her, slayed me. I felt inexplicably linked to her. I kissed her soft skin, worshipping it until she scratched the armrest behind her while calling my name in a soft plea.
My name in her mouth made me lose all thought.
I took care of her panties and her bra before unzipping my jeans, throwing them away.
My boxers went next, and then I was lying on top of her again, my erection pressed against her right thigh, my forearms planted on either side of her small shoulders, supporting my weight.
I kissed her, twining our tongues as I drove inside her.
A groan tore from my chest. Jesus, I’d meant to enter her slowly, but I’d lost all control.
She was so tight around me, and she felt out of this world good, as if she’d been made just for me.
It took all I had to keep still for a few seconds, giving her time to adjust. I rolled my hips back and forth gently at first, but then I pounded inside her ferociously, wanting to give her every last ounce of pleasure I could.
I lifted my head higher, watching her beautiful face, enjoying every single moan I lured out of her.
I looked between us, and at the sight of us joined like that, my balls tightened, a bolt of energy zipping up my spine.
“Fuuuuck, Hailey. How can this feel so good?”
She blinked her eyes open, and even through the haze of lust, I saw my question reflected at me.
It didn’t always feel so out-of-this-world good for her either.
When I felt her spasm around me, I slowed down, sliding a hand between us, moving my fingers over her clit.
Hailey cried out, gripping my shoulders.
She was so close to the edge, I knew it would take just a few more strokes to send her tumbling right over.
I stilled inside her completely, feeling her inner muscles tighten.
I circled my thumb around her clit, making her clench around me.
I brought my mouth to her neck, alternating between gentle kisses and light biting.
“Ooooh.” Her voice shook as she exploded, growing so tight around me that I nearly went over the edge with her.
A faint blush spread over her neck and chest. She rolled her hips back and forth as my hand kept working her sensitive spot, taking her even higher.
She came a second time, and then I thrust inside her fast and hard, losing myself in her scent, her warmth, the way our bodies sounded as they moved against each other.
“Reid.” Her voice shook again as I widened inside her, and then came so hard that the muscles in my entire body went on lockdown, pleasure rippling through me so intensely that I was out of breath by the time I slowed down, cradling her in my arms.
I couldn’t gather my thoughts or physical strength to do anything more than be careful not to crush her. We were still joined. I didn’t want to change that either. I had the overwhelming urge to lock the hotel and throw the key away to keep her here with me.
“Oh, crap.”
Her panicked voice drew me out of my thoughts. She was squirming underneath me, and I immediately realized why.
“We forgot to use protection,” I croaked out.
“I’m… I’m on the pill,” Hailey said, “but I haven’t…. I mean, I’m clean.”
“So am I,” I assured her as I pulled out and reached for the napkins on the coffee table.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she whispered. I watched her move through my living room, picking up her clothes, naked and unconcerned about it, and my desire to keep her here intensified.
I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about protection.
I never forgot. I chuckled. More proof that Hailey made me lose my mind.
I knew the lack of barriers wasn’t the only reason this had felt better, more intimate than anything I’d experienced before.
It was just Hailey. She had this effect on me, magnifying every sensation.
I cleaned up quickly in the second bathroom, then slipped on jeans, waited for a few minutes to give her some privacy, and headed after her.
I felt guilty for practically mauling her on my couch instead of taking my time with her the way she deserved.
Hailey was in front of the sink, combing her fingers through her hair.
Her nipples were still taut and perky, as if she was still on edge.
I got hard just at the thought. I noticed she had red marks on her ass cheeks from how hard I’d gripped her.
“I hurt you,” I said. She startled.
“Reid! How long have you been watching me like a peeping Tom?”
She jutted one hip out, resting a hand on her waist. I loved how confident she was in her nakedness.
“Not long.”
“Uh-huh.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, then waved her hand and slid on her dress. “You didn’t hurt me. I color easily, but it’ll fade in a few more minutes.”
She turned back to the sink. I stepped behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist, looking at her in the mirror.
“You make me lose my head, Hailey.”
“Hmmm… weird. You happen to have the same effect on me.” Blushing, she added, “I don’t usually do… this.”
I tugged with my teeth at her earlobe. I liked the sound of that… that I made her act impulsively, out of character.
Hailey didn’t miss my smile. “You could look less pleased with yourself, you know.”
“I could… but I won’t.”
She tried to elbow me, but I caught the arm in question, and then the other.
“My reflexes are faster.”
“I can see that.” She laughed when I touched my fingers to her ribs, close to her armpit. “Don’t tickle me.”
“Here’s a thought. Why don’t you just walk around naked? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Reid… I should go. I have an early day tomorrow.”
“Nope.”
“What?”
“Not letting you go.” I kissed her neck without breaking eye contact in the mirror. I knew I was walking a fine line—I was either going to get my way or she’d shut down completely. But I wanted her here too much to play safe.
I tried to see myself through her eyes. A difficult client with a crazy ex on his case. But there was more to me than that—or the reclusive millionaire the media portrayed.
I had never particularly cared about letting others see deeper than the surface, but I wanted that with Hailey.
“Did you have dinner?” I asked.
“Oh, no. I came straight from the office.”
“To give me shit.”
She smiled sheepishly. “Yeah.”
“I see. I’m usually not in the habit of rewarding bad behavior, but I’ll reward you with dinner.”
“Well, if I stay, I’m the one rewarding you for being insufferable and calling Cameron.”
“I promise to spend the entire time making it up to you.”
She narrowed her eyes, but there was a definite wiggle in her ass as she turned.
“I remember you telling me something about more dates before naked time.”
“See, this can double as a date.”
“Making good on that promise to keep me captive here, huh? What if I say no?”
“Dinner. End of discussion.”
“Oh, really?”
“I have ways of getting what I want.”
Her eyes flared, but eventually she looked away, licking her lips.
Half an hour later, servers laid out dinner in the living room. I wasn’t paying the slightest attention to the food. My focus was on Hailey.
“I just love the food here. These are the best spring rolls, and I never thought I’d find anything to top my number one.”
“Where did you eat those?”
“New York,” she said dreamily.
“You miss your old job?”
“Not at all. I mean, I learned a lot, but it was just so dry. I do miss the travel, though. Clients were all over the country.”
“Did you have much time to explore?”
“Not really. Which is why I’d love to go back to a few of those places. Got a ticket booked for Chicago in one month. I can’t wait.”
I could listen to her all night, and even longer than that. I wasn’t into traveling—except if it was business related—but I couldn’t deny that hearing her tell me all about her plans lit something up inside me.
We were about to start dessert when her phone rang.
“I’ll just mute this,” she said, digging into her bag, but then she frowned.
“Take the call, Hailey. Better than fretting over it.”
“Thanks. I’ll be quick.”
She brought the phone to her ear. “Hi, Will. What’s with the late call?”
In a matter of seconds, her face turned ashen. “What do you mean? When?”
I moved closer, instinctively placing my hand on her back, hoping it would soothe her. She was trembling lightly.
“Right. I’ll be there as fast as possible and join the search party.”
Dropping the phone in her bag, she drew in a deep breath.
“I’m driving,” I said.
She blinked. “You don’t even know what’s happening.”
“No, but I know you have to be somewhere. Something bad happened. You’re shaking. I’m not letting you drive, or be alone.”