Chapter 18 #2
She’s smiling when I kiss her again. I pull out slowly, carefully, watching her face. She winces slightly and cum immediately starts leaking out of her and I can’t help but watch it, something primal and possessive surging through me at the sight.
“Like what you see?” she asks, and there’s mischief in her voice now, playfulness returning.
I look up at her face. She’s biting her lip, eyes sparkling with trouble. “Very much.”
She reaches down between her legs, her fingers sliding through the mess we made, gathering my cum on her fingertips.
Then she brings her hand up slowly, deliberately, holding my gaze the entire time.
Her fingers glisten in the dim light and she brings them to her mouth, licking them clean while maintaining eye contact.
“You’re unreal,” I breathe, my cock twitching hard at the sight.
But she’s not done. She hops off the desk, a little wobbly, and drops to her knees in front of me. Before I can process what’s happening, her tongue drags up the length of my cock, licking away the evidence, tasting everything.
“Fuck, Lark,” I groan, my hand flying to her hair. I’m already getting hard again, which should be impossible. My body shouldn’t be capable of this. But apparently where she’s concerned, normal rules don’t apply.
She looks up at me through her lashes, her mouth wrapped around the head of my cock for just a moment, before she pulls back with a satisfied smile. “What? Just cleaning up.”
I groan. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Maybe,” she says, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of my cock. “But what a way to go.”
She takes me into her mouth again, deeper this time, all the way to the back of her throat, and I feel her swallow around me. My hand tightens in her hair and she moans, the vibration going straight through me.
“Fuck,” I groan. “Lark, if you keep doing that—”
She pulls back, looking up at me with dark eyes. “What? This?” And she does it again, taking me deep.
I pull her up and she gasps. “Hotel. Right now. Because I’m going to fuck you properly in a bed where I can take my time with you.”
She grins, looking absolutely pleased with herself, satisfied like a cat. “Yes, sir.”
I wake up to sunlight streaming through the open balcony door and Lark sprawled half on top of me, one leg thrown over mine, her hair everywhere.
The sheets are tangled around us, half on the bed, half on the floor.
There’s a pillow by the door to the balcony.
Another one near the bathroom. Evidence of last night is scattered throughout the room like a map of everywhere we touched.
We’d barely made it out of the hotel elevator before starting again, the night turning into one long blur of her skin against mine, her sounds in my ear, the way she said my name over and over.
The bed first, where I’d buried myself between her thighs and made her come on my tongue twice before she begged me to fuck her.
Then the shower around midnight where she dropped to her knees on the tile and took my cock in her mouth, looking up at me with those dark eyes.
And then the balcony at three in the morning, bending her over the railing, one hand clamped over her mouth while I fucked her from behind, both of us knowing damn well everyone could probably hear her muffled screams against my palm.
Fuck. My body responds to the memory immediately, my dick stirring even though I have no idea how that’s possible. I’m completely spent. Every muscle in my body is sore, wrung out, exhausted. But apparently my cock didn’t get that memo.
I look down at her sleeping on my chest, her face relaxed and peaceful. She’s so fucking beautiful it makes my chest ache. Dark lashes against her cheeks and wild hair spread across my skin.
She’s mine now. Actually mine. Not fake, not for show, not for the cameras. Mine. The thought makes something warm and satisfied settle in my chest. I get to wake up like this. I get to have her in my bed, in my life, in everything. And fuck if that doesn’t feel incredible.
She makes this soft sound and stirs against me, her body shifting. Then her eyes flutter open slowly, adjusting to the light. When she sees me already awake and watching her, a sleepy grin spreads across her face. She’s devastatingly beautiful.
I can’t help myself. I stroke her cheek with my thumb, feeling the softness of her skin, then let my fingers slide into her hair. The strands are still tangled from my hands being in them all night.
“Morning,” she mumbles, her voice husky and slightly rough in the most delicious way. From taking me so deep in the shower. From the way she begged me not to stop when I was between her legs. From screaming my name on the balcony.
“Morning.” I smile, unable to resist stroking her face again, tracing the line of her jaw like I’m trying to memorize it, like I’m trying to burn this moment into my memory. My thumb brushes across her bottom lip, and I remember biting it last night.
Her grin widens, eyes sparking with heat and mischief even in her sleepy state. “Happy memories?”
I laugh, the sound rumbling through my chest, and brush my thumb across her lip again. “Very happy memories.”
She flushes pink, biting that lip. “I can’t believe we did all of that.”
“Which part?” I tease. “The storage room? The shower? The balcony where everyone could hear you?”
“All of it,” she says, but she’s smiling. “Every single part.”
She lifts her head and looks around the room, taking in the absolute destruction.
Clothes everywhere, scattered like we couldn’t get them off fast enough.
Which we couldn’t. Sheets askew and half falling off the bed.
The open balcony door with the curtains blowing in the breeze, letting in the salt air and the sound of waves. Her eyes widen and she starts laughing.
“Oh, damn,” she says, looking back at me. “We absolutely destroyed this room.”
I grin, tucking her hair behind her ear. “We did a pretty thorough job.”
She sits up slightly, and the sheet falls away from her chest. Her breasts are completely exposed in the morning light, full and soft and it takes everything in me not to pull her back down and start all over again, but at the same time I’ve got nothing left. She took everything I had and more.
She points at the balcony, her face flushing. “You’re never going to be allowed to return to this hotel. People definitely heard us.”
I laugh. “Worth every second. You don’t have any regrets, do you?”
“No,” she admits, turning back to me with a smile. “Not one.”
“Good. Because I don’t either.” My fingers trail down her neck. “Though I had no idea you were such an exhibitionist. I mean, you were the one who wanted the balcony.”
“I’m not usually!” she protests, but she’s laughing, throwing her head back like she can’t quite believe what we just did. “I’m really not. I’ve never done anything like that before. Never even thought about it. You must have brought it out in me.”
“Did I?” I pull her back down against me.
“Yes,” she says, snuggling closer. I can feel her pressed against me everywhere.
“I’ve never felt like that before,” she continues softly, her breath warm against my skin.
“That wild. That…” She pauses, searching for the word.
“Safe. Which is crazy because we were literally on a balcony where anyone could see, but I felt safe with you.”
Something inside me cracks at her words.
“Good,” I say quietly, my hand stroking down her spine. “That’s exactly how you should feel. Always.”
For a long moment we just lie there in the sunlight, her body warm and soft against mine, the sound of the ocean filtering in through the open door. My fingers trace slow patterns on her back, over her hip.
Then she shifts, sitting up. The sheet falls away and she sits cross-legged facing me, completely naked in the morning light. My brain short-circuits for a second because fuck, she’s beautiful. The sunlight catches on her skin, and I have to force myself to focus on what she’s about to say.
“So,” she says, her voice going quiet. “I mean… are we, should we—”
“I want to be with you,” I tell her, sitting up to face her properly. My hand reaches out to cup her jaw, thumb brushing her cheek. “For real. No fake dating anymore. I think I’ve been struggling with it being fake since the beginning.”
She lets out a breath, her shoulders relaxing. “OK good. Because I think I have too. I kept trying to convince myself it was just the arrangement, just playing a role, but…” She trails off, shaking her head. “It stopped feeling fake pretty quickly.”
“Yeah,” I agree, relieved. “It did.” I half expected her to say this was a mistake.
“But how do we make this work?” Her brow furrows. “You’re going back to Monaco in September. I’m focusing on my music. Long distance is really hard, Jack. Your schedule is insane.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I tell her, pulling her closer. “I’ll fly back whenever I can. Between races, during breaks. Fly you out to races when your schedule allows. We’ll make it work because I’m not walking away from this.”
“Jack,” she says slowly. “I feel like I need to say this. I know you don’t really… I mean, you don’t date seriously. Which is fine, that’s your life. But I don’t know if you should change everything for me just because we slept together. I don’t want you to feel obligated or—”
“Lark.” I cut her off gently. “I know I haven’t dated seriously before. I know my reputation. But this isn’t about obligation or changing who I am. This is about you. You’re different. You make me want things I didn’t think I wanted.”
She bites her lip. “And your life? I mean, listen, I like a good time, but I’m very serious about my career.
And I know you were only at that Monaco party for Sofia, but other things like that…
the lifestyle, the constant travel, the insane parties.
That’s not really my world. I’m pretty focused and grounded, and I know you are too about racing.
I don’t mean to say that you’re not serious, it’s just with your history I think—”
“I know,” I interrupt. “And I won’t deny I’ve had some wild times.
But a good portion of those were when I was younger, more reckless.
And I’ve never been more serious about my career than I am now, especially after feeling what it’s like to have it slip away.
” I cup her face, making sure she’s looking at me.
“And you… you’re something I never saw coming.
I think I’ve completely fallen for you.”
The words come out before I can overthink them.
Her eyes widen, and then her face breaks into a devious smile. “You bastard,” she says. “You snuck up on me. I’ve fallen for you too.”
I pull her down for a kiss, deep and thorough, pouring everything I feel into it. When we break apart, we’re both breathing hard.
“So we’ll figure it out,” I say, my forehead against hers. “Long distance, the schedules, all of it. I don’t know exactly how yet, but I know I want this. I want you.”
“I want this too,” she says softly. She pulls back slightly to look at me.
“But that means we have to be completely honest with each other, alright? To make this work. I mean, we started by fake dating, so we need a real foundation now. No more pretending, no more playing roles. Just us, being real.”
“Deal,” I say immediately. “Complete honesty. No bullshit.”
“Good.” She kisses me again, softer this time. When she pulls back, she’s smiling. “So we’re really doing this? You and me?”
My hands slide up her back, pulling her closer. “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted you to be mine. Actually mine, not just for show.”
She pulls back to look at me, and her smile is radiant. “Then I’m yours. And you’re mine.”
“Damn right you are,” I tell her, and kiss her again. She kisses me back with everything she has, her arms wrapping around my neck, and it feels like coming home.
I’ve spent years running from anything that mattered, anything that could hurt me. But with her, I want to stop running. We’ll figure out the distance, the schedules, all the logistics that seem impossible right now. Because this, what we have right here, is worth fighting for.
She’s worth fighting for.