29. Liz
Chapter Twenty-Nine
LIZ
I know I’ve been faking fiancée all week.
But I haven’t had to fake it in front of everyone all at once.
With the addition of Kent facing his mother’s favorite Christmas tradition, I had a feeling the night would be full of angst and tension.
But it wasn’t. And then Kent kissed me. It was sweet and soft in an everyday kind of way. But to me, it felt . . . magical.
Dahlia said the ballet was always magical and mentioned how it snowed last year. As we walk out of the theater dressed in our warm but stylish winter coats, I anticipate a nice dusting on the ground. It’s cold enough to snow, after all. But it’s bone dry.
“What’s wrong?” Kent asks, alerting me to my long face.
“Nothing. I was just hoping for snow.”
He lends a sweet smile and drapes his arm around me. “Maybe for Christmas.”
Back at his Penthouse, it’s quiet and toasty warm.
“Shall I get us a bottle of red?” he asks.
“Sure. I’ll go change and meet you by the Christmas tree,” I say, and head for the guest room as he makes his way to the cellar.
The beautiful emerald gown swishes at my feet with every step, and I stop midway.
I’m not quite ready to say goodnight to this gorgeous emerald gown.
Very soon, I won’t be faking it with the billionaire, and there’s a part of me that wants to soak up this fantasy life.
Down in the cellar, I find Kent comparing two bottles. One in each hand. “Hey.”
He looks up, and a smile spreads across his face. “Hi. I thought you were going to change into your fuzzy socks.”
“I was, but I figured a glass of red wine would pair better with this evening gown.”
“Yes, sounds like a good pairing. Kind of like us,” he says and sets the bottles down. I smile, not knowing if he means the real us or our little scheming partnership.
I lean against the archway between the two rooms near him. “Yeah, we did well tonight.”
“Well? You were perfect.” Kent sets the bottles down and approaches me.
“I was?”
“Yes. For a moment, I forgot what we were doing because the whole thing felt like it was real,” he says.
“What moment?” I ask, wondering when the look in his freckled blue eyes was real.
Kent’s gaze falls as his cheeks turn a slight pink.
Then, our eyes meet once again. “The moment I kissed you.” Now, I know whatever I felt between us in that moment was real, and it wasn’t about putting on a show.
He takes my left hand and looks at his Grandmother’s diamond on my finger. “This truly is a perfect fit.”
“Are you having another moment?” I ask in jest but in my heart, I want him to say yes.
His gaze meets mine, and now it’s his eyes that are sparkling. And I don’t think it’s the reflection of the diamonds. “Would that be wrong?” Close enough.
I slowly shake my head. “No.”
With my hand in his, he pulls me in and kisses me softly, interlacing his hands in mine. And I let him. I let myself melt away in his arms. I let myself breathe him in as my tongue skates by his.
Our kiss grows intensely passionate, like we can’t get enough of one another.
His lips move down my neck, then trail across the top of my bare shoulder.
I lean my head back against the archway, allowing the sensual sensation to wash over me.
His hands round the slope of my hips, and he gives me a little squeeze.
Ooh. I feel his excitement, and I pull his body closer so I can feel it even more.
Running his hands down my thighs, he begins pulling at the fine fabric. My gown’s hem hoists up—past my ankles, up my calf, and over my knee—just enough for him to slip a hand beneath it. I whisper a faint moan, and he presses his forehead to mine and watches my pleasure.
His fingers slip inside my satin panties until he touches me. Oh, yes, Kent. That’s the spot. He kisses me again, circling his finger around my softness. “You’re so wet,” he says with a satisfied smile.
I really am. And it feels so good. My ex-fiancée couldn’t make me this slippery.
I hold onto his shoulders and let the sensation of his hands on me ripple through my body.
I look into his eyes again. His beautiful brown freckle is so close.
He’s so close. And with the way he’s touching me, I’m close too.
We kiss again as he strokes my clit, driving me to the edge. “Oh, Kent,” I whisper, breaking our lip lock. The pleasure rises and rises until it reaches its peak. With labored breaths, I grab a fistful of his hair and let it all out with a cry.
“Mmm,” he moans and kisses my earlobe, and it’s enough to double the intensity. When my head stops spinning, I open my eyes. He’s staring at me with an even more satisfied smile. “I love watching you come.”
My mind’s fuzzy, so fuzzy and clouded that I say, “Then take me to the bedroom and make me come again.”
“With pleasure.” Kent whisks me off my feet as if I’m light as a snowflake and heads for the stairs. Between the gown, the diamonds, and this, I’m beginning to feel like a billion dollars.
Kent carries me over the threshold of his dark bedroom. The distant, glowing Tower Bridge sheds a faint light in the darkness. He sets me back on my feet and brushes his thumb against my cheek as he walks behind me.
His arm slinks around my waist, and his lips touch the back of my neck, sending a shiver up my spine. He slowly begins pulling at the corset strings. “I’ve been wanting to loosen these all night,” he says.
I reach up the back of his neck, clawing my hands through his dark hair, and our mouths meet in a hot kiss. My dress breaks loose and falls from my breasts. I spin around to face him, and the rest of the dress tumbles to the ground.
Dress-up time is over.
He takes a step back, rolling his gaze over my nearly naked body, and wets his bottom lip. All that’s left are the diamonds and a very thin fabric covering my gem. I step out of the dress and push his jacket off his shoulders.
Remembering last night in his office, I step back, yank his bowtie loose, and begin slowly pushing open one button at a time. “We don’t need to ruin another one of your shirts.”
He watches me flick another button. So I go slower, wanting to tease him.
Tease myself. After all, we have all night.
Nearly halfway down his chest, he grabs his shirt and rips it open.
Little button flings off in the air, the same as last night.
It gives me a rush of excitement. I love it when he does that.
“I don’t mind losing my shirt if it means being with you,” he says.
My stomach flips at his words, and he kisses me again, cupping my face in his hands. That’s it. He has me. All of me. Any way he wants me. Pushing his shirt off, I go for his leather belt, wanting to touch him the way he touches me. Feel him the way he feels me.
I reach inside his pants, feeling his bare flesh for the first time. Ooh. He’s a lot thicker than he looks. I smirk. Staring into his eyes, I stroke his shaft. It grows harder and stiffer, letting me know just how much he wants me.
If the throbbing between my legs is any indication, I want him just as badly.
Maybe more. I have since the moment we met in that elevator.
There’s no reason to fight it anymore. So what if this is a multi-million-dollar deal?
So what if everything’s on the line? So what if it all ends when the new year rings?
So what if Kent’s making me feel things I haven’t felt for so long?
All I know is that I want this. I want him.
His head rolls back slightly as he grunts a moan. Why does it feel so good to please him? Is this the same pleasure he gets from touching me? He reaches his hand in his pants, and for a moment, I think he’s going to show me how he wants it. But he hisses and pulls my hand out.
“Your hands are too good,” he says.
I kiss his cheek. “I know the feeling.”
Kent kisses me again, caressing the skin along my spine. Soon, we’re wrapped up in one another on his bed. I’m so lost in his kiss that I’ve completely forgotten that I’m wearing tens of thousands of dollars in diamonds. Kent doesn’t seem to care. He’s just as lost in the moment as I am.
Kent tugs my panties down my thighs. I curl my legs in and flick them off my toes. As I lie there naked on his bed, my insides quake. My skin is electrified. “You’re so goddamn beautiful,” he says.
So is he. But before I can say so, he reaches for a condom in his nightstand and reveals himself before slipping it on.
He climbs on top of me, teasing my core with the tip of his cock, and kissing me like our lips were made for one another.
I tilt my hips and open for him. He slides right in.
Deep and hard. I can almost hear us both think—finally.
His hands glide over every part of my body as he grinds into me. We kiss again, and now my head is completely flooded. Why did I put him off for so long when it feels so damn good? He rises and presses his thumb to my clit, circling it as he rocks in and out of me.
“Come for me,” he begs.
With him touching me, I’m close, but I want him closer. I climb up to meet him, wrapping my arms around his neck. My legs drape over his as I ride him like a thoroughbred. We kiss again, moaning and panting. I grind harder and faster, holding on tight.
“Liz,” he whispers in my ear. “Liz.” I love the way he whispers my name. I love the way he feels in my arms. The way he feels inside me.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Come for me. Don’t hold back,” he says.
I can’t hold back. It’s too much. I throw my head back and my hips forward, experiencing a rush from my center that bursts throughout my entire body. A pleasure-filled moan begins in my throat, climbing on my tongue and out my mouth until I’m crying out his name—Kent, Kent, Kent.