Chapter 30
AURELIA
The moment the champagne glasses were set down and the band struck up another waltz, Harrison leaned in close to my ear. “Let’s get out of here.”
I didn’t argue. Not when my mother was already cornering some poor senator’s wife to brag about a wedding the woman wasn’t going to be invited to.
Not when my father barely seemed to notice I’d been in the room at all.
Not when my brothers had barely spared a glance at my fiancé when I’d introduced him.
Harrison’s hand was firm at the small of my back as he steered me out.
The December air bit at my bare shoulders as we hurried to his car.
I expected him to turn toward my apartment, but he didn’t.
The streets blurred past, city lights glinting across the windshield, and soon enough, we were pulling up in front of his townhouse.
No words were exchanged, but at this point, none were needed.
His intentions were clear. He’d come right out and told me earlier what he wanted tonight.
I could tell that his plans had remained unchanged despite my parents’ appalling behavior.
It was in the way he walked me up the steps with his hand still pressed firmly to the small of my back.
His fingers dipped under the material slightly, sending sparks across my skin from the contact. He turned his key sharply in the lock, kicking the door shut without ever letting go of me. Much to my own surprise, I was thankful for it.
Thankful for the way this shift in our arrangement to a place where sex was part of the deal had already happened. Thankful that it felt inevitable, natural, and necessary. Thankful that the boundary between business and pleasure had already fallen under the weight of us just being us.
My budding feelings for him, whatever these messy, unspooling things were, didn’t matter in the slightest. Because the second his mouth was on mine, I was swept away by the sheer force of him. I wasn’t even sure who grabbed who first, but we collided like we’d been waiting years for this.
My back hit the wall, his jacket already falling to the floor, and his hands slid into my hair like he couldn’t get enough of me. Frankly, I knew I couldn’t get enough of him either.
I’d thought about asking how he felt, if he was feeling the same things I was, but I’d decided not to.
If he didn’t have feelings for me, I didn’t want to know.
What I did know was that he cared. Whether it was as a friend or a future husband didn’t matter so much as the fact that he did, and he’d proven it again tonight when he’d known what I needed without a single word from me.
We kissed hard, greedy and desperate, stumbling down the hall, half-laughing, half-undressing, and all the way turned on. We bumped into sharp corners and fumbled over rugs, my fingers tugging at his shirt, his teeth grazing my jaw.
He swept me off my feet for a moment, his arms strong and his movements effortless, setting me down on my feet again when we reached the stairs. I was breathless, dizzy with want, and clutching fistfuls of his shirt like I would drown without him.
We raced up the stairs without ever fully breaking our sloppy kisses, laughter ringing out every time one of us stumbled and had to grab the other for balance. When we finally reached his bedroom, my heart was pounding in every part of my body.
It was like the very air was pulsing with electricity, alive with all the things we’d had to hold back all night. Harrison’s lips trailed down my throat, my hands pulling him closer, and the whole world seemed to shrink until there was only him and me, alone with the whole night ahead of us.
Right now, I wasn’t thinking about our deal, the ball, the wedding, or our parents and their issues. I wasn’t thinking at all. In fact, as he kissed me, I let myself forget everything but the way he made me feel.
“Fucking dress,” he muttered into my mouth between kisses, roughly guiding me to his dresser by my hips.
I giggled, but our mouths never parted for long, crashing together again and again until he wrenched away. His bedroom was dark, but I heard a drawer opening and his hand rummaging around in it.
As my eyes adjusted, my chest still pressed tight to his, I glanced up at him, tracing the lines of his strong profile with my eyes.
Without even looking at me, he groaned. “Don’t look at me like that.
I’ve got scissors in here somewhere and I just need to find them, but I don’t stand a chance if you keep staring at me. ”
“You’re seriously planning on cutting it off?”
He finally glanced at me, one of his eyebrows arching as a grin tugged at just one corner of his lips. “Do you have a better idea?”
I thought about it for approximately half a second before I shook my head. “No. Fuck it. Let’s cut it off.”
He grinned. “That’s my girl.”
My heart skipped. His girl? Is that what I am?
Still rummaging in the drawer, he lowered his mouth back to mine and his free hand swept some of my hair behind my ear. Of course, I’m his girl. We’re getting married. Anything else he might’ve implied or not doesn’t matter.
My lips parted and I leaned into him, bringing my hands up to the buttons of his shirt and starting to undo them. I felt his heart pounding as my palm brushed over his chest, heat racing through me at the sensation.
Whatever was between us, Harrison felt the physical attraction just as intensely as I did. I knew that for a fact.
Finally, he let out a short sigh of relief and broke the kiss, those hazel eyes lost to the shadows in his room, but I felt his gaze on me all the same. “Turn around.”
I did as I was told without hesitating, strangely affected by the way he took control and issued commands whenever we were together like this. Sparks exploded across my skin when I felt his knuckles at the small of my back, followed by the cool metal of a blade.
My eyelids fluttered shut, my breaths coming in sharp pants when he pushed the blade up and I felt the metal ascend along my spine. Soft snips of fabric met my ears, the tension on my ribs easing as he sliced the straps and buttons away.
A few seconds later, he hooked his fingers under the straps at my shoulders and slowly pushed them off. His lips brushed against my throat as the fabric slid down, exposing my bare chest to the warm air in the room.
I dropped my head against his shoulder, relishing the sensation of his bare skin against my back as he pushed the skirt off next, leaving me in only my panties and my heels. Harrison groaned, his hands sliding around my hips before grazing up my sides.
My chest arched, my nipples aching for his attention. Mercifully, he didn’t disappoint, fingertips grazing across my breasts before he pinched my nipples between his thumbs and index fingers. I moaned loudly, pushing my butt out a little bit to grind against his crotch.
He was as hard as the tiles beneath my feet and he pinched my nipples again in response, his voice a low growl right underneath my ear. “Careful, Aurelia. It’s been a long night.”
My breath caught as he nipped my throat, sending another jolt of desire through me that landed right between my legs. I couldn’t resist teasing him just a little bit. I swayed against him, feeling his cock twitch as another low groan rumbled through him.
“Okay, then,” he whispered against my ear, hot breath brushing against my skin. “I was going to take this slow, but that’s clearly not your speed tonight.”
“Nope.”
One of his hands drifted away from my breast, his palm flat against my stomach as he ran it to the waistband of my panties. “You’re not going to change your mind about marrying me if I fuck you like we’re not about to get married, right?”
I shivered in the circle of his arms. “Nope.”
My eyes opened just as he pushed his hand into my panties, and for just a moment, I remembered exactly where I was. Harrison’s bedroom was every bit as classy with just the right touch as messy as its owner, his bedding a crisp white and his furniture heavy, dark wood.
Rugs were scattered across the hardwood floors, a dresser overflowing with expensive fragrances and more expensive watches against one wall and a neat bookshelf on the other.
His fingers slid through my folds and my thoughts evaporated again, but I leaned further into him and closed my eyes once more.
One of my hands went up and wound around the back of his head, my fingers twisting into his hair.
He circled my clit, quickly finding a pace that was going to set me off like a firework.
In the back of my mind, however, I was so aware of how right this felt that I didn’t even try to hold back.
Seeing his bedroom again had confirmed it.
This guy, this incredible, unlikely fiancé of mine, was the absolute perfect man for me.
Harrison took my chin in his free hand, turning my head to face him and kissing me as he kept drawing those intoxicating circles, moving faster and harder at exactly the right times.
Pleasure started licking through my insides like a wildfire getting out of hand.
As his tongue stroked into my mouth, one arm hooked around my hips to keep me safely upright and the other wreaked all kinds of havoc on my body.
I let go.
The orgasm spiraled out from the very center of my being, engulfing me in waves of electrifying pleasure that had me shaking like a leaf against him. Harrison held me close, seeing me through and then whispering to me in the aftermath, pressing soft kisses to my temple, my shoulder, and my throat.
My chest was still heaving when I opened my eyes, my legs a little numb, but my mind set on the mission ahead. I turned to face him, my gaze meeting his in the dark as I pushed myself up on my toes to kiss him.
With my hands still trembling, I reached for his shirt, still hanging open after I’d undone his buttons earlier, and pushed it off his shoulders. When my fingers started working on his belt next, he sucked in a breath that sounded suspiciously like a hiss.
“Aurelia, I—”
I shushed his protests with another kiss, my lips coaxing and gentle until I felt the fight drain out of him. By that point, I had his fly undone and I felt him kick off his shoes. I lowered myself to my knees, bringing his pants and his underwear down with me.
He kicked it all away and I held his gaze for another long moment, utterly swept away by the smoldering need in his eyes and the way his lips were swollen and parted. Some of that dark hair hung over his forehead, his chest rising and falling fast as he watched me.
Finally, I let my eyes drift lower, drinking in the defined muscles of his abdomen and the sharp V between his hips. My breath hitched a little when I lowered my gaze further, taking in the length of his shaft and the almost elegant way it curved toward his belly button.
He let out a breathy groan and the sound spurred me into motion. Knowing I wouldn’t fit all of him in my mouth, I wrapped a hand around the base of him, relishing the soft moans that drifted to my ears as I licked a line around his tip.
The muscles in his thighs quivered as I took him into my mouth. One of his hands flew to my hair and gripped it tight. “Shit, Aurelia.”
Just hearing my name from his lips on such a guttural groan sent sparks of need flying through me again, but I focused on him first, finding a rhythm that made him lose control of his hips.
His fingers twisted into my hair as he fucked my mouth, swelling between my lips just a second before he pulled me off him.
Before I even realized what was happening, he picked me up and marched us to his bed, putting me down on my knees on the mattress. I looked up at him for one brief second, definitely not seeing the baby of his family right then.
In the dark of the room, I could mostly only make out his silhouette, but my eyes had adjusted enough that I could see he was all hard lines and rigid muscles.
I also saw a glint in his eyes that made my insides tighten as he stepped closer to the bed in a way that might’ve been menacing if I didn’t trust him like I did.
“Turn around,” he repeated his earlier command, and once again, I obeyed without arguing. I’d never done it like this before, but as I heard the rip of foil and felt him move into position behind me, a shiver of anticipation ran through me. “Aurelia?”
“Hmm?” I hummed, getting onto all fours and wondering if he’d had this bed designed to be exactly the right height for this.
“We’re still getting married, right?”
“No matter what,” I murmured, pushing myself back against him and closing my eyes as my fingers curled into the sheet. “Now give me everything you’ve got, Harrison Westwood. I can take it.”
“Just remember that, okay?” He didn’t wait for a response before he lined himself up and thrust into me, setting off cascading fireworks behind my eyes.
A loud growl came out of him, but he managed to hold still for just a few seconds to give me time to adjust before he started moving. It wasn’t slow or gentle this time, the pace he set punishing as he gripped my hips in one hand and brought the other to my clit.
With every thrust, I found myself pushing back, wanting more. Between his fingers and the sensation of him inside me, the way he wasn’t treating me like I was about to break and the harsh sounds of us coming together slapping through the air, my back bowed and I let my head hang.
If this was what it was going to be like being married to him, then it didn’t matter anymore what I’d signed up for. Only that I had signed up and that I would hopefully be getting more of this for the rest of my life.
He came with a sound that could only have been a roar, pushing me right over the edge with him. After, as I collapsed on the bed, he took care of the condom and disappeared for a moment. Then he came back with a warm cloth and cleaned me up before he gathered me in his arms.
Without saying a word, he opened the sheets and curled up with me, holding me tight. We both fell asleep that way. I’d read about men doing stuff like this, but I’d never experienced it firsthand until I’d met him.
Just before I drifted off, I realized that marrying Harrison Westwood was like getting to spend the rest of my life with one of my book boyfriends in the flesh, and a smile curved my lips.
Yeah, fuck what anybody thinks. I really did make the right decision when I signed up for this. For us. For him.