Chapter Seven
Nicole
Light filtered through Shawn's blinds, illuminating the evidence of last night scattered across his floor. My black dress crumpled near the door. His jeans thrown over a chair. My bra hanging from the lamp.
Jesus. What had I done?
I turned to look at him sleeping beside me, and my breath caught. He was lying on his stomach, the sheet riding low on his hips, exposing the broad expanse of his back and the curve of his ass. Even unconscious, he looked powerful. Dangerous.
Mine.
The possessive thought should have sent me running. Instead, it sent a throb of need straight to my core, reminding me exactly how thoroughly he'd claimed me last night.
How many times he'd made me come.
How he'd made me beg for more.
My face burned as fragments of memory assaulted me. How he'd spread me out on his dining table like I was dessert. The filthy things he'd said against my skin. How he'd used his mouth and hands to drive me so wild I'd screamed his name loud enough for the entire building to hear.
How I'd clawed at his back and wrapped my legs around his waist and begged him not to stop.
I'd never been that woman before. The woman who lost control completely. Who forgot about consequences and just took what she wanted.
But Shawn had turned me into her, and God help me, I loved who I became in his bed.
"Morning, beautiful." When I turned to face him, his green eyes were already focused on me with an intensity that made my pulse race.
"Hi," I managed, suddenly self-conscious about being naked in daylight.
"How do you feel?" He reached out to trace a finger along my collarbone, and I shivered at the contact.
"Sore," I admitted.
His grin was pure male satisfaction. "Good sore or bad sore?"
"Good sore." Very good sore. The kind that reminded me with every movement exactly how big he was and how completely he'd filled me.
"Even better." His hand slid lower, cupping my breast, his thumb brushing across my nipple. "Because I'm not nearly done with you yet."
The promise in his voice made my core clench with want, but panic was starting to creep in around the edges. This was supposed to be one night. A moment of weakness brought on by wine and loneliness and how he'd looked at me like I was something precious.
It wasn't supposed to change everything.
"Shawn, about last night."
"Was incredible." His mouth replaced his hand on my breast, and rational thought became impossible. "You were incredible."
I arched into him, my hands finding his hair. "This is complicated."
"No, it's not." He moved lower, pressing open-mouthed kisses down my stomach. "This is simple. I want you. You want me. Everything else is just noise."
His mouth was getting dangerously close to where I was already aching for him again, and I knew if he put his mouth on me there, I'd lose the ability to think entirely.
"We're neighbors," I gasped as his tongue traced the crease where my thigh met my hip.
"So?"
"So we have to see each other every day."
"I'm counting on it." He looked up at me, his eyes nearly black with intent. "Spread your legs, Nicole. Let me taste you."
The command was delivered in that low, authoritative voice that made me want to obey without question. But my brain was still trying to function, still trying to maintain some semblance of control.
"What if this goes badly? What if we ruin this and then I have to move or avoid you or pretend like this never happened?"
"Baby." He moved back up my body, settling between my thighs so I could feel exactly how hard he was. "Stop thinking. Just feel."
His mouth covered mine, and I could taste myself on his lips from last night. The kiss was deep and possessive, designed to remind me of exactly how good we were together.
"I need coffee," I said against his mouth, trying one last time to inject some normalcy into the situation.
"I need you to come on my tongue. Coffee can wait."
The graphic words made me clench around nothing, my body responding even as my mind tried to resist.
"I don't do this," I protested weakly. "I don't have casual sex with my neighbors."
"Good thing this isn't casual then." He was already kissing his way back down my body, ignoring my protests. "And if you're worried about the neighbors hearing, you probably should have thought of that before you screamed my name loud enough to wake the dead last night."
Oh God. Had I really been that loud?
"Did anyone complain?"
"No. But Mrs. Kowalski from 4C gave me a very knowing smile when I saw her in the lobby earlier."
Mortification flooded through me. "You went to the lobby?"
"Had to get coffee and pastries. A man needs fuel for what I plan to do to you today." He was at my navel now, his stubble scratching against my sensitive skin. "Now stop worrying about what other people think and focus on what I'm about to make you feel."
Before I could protest further, his mouth was on me, and coherent thought became impossible. He used his tongue with complete confidence and devastating skill.
"Oh God, Shawn." My hands fisted in his hair as he found the exact spot that made me see stars.
"That's it, baby. Let me hear you." The vibrations of his voice against my flesh sent shockwaves through my entire system.
I tried to stay quiet, tried to maintain some shred of dignity, but he was relentless. Every stroke of his tongue was designed to drive me higher, to strip away every defense I had left.
"I can't," I gasped, my body already tightening toward release.
"Yes, you can." He added his fingers, sliding two inside me while his mouth worked my clit. "Come for me, Nicole. I want to feel you fall apart."
The combination of his mouth and hands and the filthy encouragement pushed me over the edge. I came with a cry that probably did wake the neighbors, my body convulsing around his fingers as pleasure tore through me.
He didn't stop until I was boneless and gasping, too sensitized to take any more.
"Beautiful," he murmured, pressing kisses to my inner thighs as I came down from the high. "You're so fucking beautiful when you come."
I lay there panting, staring at the ceiling, trying to process what had just happened. How he could make me lose control so completely with just his mouth.
How I was already wanting more.
"Your turn," I said, reaching for him.
He caught my hands, bringing them to his mouth to kiss my palms. "Later. Right now I want to feed you."
"I should go home. Shower. Change clothes."
"Why?" He was looking at me like the idea was absurd.
"Because I can't wear the same dress two days in a row."
"It's Saturday. Where do you need to be?"
Nowhere, actually. For the first time in months, I didn't have anywhere to be except right here in his bed.
"I have work to finish."
"No." His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "Today you're mine. No work, no stress, no thinking about anything except how good I can make you feel."
The possessive words sent another spike of arousal through me. "Yours?"
"Mine." He moved up to kiss me, slow and deep. "At least for today."
I should have protested. Should have reminded him that I didn't belong to anyone and that this was just sex. But how he was looking at me, like I was something he wanted to protect and cherish and devour all at once, made me want to belong to him.
Just for today.
"Okay," I heard myself say. "Just for today."
His smile was triumphant. "Good girl. Now let me go get that coffee and food. You're going to need your energy."
"For what?"
"For everything else I plan to do to you." He pressed one more kiss to my lips before getting out of bed, completely unselfconscious about his nakedness.
I watched him walk to the kitchen, admiring the play of muscles in his back and thighs. The man was built like a god, and he'd used that body to worship mine all night long.
When he came back with coffee and what looked like expensive pastries from the bakery down the street, I was still lying in his bed, the sheet pulled up to cover my breasts.
"Breakfast in bed?" I asked, accepting the mug he handed me.
"First course." His eyes were already turning dark with renewed desire. "I plan to have you for the main course. And dessert. And probably a midnight snack."
The explicit promise made me clench with need again. How was I already wanting him when he'd just given me an orgasm that had left me boneless?
"You're insatiable," I accused.
"Only with you." He sat on the edge of the bed, his hand settling on my thigh through the sheet. "I've been thinking about having you for weeks, Nicole. One night isn't going to be nearly enough."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying I want more than just today." His thumb traced patterns on my leg that were making it hard to concentrate. "I'm saying I want to see where this goes."
"Where can it go? You're leaving in four months."
"Maybe I don't have to."
The words hung between us, loaded with possibility that both thrilled me and made me want to run.
"Shawn, we can't just pretend like you're not temporary here. Like you have a whole life that doesn't include me or this city."
"Don't overthink it," he said, leaning down to kiss me. "We don't have to figure everything out today. We just have to figure out what we want right now."
"What do you want right now?"
His grin was wicked. "To see how many times I can make you scream my name before dinner."
The challenge in his voice made me set down my coffee mug and drop the sheet. If he wanted to play, I was ready to learn the rules.
"Show me," I said, and watched his eyes go nearly black with want.
He was on me in seconds, and this time when he kissed me, there was nothing gentle about it. It was hungry and demanding and full of promises about exactly how he planned to spend the rest of the day.
And for the first time in my life, I was ready to let someone else be in control.
Ready to see what it felt like to be claimed completely.
Ready to be his, even if it was just for today.