Chapter 19
Bonnie
“Oh, my God, I’m so—“
“Bonnie?”
I’m shocked. My eyes haven’t quite adjusted to the darkness, but holy hell, is it… Ethan?
He hits the switch, and the suite is bathed in light.
Oh, my God. Ethan is naked! Well, he’s in boxer briefs. Tight, snowy white and freaking expensive ones, going by the signature on the band. My eyes hungrily drink in the rest of him. I probably should, but I can’t tear my gaze away as he turns to face me.
He’s glorious.
Big, tanned, muscly. Goodness, look at those abs and the delectable V of muscle that points downward to… Sweet Jesus, that’s really large. If he wasn’t already wealthy, he’d make a killing as an underwear model.
Or a porn star.
I swing my eyes back up, red-faced and mortified, expecting to see a smirk on his face from having caught me staring, but instead he’s squinting. Like he can’t see.
He turns, and he appears to be feeling around the desk for his glasses. My heart lurches as he almost knocks his glasses to the floor before catching them at the last second, and then finally puts them on.
“What are you doing here?” he demands.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around his behavior just now.
Can he not see without the glasses?
But he can. He’s taken them off before, lots of times. The last couple of times he took them off, we were in his office.
It was dark both times.
Ethan likes to sit and skulk around in the dark. A lot.
That night in the kitchen, he went back for his glasses… because I put the lights on?
I’m starting to freak out with the conclusions my mind is throwing up. Vampires aren’t real, right?
Right??
“Bonnie, what the fuck are you doing here?”
His sharp growl yanks me back to our current predicament. “Calm down. Geez. What do you think, I’m stalking you? That’s your specialty. This is my room.” I wave my card in the air. “I should be asking you what you’re doing here.”
He snatches a bathrobe off a nearby coat rack and throws it on.
Shame.
“There has to be a mistake. Get another room.”
“Excuse me? I think you’d better recheck your card. I wonder who out of the two of us is more likely to have misread information. Are you sure you shouldn’t be in the other penthouse?” I cock my head, motioning to the one on the opposite end of the hallway.
“Bonnie…” He sighs wearily. “Get out. I don’t have time for your silly games.”
“I don’t know if you can see beyond your nose, but I’m not even joking here.” I fish out a file from my bag. “Room 1212 PB.”
“There’s been a mistake.” He insists.
“Whatever, HR assigned me this place, I’ve been working all day, and I’m exhausted. I’m not getting kicked out at midnight by an unreasonable boss.”
“Bonnie, this is my room, okay?” He looks almost pleadingly at me. “It’s the only room I stay in L.A. Ever. HR made an error.”
I shrug like that’s not my problem.
He glares as if he wants to strangle me, then grabs his hair in frustration. Finally, he goes to the phone. Sensing victory, I drop my backpack, sink into a nearby chair, and kick the heels off my achy feet.
I take a quick look around the office, then pad barefoot into the bedroom. I hit all the lights as I explore the penthouse, finding a kitchen, a balcony, and a sprawling bathroom with a freestanding tub, a walk-in rainfall shower, and a panoramic view. Wow.
When I return to the office he’s still on the phone, speaking in clipped tones, and I feel bad for the person on the other line. I see his rising frustration and, finally, resignation.
“I gather that the hotel is fully booked,” I say. He slams the phone down and stalks towards the desk, packing up his things. He’s going to have to leave tonight.
Or beg me. Because I’m not moving an inch.
“Logan would happily scoot over in bed for you, you know,” I inform him, trying and failing not to rub the defeat in his face.
“Who’s Logan?” he snaps.
I tsk. “You don’t even know your staff. Anyway, he’s one of the interns I train, and I must say, he’s quite enamored with you. He’s in room 604. That’s only six floors down, if you run now, you might catch him before he falls asleep,” I say with a straight face.
He’s livid.
“You’re a fucking spoiled brat, you know that?”
“You’ve told me that before. Why didn’t you acknowledge my messages earlier?”
“Is that what this is about?” he snaps.
So he saw them. And chose to ignore me. “Possibly.” I shrug.
“You take petty to a whole new level.”
“Whatever. You don’t look too excited about the Logan option. Are you gonna beg me to let you stay or take your chances with another hotel at 2 a.m.?”
I think he’d like to throttle me. Jesus, Ethan is so fucking hot when he’s angry.
He grabs his laptop and walks out of the study and into the bedroom. He leaves the door ajar, so I see him going towards the bed.
“Where are you going? Exit’s the other way.” I point my thumb over my shoulder.
“I’m going to bed.” He throws his laptop on the bedside table, takes off his glasses and robe, and hits the light.
And then he drops into the enormous bed.
“Hey, you can’t stay here!”
“Good luck dragging me out. You’ll be pleased to know there are three other rooms and a balcony which happens to have a very nice, thin ledge. So, you see, lots of places to crash on.”
Asshole!
“And, if you have any complaints, be sure to put them in the suggestion box under the bathroom sink,” he snarks.
Oh, it’s on.
I angrily grab my backpack and head to the adjoining bathroom. I strip down to my panties and change into my night shorts and ratty t-shirt.
He thinks he can intimidate me in my hotel room. He’s so getting a bedful of Bonnie tonight. For a second, I wish I’d packed my silk nightwear but immediately kill the thought.
He’s made it crystal clear about fifty thousand times that he doesn’t want you, I scream silently.
But it’d be interesting to see him try and throw himself off the balcony just to avoid me.
I find myself hesitating at the bathroom door long after I’ve changed, trying to summon courage for what I’m about to do. My hesitation surprises me, and I turn and look into the mirror.
I see a woman with flushed cheeks and innocent, wide, almost frightened eyes. She reminds me of…Siobhán. The girl I was a lifetime ago. Shaking off the memory, I push open the door.
Bonnie can do this.
I cross the darkened room to the opposite side of the bed and get in. If Ethan notices I’ve gotten into bed, he doesn’t say anything.
Immediately, I’m assailed by his scent. He smells like shampoo and musk and man. Is it me, or can I feel his warmth from way over there? My nostrils flare as I try to force more air and the enticing scent into my lungs.
My mind replays what the body lying less than two feet away looks like. His sculpted chest. The bulge in his briefs. What would that feel like against me? In me?
My skin warms, and a dull, pleasurable ache begins in between my legs. I clench my thighs instinctively, and it intensifies. I want to moan at the sensation. My nipples ache.
Why do I always have to react to Ethan’s nearness this way? I have sex all the time for the power trip. I’ve never lusted after what a man looks like or savored what he feels like.
And then, I hear his even breathing and occasional soft snoring.
The bastard is asleep.
I wake up cocooned in a delicious scent of spice and musk.
My head is pillowed on warm skin and hard muscle, and the same warmth is plastered around my back, curled around my waist, ending with a wide palm splayed on my lower belly. I stretch and feel bare feet under mine.
Awareness seeps into my foggy brain, and with it, panic.
Ethan Hawthorne is spooning the shit out of me. And is that..? I register the hardness pressing against my butt.
Jesus, he’s hard . I jerk away and instantly meet resistance against the hand over my lower belly. Which is currently dragging me right back to nestle my ass into that monster.
That move was deliberate. He’s awake!
“Ethan?” I keep my voice steady. My heart is beating wildly against my ribcage.
“Good morning, brat.” His breath tickles my ear, and his sleep-roughened voice makes me shiver.
How long has he been wrapped around me? I find I’m in the exact state of arousal I was when I fell asleep last night. Only, it’s worse because I can now feel dampness on the crotch of my shorts. Which would mean I’d been horny even before I woke up.
What exactly was I doing to get myself this wet?
Redfaced, I demand, “Let me go.”
His arm leaves me. I didn’t think he would do it instantly. He’s still pressed against me with his arousal digging into my ass though.
I should move . He’s not holding me down; if anything, I am the one whose head is pillowed on his folded arm.
I should move , I tell myself again. Only, I don’t want to.
Something awful occurs to me. It’s a huge bed, but I’m a bed hog. A literal climbing vine when I sleep. Twiggy had bruises to show for it when we huddled together at night. Which is why I never spend the night with men. Did I sprawl all over him and start this shit, or did he grab me?
“How long have you been awake?” I ask in a small voice.
“Do you mean who initiated this situation right here?”
“Yes.”
“Do you really want to know?”
I shake my head. “No,” Then I say in a small voice. “Only because I think I might have done it.”
“Good girl.” He says simply. I think he’s praising me for admitting that. I like it.
“You were fucking amazing yesterday, you know?” His deep, sleep-roughened voice washes over me, making my breath hitch. That might be the first compliment I’ve ever received from him, and it goes straight to my clit.I clench my thighs.
Geez, calm down girl.
“Really? You weren’t even there.” I whisper
“I was watching online. And I was enthralled. Bonnie I have never ever seen anyone do what you do with a roomful of people. You’re incredible.”
Oh God, I’m sick. I’m so wet now and throbbing with need, I have to bite my lip to suppress a moan.
It feels incredible to hear him praise me, but I’m also terrified of what might happen if he carries on doing it. I decide to lighten the mood before I start to hump his leg. Somehow I don’t think I’d ever live it down.
“Stalker,” I accuse.
“Brat,” he returns.
“Ethan?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. I mean it. Really, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Oh look, we’re breaking out the manners now.” I chuckle.
“I only bring them out once in a while and on special occasions.”
I need to ask him a question that has been torturing me for weeks.
“Ethan?”
“Yes, Bonnie?”
“Why didn’t you want me to have Dreadlite? Was it because you thought I’d mess it up?”
He pauses for a beat. “Far from it. It was because of this.” He drags me even closer to him and grinds his erection against my bottom. I suppress a moan.
“I don’t understand,” I whisper.
“Yes, you do. And you were right, I don’t trust myself around you.”
I can’t speak. Warmth spreads all over my body. My nipples bead painfully. We’re only talking, and I’m already getting dizzy with arousal.
“Bonnie?”
“Yes?”
“Tell me what makes you afraid of me sometimes?” he asks.
“I’m not afraid of you!” I deny. “Why would I be afraid of you?” I’m not sure I’m ready for where the conversation is headed. I need to deflect this, fast.
“Afraid of what you feel then,” he corrects.
“Whoa, whoa. Bold of you to assume I feel something. I don’t feel anything for you.”
“Sure, brat. Turn around and look at me then,” he challenges.
“I should go. You’re my boss.”
“Who you’ve begged to fuck you. Turn around and ask me to fuck you again if you’re brave enough.”
I’m terrified. “Don’t even flatter yourself, Harvard. It was only when I had a brain glitch, which I sorely regret. I hadn’t been fucked in a while you see, which was why anyone, even you, would do at the time. But I’ve scratched that itch plenty now, so I’m good.”
“I hear you.” He growls. “Now, you have five seconds to either turn around and face me, or get off me.”
“Or what?” I snap.
“Or I’ll take matters into my hands and show you what a lying little brat you are.”
He starts counting down.
“5…4…”
The fear disappears, replaced by wild excitement. A buzzing begins in my head.
Take matters into his hands .
Gosh, I’d love to see him do that. I’ve been pushing him for a reaction from the day I met him, not knowing why I had the need to push him but unable to control the urge. I’ve been goading him, throwing myself at him, and going mad that he’s given me nothing back… until now.
Oh, please show me. I clench my thighs as he counts down.
“1… 0…”
He grabs my waist and turns me over, so I’m sprawled on top of him. I meet his heated gaze. He stares at me for a long time, and I stare back, unable to tear my gaze from his. Something shifts between us.
His hand goes to my face, cupping my jaw, his thumb tracing the line of my cheekbone, then strokes across my lower lip. Sensation bursts on my lips, and my eyelids flutter closed.
“Bonnie,” he whispers, lifts his head, and brushes his lips against mine. My toes curl with the impact of that small contact. I feel his breath fan my lips, and I part them on a moan.
I wait, but he doesn’t kiss me. Instead, he slowly, very slowly, shifts our position until I’m lying under him. He holds his weight on his forearm, only teasing me with the nearness of his naked, muscled torso.
His hand goes into the short curls at my nape. My heart is pounding like a little bird’s, and I dare not open my eyes for fear of what he’ll see in them, what I must be giving away.
What I desperately want to hide from him is the exact thing Ethan wants from me.
He lowers his head and his breath mingles with mine. “Bonnie, please tell me to stop if it gets too much, okay?” He whispers.
I can’t speak, so I only nod.
His lips finally take mine, soft and coaxing. Starting with small nibbles that linger longer with each kiss, he tastes me like he has all day.Like I’m the most delicious thing he’s ever tasted.
When I start to kiss him back, parting my lips and following his retreating mouth, he deepens the kiss, licking and sucking at my lips. I let him stroke his tongue against mine, loving his feel and taste. He moans, and the sound vibrates through me, making me ache deep in my pelvis.
Sweet mother of God, this is what I always dreamed a kiss would feel like. Only, it’s better because I feel it not just on my lips but on every single inch of my body.
My hands find their way around his shoulders, and I kiss him back with abandon. His lips trace a path along my jaw, then he dips his mouth in the crook of my neck and suckles on the soft skin there. My head falls back, inviting him to feast on me, and I dimly register moaning, which I realize is longer coming from him.
It’s me. I’m also straining against him, lifting my body to rub against his.
Before I can fully process what I must look like and feel mortified, he gives me his full weight and, at the same time, takes my leg to wrap around his waist, opening my core to his hardness. My brain short circuits. I love it when he does that.
The heavy weight on me triggers my anxiety, but his hardness hitting my clit sends shocks of sensation down my spine. I don’t want it to stop.
“Ethan,” I gasp.
“Talk to me, Bonnie, tell me how you feel.”
“Good,” I whisper. “Don’t stop. Please.”
He takes my mouth again with deep, drugging kisses while thrusting against me. I’m mindless with need, pushing back against him, chasing the sensation. I feel a delicious tightening in my pelvis.
Oh, God, oh fuck! I think I could actually come. He releases my mouth and his lips catch my earlobe, very gently grazing with his teeth, and that’s when I realize how loud I’m getting.
I’m actually chanting his name. Gross! I cover my mouth.
He looks at me. I thought his eyes were beautiful before, but I’d never seen them when his pupils were blown with arousal.
“Your eyes are unreal Ethan.”
“And you moaning my name is the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
My face colors. “I, um…”
“I’d really love to hear you scream it, Bonnie.”
“Um, Ethan?”
“What, baby?”
“I don’t know if I want to do that.” He’s calling me baby. I’m gone.
“Lose control and scream my name?” he asks, smiling.
How does he know me so well? I nod.
“Try it. You might find you like it,” he coaxes.
He puts a hand under my shirt, going for my belly button piercing. “This thing drives me mad,” he admits.
“It does?” I didn’t think he was a piercing sort of guy.
“Yeah, I love it. Way more than I should.” His hands rise higher, and I start to tense.
“Look at me,” he commands. My heart slams against my ribcage. But I raise my eyes to his, partly because I want to see his eyes, too.
He palms my pert breast, and my mouth parts on a moan. It feels so intimate and raw, but I trust him and let him see my desire and need.
When he pinches my nipple lightly, my vision starts to blur. He gives me his mouth, which I take gratefully, as he continues the torture on my breasts.
He breaks the kiss. “You feel so amazing. I want to see all of you, Bonnie.”
He looks at my t-shirt and back at me. Oh, my, is he… asking? It felt like a command. Yet, he doesn’t move a muscle until I nod shyly.
Stop treating me like delicate china! Take me! Wreck me! I want to scream. But he feels so good, for once I’m content to let someone else take control.
He grabs the hem and pulls the t-shirt over my head, then his eyes settle over me. I’ve never felt self-conscious about my body, as I just know that men like what they see and their eyes glaze over at the sight of me topless.
Now, I wonder if my ribs are too visible and my nipples too dark and prominent. He stares until I can’t resist the urge to cover them.
“What?” I ask.
He grabs my hands, pulling them over my head so not only are my breasts completely exposed, they’re pushed higher.
“Fucking hell, Bonnie. You’re a wet dream.”
The adoration I see in his eyes is almost as good as the feel of his mouth around my nipple, his tongue lashing repeatedly against the hard nub. I don’t even mind that he’s holding down my wrists since I’m too busy moaning and writhing against his plundering mouth.
“I need to make you come. I think I’ll go crazy if I don’t.” He rasps against my breast.
He keeps on sucking on my nipples, alternating with soft bites that make me mindless with need and sets a raging fire in my core.
I don’t realize that I’m mewling and grinding my hips against him until one of his hands leaves my wrist pulls down my shorts, and then his fingers are in my drenched folds. My legs fall open eagerly and without thinking, and I’m splayed wide open for his fingers. His thumb finds my clit and starts to circle it, and I lose all inhibition. My thighs start shaking.I can’t even believe what I sound like right now.
I’m going to come. It’s either that or I die. It’s as simple as that. With that knowledge comes a bolt of panic.
I grasp his wrist.He stills, takes his hand away then comes over to me. “Baby, are you okay?”
“I-I want to…um…can I suck your cock first?”
He looks incredulous. “Now?”
“I want you to come.”
He looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. And for an awful moment, I worry he’s going to stop like he always does.
But then, he smiles knowingly. Then to deliberately provoke me, he brings his drenched palm to his mouth and slowly licks off my juices. I gasp, shocked by how much the sight of that turns me on.
“Oh, I will, Bonnie. Don’t worry about me. But you’ll go first.” He gives me a peck on my mouth before saying, “You, Bonnie Russo, are going to come with my tongue on your clit. Otherwise, you can sit on my face and I’ll lick you from ass to pussy until you beg me to fuck you. Your choice.”
That shuts me up as my heart slams in my chest. I feel like I’ve just got buckled into the Tower of Terror theme park ride Twiggy made me go on years ago. It’s going to be scary, and I might die, but it’s too late to back out.
He slides down my body, and I’m shaking with arousal and anticipation. I’ve grown so slick, and my pussy is clenching so hard that I wonder if I can pull a muscle in my vagina. I wouldn’t know, as I can’t remember things ever being so viciously pleasurable down there before.
I watch as he stares at me, licking his lips. The look on his face strikes a bolt of pleasure down into my swollen clit. I’m sure he sees me creaming and clenching.
“Jesus, Ethan, please,” I moan. At this rate, he’s going to know what my insides look like. He finally inserts a thick finger inside me, and I groan in pleasure.
“Ethan, please.” I’m shamelessly begging him for my pleasure now as my hips move of their volition up and down, so I’m fucking myself on his finger. I want the pleasure that has been elusive for a decade, the pleasure only he can give to me.
His other hand covers my breast and pinches my nipple hard, and I cry out. My hips jerk uncontrollably. He withdraws that torturing finger, only to reinsert two. I feel full. I feel incredible, like my entire pelvis is abuzz with energy.
“I want more,” I wail.
“Good.” His head lowers, and he drags the flat of his tongue against my throbbing clit, drawing a hoarse cry out of me. He repeats the motion, then sucks on my clit. I go insane.
Everything intensifies in my core, and nerves I didn’t know I had begin to crackle, sending ripples up and down my spine, making me writhe helplessly against him and the bed.
“Oh, God, baby, make me come. Ethan… ah!” My words become incoherent, and my hips start to move against his mouth. His fingers pump faster and harder, and his mouth unleashes its sheer mastery on my clit.
Caught up in waves of euphoria, I completely unravel, my hands grabbing at anything within reach: his hair, the sheets, my breasts.
And then, I’m right there .
I scream his name as white-hot pleasure detonates in my pelvis and I clamp down hard on his fingers. He continues thrusting them, intensifying my orgasm even as my body arches off the bed and my entire body jerks uncontrollably. A gush of warm fluid leaves me, and I lose all sense of time and space, still trembling and crying out, helpless against the endless deluge of pleasure.
His large body covers mine. He buries his damp face in my neck, and the feel of his teeth sinking into my skin sends more bolts of lust through me. His long, tortured groan is the most erotic sound I’ve ever heard.
Then I feel spurts of warm liquid on my belly and thighs but I’m too caught up in my earth-shattering climax to savor his.