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“Mmmm. That feels so good.” Her quiet words escape as I let my tongue slip out, tasting her.
“You’re in charge.”
She twists to look me in the eye. “Again? I could get used to this.” The way her mouth twitches at her teasing words, and the twinkle in her eye, are proof I’ve said the words she needed to hear.
The elevator ride is over before I can follow up her teasing, the doors slide open to the ballroom and our reason for being here. It’s easy to pick out the donors versus the teens and their families who were invited to come and show us what our money is doing. Presentation boards dot the edges of the rooms, like a science fair, and nervous, sweaty teens hover in front of them.
I don’t go to most functions because I enjoy it. I go because I’m expected to and I support their causes—but this particular event is one I look forward to every year. “Come.” I adjust Sophie’s hand in my elbow and pull her to the edge of the room. “Let’s go see the future of technology.”
The nervous young lady we approach first gives us a wobbly explanation of her app, her voice so soft I have to strain to hear it. Sophie leans against me and smiles at her, encouraging the teen to continue. When the girl stammers again and I lean close, Sophie looks up at my face and frowns.
“Sorry hun, let me fix his face for you.” Before I can figure out what she means, Sophie’s fingers are pushing the corners of my mouth up in a grimace, then smoothing over my brow. “He’s worked so hard to perfect the scowl, sometimes he doesn’t know how to turn it off.” Sophie laughs over her shoulder before thumping mine. An answering giggle from the teen is her reward. “Stop scaring the poor girl. She’s not an employee you have to terrify.”
I can’t help my chuckle at her antics, the tension in my shoulders floating away with the sound of her laugh. The teenager starts her presentation over, much more relaxed, and tells us about how her app can calculate and track an individual’s carbon footprint based off their consumer habits. There are some obvious flaws in the plan, like security and the self-selection of those who would choose to use it, but I file the idea away in my mind along with the girl’s name. Maybe I’ll be in touch after she graduates from college in a few years. I add to my mental note to look into what kind of scholarship she’s been awarded by the organization, maybe I can boost it.
This is why this is my favorite event of the year. And having Sophie here, awed and asking questions of the kids, relaxing them into telling us more, is better than it’s ever been. Sophie has a knack with the teens—she taps into their natural enthusiasm in a way I’ve never been able to. Maybe it’s because of Emma, maybe it’s because she’s just that warm and beautiful inside.
We drift around the room, chatting to people as we go. Sophie’s arm tucked inside my elbow fills me with a sense of rightness I’ve never felt before. I’m relaxed and chatting with whoever she stops to talk to and introducing her to the people I know in the room. Being based in Seattle, this non-profit attracts support from the high-powered tech industry nearby.
“Oh, that smells divine, what is it?” Sophie stops a server walking past us with a tray of little pastries. She has one in her mouth before the server has a chance to answer. The way her cheeks puff like a chipmunk as she chews is adorable, and the little moan she makes at the taste has my cock eager to join the party.
“It’s an artichoke and feta tart, ma’am.”
Sophie swallows her bite and holds the rest of it towards me. “They’re delicious. Theo, you have to try this.” Without thinking, I open my mouth and take the bite from her. My lips close over the tips of her fingers, and I can’t help the way my tongue snakes out to give them a swipe as well. Sophie’s eyes go wide at the action before mischief fills them. Instead of pulling her hand back, she lets her fingers linger, her thumb swiping at my bottom lip. Pinching my chin between her thumb and forefinger, she draws me close. I’m disappointed when she doesn’t pull me in for a kiss, but instead brings her lips millimeters from my ear.
“I’m ready to leave, but I’m not ready to go home.” She pulls back, eyes never leaving mine as her hand moves to caress my cheek. “I’ve heard this hotel makes the most delicious waffles for breakfast. Think I could try them?”
I slide my arm around her waist and pull her against me, not caring who else in the room sees. “I believe that can be arranged.” I dip my head down to whisper in her ear. “I’ll order you the entire room-service menu if it means I get to lick it off every inch of you.”
An adorable blush reddens her cheeks and her hands come to rest on my forearms. She cocks her head to one side, the edge of her lip caught between her teeth. “Is that a promise?”
Grinning, I take her by the hand and pull her toward the exit, getting us upstairs to the room I had Mercedes book for me the only thing on my mind. Technically, she booked two rooms for tonight, one for me and one for Elinor Price, but I’ll be damned if Sophie sleeps anywhere but in my bed. Not that I plan on sleeping.
Eighteen
Theo
“Should I bother asking how you already have a hotel room key? Or is that one of those things that magically happens when you have a lot of money?” Sophie’s laugh dances over me, warming me from the inside as I unlock the door.
“It’s called Mercedes is magical and I need to give her another raise.” I push the door open and pull her in after me, stopping to flip a light on.
“Oh!” Sophie sneaks past me and makes a beeline for the huge picture window on one side of the suite. Instead of the typical view of downtown Seattle, our window looks out toward the Pacific. The inky blackness of the ocean stretches out below. “Mercedes is lovely. She always stops to chat with me on her way to lunch.”
I pull my jacket off and drape it over a nearby chair, pulling one end of my bowtie free. “Sunshine,” I growl, eyes locked on the dip of her waist, knowing her perfectly round ass is hiding beneath the full skirt of her dress.
She doesn’t turn, but gives me a sly look over her shoulder, eyes going big as I stalk closer. “Y-yes?”
“My assistant is amazing, but I don’t want to talk about her right now.” I take the last few steps to her, undoing the top two buttons of my shirt. Not waiting for her to respond, my hands go to her sides as I step behind her, bringing us both against the cold glass.
Sophie presses her hands against the window, her body pushing back against mine—her head tilted, still looking back at me. I bend down to capture her lips, tasting the champagne she’d had earlier, but also something that was uniquely her. She tastes like everything I’ve been missing in my life.
With a groan, I turn her to face me so her back is against the window. My lips never leave hers as we kiss. Kiss is too small a word for what’s happening between us. I devour her, she consumes me. Sophie’s lips promise me heaven. A safe-haven from the world, a place where I can be everything and nothing, but always enough.
Like a broken Japanese dish, repaired with gold and made more beautiful by the evidence of a life well-lived, Sophie’s kiss finds all the tiny cracks inside me, filling them with her warmth. I don’t know how to do the same for her. I know she’s just as broken inside as I am and has had her own share of disappointments and hardships. Different to mine, but equal in pain. For someone who’s been called the smartest man in the room since I was a teenager, I’m lost when it comes to Sophie. All I know is that I will do whatever it takes to make her feel as safe as she makes me feel.
Exploring her curves with my hands, I slide them up her sides and along her arms, lifting them up above her before bracing my forearms on either side of her head. Cradling, caging, cocooning us in a world that consists of nothing but our bodies, hungry for each other. Her desperate fingers tug at the buttons of my shirt, fumbling and failing to get them undone.
“Why…are these…so goddamn tiny!” Her frustrated words are punctuated by harder and harder tugs at the fabric. My chuckle only seems to wind her up more and her hands move from the buttons to tugging the shirt out of my slacks, like she can’t make up her mind what she wants, only that she wants it immediately.
