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Nico fumbled with his pants and then he shoved my dress up above my waist, pausing a minute to lift me onto the desk. Papers fluttered and pens tumbled to the floor, giving us away, but we didn’t care. I spread my legs and he gently fished out the pleasure egg, tucking it away in his jacket pocket—our little secret.
Then he ravished my mouth as if he couldn’t get enough. His tongue, his hands, all roving—tasting and touching—committing to memory every nook and cranny, every hill and valley.
We froze as voices sounded in the hallway, but they receded quickly and I smothered a relieved giggle. I couldn’t imagine being caught like this would do Nico any favors when he was supposed to be here on an official capacity for his family business.
Impatient to be inside me, Nico pulled me from the desk and flipped me over to bend over the mahogany. The smooth wood beneath my cheek was cool as Nico gripped my hips and guided himself inside, pushing hard until he’d buried his shaft balls-deep. I groaned, losing myself to the pleasure of being taken like this, and wondered how I’d ever get over someone like Nico. How could anyone else possibly compare?
I groaned softly as he drove, sliding in and out with strong, controlled thrusts, building that beautiful tension like a master cellist slowly built to a crescendo. My fingers curled against the wood, my eyelids squeezing shut as I fought to keep the cry behind my teeth, but Nico’s name burst from my lips as I came, clenching and squeezing as every muscle contracted and released in perfect concert.
God, he could fuck.
I was dimly aware of Nico finding his own release, grinning with sated pleasure at how sexy he sounded when he came. There was something so primal about the act of climax that aroused me even as I was content to simply try to slow my thundering heart rate.
Nico withdrew and tossed the condom in the waste bin, then helped me from the desk. We dropped into a spacious divan and lay there in the milky dark, completely disheveled but entirely happy.
Moonlight shafted in through the expansive window and the stars punched diamond sparkles in the midnight tapestry. I didn’t know whose office this was or how much trouble we’d be in if we were caught; all I knew was I didn’t want this moment to end.
It felt like magic.
“You are the most beautiful woman in the world,” Nico murmured, idly playing with an errant curl lazily tumbling down my shoulder. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were plain.”
I blushed at the memory of that first meeting. “I have a confession...”
I heard the smile in his tone as he said, “Yeah? Confess, my darling.”
“I purposefully came to the interview wearing the ugliest dress I had. I knew of your reputation, but more so than that, Patrice had made a snide comment about my wardrobe, which she was doing constantly, and I think I did it out of spite. I know, stupid.”
“Do you miss working at Luxe?” he asked.
I hesitated, giving the question serious thought. “I miss some of my coworkers, but I don’t miss the bullshit. Publishing is a dog-eat-dog world. It’s almost inevitable that you’re going to get eaten or take a bite out of someone else at some point. I don’t miss that part.” I twisted around to meet his serious gaze, those eyes doing something dangerous to my insides, but I managed to stay focused. “We really need to do some work on your project. You hired me to do a job. I don’t feel right accepting payment for work I haven’t done yet. In fact, you should’ve only paid me half up front and the other half when I delivered.”
“Screw the project,” Nico said, yawning, and I frowned. Screw the project? Nico seemed to sense my sudden disquiet and he clarified, “I mean, screw the project right now. I don’t want to talk work. I want to enjoy having the most incredible woman on my arm.”
I relented—I mean, how could I not when he said things that made me melt?—saying, “Well, when you put it that way...” I brushed a soft kiss across his lips and he reciprocated. I smiled. “Thanks for tonight. It’s been exquisite.”
“The pleasure has been mine,” he said, and while it could’ve sounded obligatory or trite under any other circumstances, I sensed that Nico meant every word.
Or maybe that was his gift—he could make a woman believe anything that fell from his lips.
“Nico...I’m curious...have you ever been in an actual relationship?” I asked.
He sighed. “Once, no, twice. Both times ended badly.”
I bit my lip. I probably shouldn’t have asked, but I needed to know if he was even capable of deep emotion or if I was seeing things that didn’t exist when he looked at me.
“Tell me how you and Houston met,” Nico said, expertly defecting as Grady would say.
“I was in college. We met at a party. We were both drunk. He was supposed to be a good time, not a long time, if you know what I mean. But he made me laugh. I was so stressed with midterms that I needed someone to shake things up, make me smile.”
“I’ve never known Houston to be particularly funny,” Nico said with a slight sniff, and I giggled at the obvious pinch of jealousy. “But then, I suppose your brain was starving for entertainment,” he teased.
I laughed. “Yes, well, it was a perfect storm of bad judgment, and before I realized in time that it was time to cut my losses, I got pregnant.”
“And Houston bailed when you told him?”
“Actually, he stuck around for a month or so but when things started to get real, he slowly stopped calling and coming around. Basically, he ghosted me.” I realized something, laughing as I shared, “Come to think of it, I guess technically, we’re still dating because we never broke up.”
“You’re definitely broken up,” Nico growled, holding me more tightly. “He’s a pussy for skipping out on his responsibility.”
I recognized that tone and I tried to keep things light. I rose up and shimmied over his hips to straddle him, my fancy dress pooling around my hips as my hot folds rested on top of his quickly hardening cock.
“I don’t want to talk about Houston,” I said in a silky tone, sliding my pussy over his groin. “I want round two before we’re discovered and thrown out for being disrespectful perverts.”
“I’ve been called a pervert my entire life. I wear that badge with honor,” Nico growled with a sexy smile tugging at his lips as he reached between us to push up inside me. I rode him slowly, lifting my hips and grinding, loving the way his hands anchored at my waist to guide and control my movements, his hooded gaze centered on the spot where our parts joined.
My name lingered on his gasped warning, and I smiled with anticipation at how well we meshed together sexually. I wanted to ride him to completion, but that wasn’t wise.
I rose up and he pulled out with a small groan of disappointment until I replaced one hot, wet orifice with another. We were out of condoms and I wasn’t going to risk pregnancy, but it was no tragedy to have Nico in my mouth. I loved his taste and I adored the taste of myself on his skin as I worked him without mercy.
He came with a loud grunt, filling my mouth, and I quickly swallowed, sucking every last drop down my throat, loving how easily I could turn this charming playboy into putty in my hands...er...mouth.
Finished, I wiped my mouth and smiled, though I realized, too late, Nico was going to be a hard habit to break. I helped Nico to his feet and he pulled his pants up and buckled them with an adorable grin that was both sexy and boyish, and I wanted to do even more wicked things together.
Hell, I’d be willing to do just about anything with Nico. Even butt stuff. And that was saying a lot because I’d tried anal sex once and swore to never do it again.
“Why did your relationships end?” I asked, unable to let it go. I needed to know if Nico was simply incapable of deep emotion with another human being. Why? Because a part of me was starting to hope that he felt the same way as me and that, maybe, just maybe, we might have something worth exploring.
But if I were spinning my wheels in mud, I needed to stop right now and save myself from drowning.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Nico
I SENSED THE energy in the room change between us. Even though Lauren was trying to seem nonchalant about her probing question, I could sense that it was anything but lighthearted.
I knew I ought to play it off with some sort of teasing answer and distract her with something else—my mouth on hers, perhaps—but something compelled me to be honest.
Which, in my experience, was never a good thing.
“I...uh, well, I was an idiot.”
“Most men are idiots,” Lauren teased and I didn’t disagree, but I think I excelled in making the worst possible decision in any given situation. She cocked her head with interest as she asked, “What did you do?”
I hesitated, torn between tossing a joke or going for the bald truth. I opted for truth even though I wouldn’t come out looking so hot. “I cheated. Both times. It was hurtful and wrong, and I didn’t have a solid good reason for what I’d done to either of them. Both were great women who didn’t deserve how I hurt them.”
A long pause stretched between us. I knew how most women felt about “cheaters,” and I didn’t blame them. Hell, my brother’s wife, Katherine, threatened to bail on a marriage contract that’d been in play since she was sixteen because she’d thought Luca had cheated on her.
It all came out in the wash that he hadn’t—Luca wasn’t that kind of guy to begin with and he’d been head over heels in love with Katherine since forever—but the hell she’d put him through to get to the aisle wasn’t for the faint of heart.
Let me just say, there was a hostel and a soup kitchen involved.
“Were you sorry?” Lauren asked quietly, breaking into my thoughts. I didn’t want her to think being genuinely contrite made any difference in the hurt I’d caused, but yeah, of course I’d been sorry.
“People caught red-handed doing something wrong are usually very sorry. Doesn’t change what I did. Twice. Seems I have a thing about not learning from my past mistakes.” I shrugged into my tuxedo jacket. “The thing is, I have this aversion to commitment, it seems. Just when things are going great, I have to go and do something awful to ruin it all. It’s my MO, which is why I don’t get into relationships anymore. Best to stay single. That way no one gets hurt.”
