The pressure on the base of my spine erupted and all I could do was slam my eyes shut and groan as she milked me with her silky walls.

Gods. It was even better than I imagined. I cracked my eyes open to find her watching me with a blissful smile. So damn beautiful. I couldn’t resist the urge to sweep her hair to the side and press a sweet kiss to her lips.

Mine.

I supposed it was a bit barbaric of me to feel like I claimed her just because we had sex once, but I was just lost enough in the post-orgasm high to allow myself to think that way. I kissed her over and over again, my smile growing with every peck she was happy to return.

There were a number of things I wanted to say to her—so many sweet, lovely compliments she deserved and perhaps I’d even give her a hint about how lost for her I truly was—but her lips were too much of a distraction. Between the kisses and the smiles, it was unimaginably difficult to pull away long enough to summon coherent thought.

Especially not when she bashfully asked, “Can we do it again?”

I let out a short laugh and fondly stroked her hair. “With pleasure. Just give me a few minutes.”

“Okay. Can we cuddle for now?”

My heart thundered in my chest as I said, “Of course. Just a moment.”

I pulled out and made quick work of removing the condom while Evelyn kicked the comforter off the bed and slipped beneath the sheet. I joined her right as she was making her comfortable and felt my pulse stutter as she immediately wriggled up to my side.

My girl. Finally.

“If I fall asleep, feel free to wake me up for more sex,” she sleepily murmured against my chest.

“We have all the time in the world for more sex, kitten. I wouldn’t dream of disrupting your sleep.”

She was quiet for a long stretch of time—so much that I would have thought she had fallen asleep if I wasn’t so tuned in to the sound of her breathing. It had yet to level out which meant she must have been considering her next words very carefully. My attention was rapt.

“You know, you’re a lot more caring than your general disposition suggests.”

“What a lovely way of saying that I’m not as big of an asshole as I appear to be.”

Evelyn laughed and smacked my chest. “I wouldn’t have gone that far. You’ve always been kind to me.”

“To you, yes. That’s the distinction.”

In order to put extra emphasis on the point I was trying to make, I rolled to my side and tugged her closer, protectively shielding her body with my own. She nuzzled further into my embrace and I struggled to contain my content sigh.

The moment was perfect—until Evelyn pulled away and sat up, looking slightly panicked.

“Wait. What about the party? Don’t you have to go back down there?”

“Fuck the party. Bryan and my staff will handle anything that comes up,” I assured her as I pulled her back into my arms. “Get some rest.”

Something I said must have satisfied her. She curled back up in her original position and a short time later, I listened to the steady sound of her breathing as it evened out. The sound soothed me and I drifted off right along with her.

* * *

I woke up to find myself spooning Evelyn—who was obviously awake and doing her best to make sure I woke up as well. She pushed her ass back and ground the soft flesh against my cock over and over again until I finally snapped and rolled her over, taking my place between her parted thighs.

It’d been a while since I had sex. It’d been a very long time since I had morning sex.

It was a lot more satisfying than I remembered. The lazy rhythm, the sleepy smiles, her soft moans.

Who was I kidding? It was better because it was with her. There was no doubt in my mind.

Everything was better with Evelyn.

My plan might not have gone the way I intended, but as I dressed myself while watching her do the same, I realized it had actually turned out better.

Because in my plan, I hadn’t allowed myself to be confident that it would work. There were a lot of rejection scenarios playing through my mind while I’d been working on the party. A fear that thankfully hadn’t come to fruition.

Evelyn huffed and I smiled as I asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I want to shower but it’s kind of pointless without clean clothes.”

“True. I’ll drive you back to your place and we can shower there, hmm?”

“I like how you just invited yourself along,” she said, trying and failing to contain her laugh.

“Well, I wanted to invite you to my place, but I’m afraid you don’t have any clean clothes there either. Unless you’d like to wear something of mine.” For a moment, I trailed off and imagined her walking around my penthouse in nothing but one of my shirts. “Yes, I think I’d like that quite a bit. The invitation is open.”

She considered it for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t have to work today. Why not? Besides, I doubt you’ll be very comfortable in my apartment. It’s small and crappy.”

“I’d like to disagree, but I can’t until I see it for myself.”

“Angling for an invitation?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she breezed past me and headed for the door.

After making sure I had my phone and everything else I needed, I laid my cape over her shoulders like a shawl and hummed when she wrapped it around herself.

“Perhaps. Shall we?”

I offered her my elbow and she gave me a strange look. For a brief moment, I felt my confidence waver—until she tugged my hand down and clasped it with her own.

Oh.

I let my arm fall to my side and she slid her fingers between mine. My cheeks strained from the width of my smile. This was much better.

Holding hands… It’d been quite a while since I’d done that as well. I was used to women hanging onto my arm like I was some kind of financial life raft. Evelyn treating me like I was just a normal man was… wonderful. New. Right.

I squeezed her hand and led her out, the two of us unable to stop glancing at each other as we made our way through the mansion. Every now and then, Evelyn would laugh softly and it made me feel inexplicably warm.

The feeling remained even when her face clouded over with worry and her hand tensed in mine. Following her gaze down the stairs as we descended, I smiled at the small group that was waiting for us in the foyer.

Bryan and Fiona looked pissed while Jonas was leaning against the far wall with a self-satisfied smirk. Sneaky bastard. I’d have to give him a raise for the little stunt he pulled last night.

“Good morning,” I greeted cheerfully as we reached the landing.

Jonas was the only one with the decency to tip his head in acknowledgment. Fiona regarded the two of us with a stunned silence and Bryan—

“The house is a fucking wreck!” he shouted before shoving his fingers into his hair with a growl. “Do you have any idea what kind of damages I’m looking at?”

“None whatsoever. Get the place surveyed and send me the invoice. I’ll cut a check immediately. Oh, unless you’d like me to set up the repair team? I’d be happy to do it.”

Fiona snapped out of her daze and narrowed her eyes in my direction as she grated, “You mean you’ll be happy to tell me to do it, is that right? Well, I’ll tell you right now, I—”

“No, I imagine you’ll be unavailable. I’ll make the call myself, thank you.”

“Unavailable?” she repeated incredulously. “What does that mean?”

“As I said last night—I have noticed the work you put in to make the party a success. Please report back to work the Monday following Thanksgiving. Until then, enjoy your vacation.”

More annoying silence. Fiona’s mouth opened and closed numerous times while Bryan shook his head like he could somehow clear it that way. How silly.

Evelyn shifted beside me and my attention snapped back to her like a rubber band.

“I apologize, kitten. You already know Bryan and my bodyguard, Jonas. This is Fiona, my personal assistant. Fiona, this is Evelyn. My girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Evelyn said with a small smile and a wave.

Her lack of argument at my use of the term ‘girlfriend’ made me feel ridiculously giddy.

Bryan’s anger finally started to fizzle out as he glanced between us and asked, “So everything worked out between you two?”

Evelyn answered before I got the chance.

“It did. Thank you.”

The pointed way she said it made me frown, but the remaining irritation on his face evaporated and I decided to let this one slide. He let out a heavy sigh and threw his hands into the air.

“Screw it. I’ll set up the crew, but you can sure as fuck expect to get the bill, Stone. For the record—I’m never letting you host another party here.”

“Understood. Thank you, Bryan.”

“No problem. Now, please get the hell out of my house,” he said with a humorous tone and a wink directed at Evelyn.

Jonas stepped away from the wall, guiding Fiona to the door by her shoulders as she glanced between everyone with confusion.

“Vacation? Really? Paid vacation?”

“Of course you’ll be paid,” I huffed, completely offended by the ridiculous question. “Who do you think I am?”

“An alien in Mr. Stone’s body,” she muttered dryly.

“I heard that.”

Evelyn laughed loudly at my side and I grinned at her, more than happy to continue to banter with my assistant if it made her smile like that. Fiona was stunned by the silent exchange between us, shaking her head to herself as she started walking to her car.

“Jonas, would you mind seeing that Fiona gets home safely? She seems quite tired. I’ll be driving Evelyn straight to the penthouse.”

“Yes, sir,” he confirmed with a nod before smiling at us both. “Congratulations, by the way. Looking forward to seeing you around again.”

“You too,” Evelyn said with a wave.

We watched him speak with Fiona for a moment before taking the keys and sliding into the driver’s seat. Once the car disappeared down the driveway, I looked down at Evelyn and gently caressed her cheek.

“Let’s go home.”

Her eyelids lowered as she looked at me with pure adoration. Once again, I was struck by how lovely she was.

“I’d like that.”