I felt the second she went limp, all tension slipping from her body like water off rocks. She lay quietly, only her breathing filling the air around us as I dropped kisses along her soft flesh. My cock was hard and demanding satisfaction, but that wasn’t part of the deal. Soon, though. Soon, she’d admit she wanted me to claim her pussy with more than just my tongue. And I would leave my marks on her fair skin, claim her again and again.

She took a deep breath, then scooted backwards, pulling my favorite treat away from me. Closing her legs, she hugged her knees and gave me an accusing glare.

“What?” I licked her taste from my fingers as her scowl deepened. “You told me to do my worst.”

“Are we done here?”

I stood and smirked as her eyes went to the hard-on that was impossible to miss. “We don’t have to be. I’ve never been the sort to insist on reciprocation, but if you’re interested—”

“No.” She shook her head, her blonde locks flying.

I laughed. God, she did things to me. Made me feel so much more than I ever thought possible. “Fine. If you’d like to watch me take care of it, you can.” I swiped her panties off the floor.

“Hey!” She pointed to my palm. “Give those back.”

“I think I’ll keep them. Wrap them around my cock while I come to the memory of your taste, your sounds, the way your cunt shuddered for me.”

She yanked the blanket over her bare legs. “Psycho.”

I backed into the bathroom. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Her eyes flared. I got the feeling that if she’d had something to throw, she would have.

After a dinner during which Camille wore a constant blush, we spent a couple hours in the library—her continuing to draw while I worked on my tablet. My thoughts kept wandering to the problem created by Mint, Veronica, and the moron. I knew the solution. She was sitting a few feet away from me, a red color pencil tucked behind her ear. But for once, I dreaded making a deal with her. What I needed, only she could give, and I knew she’d make me pay dearly for it.

When the clock struck eleven, I locked my tablet and stood. “Let’s get to bed.”

She jolted when I spoke, her pencil scoring an errant mark down the side of her sketch. “Damn.” She plucked an eraser from the table and fixed it.

“Jumpy? I would have thought you were relaxed from our earlier activities.”

She tossed the eraser onto the table and stood. “Maybe you aren’t as good as you think?”

“Impossible.” I walked at her side toward the stairs. “But are you offering me another shot?”

“Not a chance.” She shook her head. “None of that will ever happen again.”

“What part? You coming on my face, or you saying my name, or you having the best orgasm of your life?”

She covered her face with her hands and sped her pace. “Stop.”

“I was just seeking clarification.” Watching her squirm gave me some of the most enjoyment I’d ever had.

“No, you’re being an asshole.”

“Better than a psycho, right?” I kept up with her as we took the stairs to the second floor.

“You can be both.”

“What other choice names do you have for me?” I shooed her into the bedroom first, then let the door close behind us.

“None that I’ll say out loud.” She hurried to the bathroom as I stripped.

I strode in behind her as she brushed her teeth. Longing flared inside me. She was so close, but unwilling to give me what we both needed. I wanted to hug her, to press my lips to the lightly pulsing vein at her throat. When I’d come up with my plan to keep her, I’d assumed she’d realize she belonged with me after a short adjustment period. The look she gave me in the mirror told me the adjustment period would be quite a bit longer than I’d anticipated.

“Any chance you’ll get naked with me tonight?”

Her crinkled nose told me her answer, though her gaze strayed down my bare chest. My cock expressed its interest, hardening as I stared at her in the mirror.

She tossed her blond locks over one shoulder, then rinsed her mouth and marched into her closet. Fucking pajamas.

“What would it take to get you naked in my arms?” I didn’t work this way, never showed my hand in negotiations. But the words had just spilled out, desire short-circuiting the logic that ruled my life. Impulse—the naked need to feel her, all of her—had exerted its power over me.

She popped her head out of the closet. “You want a deal?” Her eyes narrowed on me, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel in control.

She kept surprising me. Her mortification at the dinner table had drained away, and in its place, cold calculation had taken over. Fuck if it wasn’t hot. But I couldn’t give in. She was an amateur dabbling in an area I’d mastered. Control.

“No.” I shrugged. “I just figured it was about time for you to give in to what you really want.”

“I’ll have to pass.” She disappeared into her closet.

The word “fuck” repeated in a profane litany inside my skull. I stalked past her closet door. One look inside, and I froze. She wore nothing but a pair of lacy pink panties. Her hair hung down her back, the strands tickling her fair skin.

She glanced over her shoulder at me, a devilish look in her eye that had my cock begging me to do something about it. “You sure you don’t want a deal?”

“I…”

My words left as she spun around. Her perky nipples hardened as I watched. Holy fucking shit.

She shrugged, her tits giving a light bounce with the movement. “If you’re sure.” She grabbed her godforsaken t-shirt and lifted her arms to slide it on.

I shot forward and grabbed her wrists. Pressing her back against her dresser drawers, I groaned at the feel of her skin against mine.

“No deal, no touching.” She kicked her chin up at me.

I could have taken what I wanted, thrown her down and done everything I’d been fantasizing about. Only one word stopped me. Trust. Releasing her wrists, it took everything I had to back away from her.

She let out a shaking breath, her rosy nipples still pearled and in need of my touch. “So, the deal?”

“What do you want?” Did that desperation-soaked voice belong to me?

“This weekend in the city plus the Monday you already promised me.” She snatched her t-shirt and covered her breasts.

I leaned forward, placing one hand next to her head. Her body heat bled into the air between us. I wanted to taste it. Though I’d devoured her only a few hours before, I was already starved for her. “When did you cook this up? While you were drawing, on the way up the stairs, while you were brushing your teeth? When?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of you, and I still haven’t.”

“I thought you knew everything about me?” Her sass killed. I wanted to lick it from her lips.

“I do, but you have certain anomalies in your personality that mystify me.”

“Maybe you underestimate me?”

“Perhaps.”

“Now, about three days in the city. Deal?”

“That’s a big request.” I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her lips.

“It’s worth it, don’t you think?” She dropped her shirt, her breasts on full display and so fucking close.

“Naked and kissing.” I’d fallen into the negotiation, egged on by the pert nipples taunting me.

“No.” She shook her head, making her tits shudder maddeningly again.

I groaned. “Kissing on the mouth and naked, and you can have the weekend and Monday.” My lust fog cleared for a sliver of a second, but it was enough. “And, to sweeten the deal, I’ll relay texts from you to your friends.”

Her eyes widened, and she clasped her fingers together. Bingo.

My deviousness knew no bounds, not when the prize was so spectacular. This idea was nothing other than a fucking stroke of evil genius. I’d get to touch her, kiss her, and she’d solve my little problem with her Scooby Doo pals.

“You get to hold me…” She frowned. “But no touching my breasts or below the belt, and—”

“What?” I needed to feel her, every last inch of skin. “I already know how your pussy feels when you come.”

Her frown deepened. “This deal doesn’t include groping. Just holding each other, and I’ll allow the kissing for tonight, but only if you give me three days in the city and contact with my friends.”

“Three days at my penthouse where you will sleep naked in my arms each night. Kissing for tonight, and I’ll relay messages. You aren’t touching a phone. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

She bit her lip. A surrogate for her thumb nail, no doubt. Was she wavering? Losing her at this point in the negotiation wasn’t an option.

I went for the hard sell. “Take it or leave it, but the offer is void the second I walk out of this closet.” Turning my back on her almost broke me in half, but I managed it and strode to the door.

“Deal.” When the word passed her lips, my entire body hummed with anticipation.

I stopped and returned my gaze to hers, hungry for everything coming my way. “Done. Now take your wet panties off.”