“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Anxiety surged through me.
“We have to face her together. It might as well be now.”
Face Henry’s mother. Together. At a Sunday luncheon. A garden gala. Whatever that was. “Why is there always an event every weekend in your circle?”
He shrugged. “Charities, political campaigns, celebra—”
“People with too much time on their hands.”
He chuckled. “Please don’t say that in front of my mother.”
“She doesn’t like me, Henry. Nothing I say or do will change that.”
“Well, she needs to come around because you’re not going anywhere. And that’s why you’re here. So she can see that.”
I nodded, leaning into him a little more. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.”
“Lexie is here somewhere,” he offered, knowing her presence would soothe me.
As we made our way around the lawn, people stopped to greet Henry, some I’d met at previous events, others who I hadn’t and were intrigued to meet the woman Henry had given up bachelor life for. I’d asked Lexie what I should wear to a garden gala and we’d gone shopping together. I was pleased to see my friend had steered me correctly. The women were dressed in a similar style—classy summer dresses with cardigans or blazers since the weather was turning cool.
I was wearing a blue dress in a stretchy material that hugged my body. The hemline sat an inch or so above my knee showing plenty of leg, but the neckline was slashed in a straight line below my neck and it had cap sleeves. It was sexy, demure.
Lexie had also given me little plastic heel cups for my stilettos so I didn’t sink into the lawn.
“Henry, Nadia.” Randall Lexington suddenly appeared, looking dapper in a blue cashmere sweater and tan trousers. He shook his son’s hand and then leaned over to kiss my cheek.
I relaxed a little, knowing at least one of Henry’s parents liked me. According to Henry, his father was trying to get Penelope to come around to us. Apparently he wasn’t having much luck.
“You look beautiful,” Randall said as he pulled back. “And I’m pleased no one’s run you off.”
We all knew who “no one” was.
Henry’s arm tightened around my waist. “I’d only chase her if she ran.”
I rolled my eyes and Randall gave a bark of laughter. “Who are you and what have you done with my son?”
“That is what I’d like to know.” Penelope sidled up to our group.
She had a habit of doing that. Appearing out of nowhere like magic.
Like a wicked queen in a fairy tale.
“Penny,” Randall warned under his breath.
She gave him a weary look but moved into his side. He automatically embraced her and she leaned deeper into him. Their public affection was surprising.
I’d noted that a lot of couples in Henry’s set were so proper and aloof with one another in public. It took me aback to see Penelope Lexington, someone who came off as so cold, be an exception to the rule.
“Mother,” Henry said as he dutifully let go of me to lean over and kiss her cheek.
Her expression softened a little but then tightened when he immediately returned to slide his arm around my waist.
“You’re still here.” Her gaze landed on me.
“Mother.” It was Henry’s turn to warn her.
But as intimidating as she was, I didn’t want Henry to think I needed protection from her. “Mrs. Lexington, it’s nice to see you.”
“Liar.”
“Penny,” Randall groaned.
“I’m not going to pretend I’m happy Henry is dating this woman, and that’s final.”
“You pretend you like people all the time, Penny. You can’t stand half the people at this party and yet you’ll smile and compliment them, lying through your teeth.”
I shifted uncomfortably but decided to be just as direct as Henry’s mother. “Henry and I are together. I won’t be chased off no matter how rude you are to me. So, you can either pretend to accept this fact, or you can embarrass us all. That, however, is only going to lead to people gossiping about us, about you. Worse, pitying you. Poor Penelope Lexington having to put up with that woman dating her son.” Henry’s hand on my back tensed. “Or you could smile and pretend that you’re happy with Henry’s choice, and that you’re so far above them, only your opinion matters.”
Henry’s parents were silent for a moment but Randall wore a small, impressed smile.
Penelope eyed me like she’d never seen me before. And then she nodded. “You’re right.”
“Thank God,” Randall muttered.
Heeding my advice, Penelope pasted on a welcoming smile and gritted out between her teeth. “You’re very manipulative.”
“Mother,” Henry snapped.
“Smile, darling.” She grinned, looking around. “I might dislike your weather girl but at least she understands how things work around here.”
I looked up at Henry, disheartened, but relieved that there would be no public humiliation. He stared down at me, eyes apologetic. He had nothing to be sorry about and I kissed him to say so.
And also to annoy his mother.
* * *
A vile taste filled my mouth and I tried not to show it, I really did, but my God.
“Here.” Caine noted my expression, grabbed my arm, and turned me so my back was to the crowd and facing the woodlands that bordered the house. “Spit it out there.”
“Blech.” I did, wiping my mouth and turning quickly around as if nothing had happened.
Henry was shaking with strained amusement while Caine smirked.
Lexie gave me a sympathetic smile. “I tried to warn you.”
She did.
She did try to warn me that the square pastry with the orange stuff on it was the worst canape she’d ever tasted in her life.
“You didn’t warn me it tasted like fusty balls.”
Henry spat out the soda water he’d just sipped and Caine and Lexie jumped back to avoid it.
“What exactly do fusty balls taste like?” Caine said so seriously, it made me grin.
“Try one and you’ll find out.”
After wiping his chin with a napkin, Henry said, “Tell me, how on earth you know that the canape tastes like fusty balls?”
“Are we really having this conversation?” Lexie glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to us.
“Because I’ve tasted fusty balls.” I shrugged, like it was obvious.
“Oh dear God.” Lexie looked up at the sky as if she were really calling to Him.
“Not mine,” Henry said indignantly.
“No, handsome, your balls are fine.”
“Only fine?”
“Now I feel a little sick.” Caine gestured to his stomach, looking pained.
“They’re better than fine,” I hurried to reassure my boyfriend. “Best balls ever.”
Lexie and Caine locked horrified gazes. “This isn’t happening.”
“So who had the fusty balls?”
“It is happening. Somehow it’s happening,” Caine said.
Henry and I both ignored him. “A guy I dated. It didn’t last past the fusty balls.”
“I’d think not.” Henry nodded. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“I’m sorry this entire conversation happened to us,” Lexie said to Caine.
Henry winked at me and I hid my mischievous smile as I sipped my champagne to rid myself of the fusty balls taste in my mouth.
* * *
I wasn’t surprised Caine and Lexie found a way to ditch us not too long later but it was worth it. Even more so because Henry was doing something for me.
He wasn’t flirting with any other women.
Of course he was always polite and friendly, but there was a noticeable difference in his demeanor. Some noticed, some seemed to think it was sweet, giving us this “aww” look; others glowered at me like I was the devil incarnate.
For some reason, even though this was what I wanted, I was also left uneasy.
“Can we go inside for a minute? Find somewhere quiet?”
Henry’s brow furrowed in concern but he nodded and immediately led me away from the crowd and into the house. We wandered through the halls until Henry stopped outside double doors. “This is Jeff’s office.”
“Who’s Jeff?”
“Lydia’s husband.”
“Who’s Lydia?”
He chuckled. “You don’t even know whose garden gala we’re at?”
“Nope.”
Once inside, he closed the door and I was surprised by how small the space was. In any normal house, it would be a big office but in this one, it wasn’t. It was cozy and masculine compared to the airy feminine style of the rest of the house. Lots of dark wood, dark fabrics, and lots of books.
Henry stopped near Jeff’s desk, watching me as I skirted the room, taking it all in. “So what did you need quiet for?”
Right.
That.
I grew still and reluctantly faced him. He was going to think I was unbalanced. “I’m worried that you’re not flirting with anyone.”
His eyebrows almost hit his hairline. “Excuse me?”
“Not that I want you to,” I hurried to say. “But I’m worried that you’re changing yourself for me.”
Thankfully, he looked more amused than angry. “Of course I’m changing for you. But you’re changing for me too.”
Surprised, I blurted out, “No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.” Affection and desire mixed in his eyes. “You didn’t want this. You didn’t trust this. But you let down your guard to give me this.” He gestured between us. I held my breath as he continued, “I can make the effort to not send signals to other women than I’m interested in them when I am absolutely not. I can make the effort so that you know I only want you. And I can do that because you made an even bigger effort to give a man, with not the greatest track record for monogamy, a chance.”
Love for this man moved through me and I wanted to proclaim it . Yet I couldn’t. Maybe I had let down some of defenses.
But not all of them.
Henry patted the large desk. “Now come here.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You want me to sit on a stranger’s desk? Whatever do you have in mind, Mr. Lexington?”
“I just want to talk to you.”
“Liar.” I grinned but I strutted across the room, swaying my hips for his benefit, and sat on the desk. My dress tightened and shifted higher up my thighs. Henry’s eyes narrowed with wicked intent as he spread my legs and insinuated himself between them. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his hips and we locked gazes as his hands drifted under the fabric of my dress on either side of my thighs. He slid them upwards, taking the dress with them until it was bunched around my waist. “We really shouldn’t do this.”
“Once more with feeling. Naughty girl. The only one I see.” His voice deepened with emotion. “Only ever you, Nadia.”
A rush of possessiveness coursed through me and I clasped him by the back of the neck to slam his mouth down over mine. He grunted in approval, the sound vibrating through me, as he returned my demanding kiss.
I wanted to mark him. I wanted to ruin him for any other woman. If ever in the past he’d snuck off to have sex at one of these goddamn events, I wanted this encounter to be the one he’d remember above all others.
Henry broke the kiss, pulling back only to grab the hem of my dress in his hands and yank it upward. I lifted my arms, helping him out. It went flying behind him seconds before he unsnapped my bra.
My heavy breasts swelled under his perusal, my nipples turning to hard pebbles. He cupped my breasts and I arched my back on a sigh as he kneaded them, his touch shooting liquid heat straight through my belly and down between my legs. “I miss these whenever I can’t see them,” he grumbled adorably, making me shake with laughter.
“You’re definitely obsessed.”
He nodded, completely serious. “I am.”
Chuckling, I covered his hands with mine. “I’m naked on some blueblood’s desk, Henry. We don’t have time for you to cherish these today.”
“Promise me something and I’ll speed things up.”
Normally I would’ve laughed but there was something so solemn in his voice and his eyes that I nodded mutely.
“Promise me that these are mine.” He squeezed my aching breasts. “Because I love them and I think it would kill me if ever there came a time when some other man got to be with them like this.”
I stilled.
Because we both knew he wasn’t actually talking about my breasts.
I still hadn’t told Henry I loved him.
Not because I didn’t feel it but because I was terrified of losing him, and admitting that I loved him out loud would only make things ten times worse when he did eventually go.
This… however… this I could give him. “Yes, they’re yours.”
His eyes smoldered and his reply was to pull gently on my hair, arching my neck and back further and lifting my breasts closer to his mouth. He bent his head, his hungry eyes locked with mine. I shivered, thrilled to see the mirrored possessiveness in his gaze before he closed his hot mouth around my right nipple.
I whimpered at the molten pleasure that rippled through my lower belly and I clutched to the nape of his neck with one hand while the other caressed his upper back, wishing he wasn’t wearing a damn blazer over his shirt. Too many layers! He sucked hard, causing a sharp streak of pleasured pain, and then he licked the swollen nipple before moving on to the other.
“Henry, come inside me,” I whispered.
He looked up at me and smirked. “Mouth first.”
I groaned, growing more wet at the mere thought, but I was also still perfectly aware that we were in an office at someone’s else house surrounded by guests. “We could get caught.”
“I know. Just imagine people walking in while I’m on my knees licking your pussy.” His words were scratchy with arousal. “They’d condemn us but at night, they’d draw up the image of you naked, writhing on a desk with my head between your legs, and they’d get off on it, Sunshine. How could they not? You’re the sexiest thing they’d ever see in their entire lives.”
His words turned me on so much, I was shocked. The thought of being caught was suddenly incredibly exciting. Perhaps when my head cleared from lust I’d be mortified but right then, it all so very tantalizing.
My belly squeezed deep down low and I knew I was more than ready for him. As his fingers curled around my underwear, my breath came in harsh pants. I stopped touching him to brace my hands on the desk at either side of my hips so I could lift my ass. Henry peeled my damp underwear down my legs, staring up at me with this devilish look I’d come to know and love.
“You’re soaked.” He bit his bottom lip, studying me for a moment. “I guess we’ll be finding more public places to fuck in the future.”
“Henry… stop teasing me,” I huffed. “Or we really will get caught.”
In answer, he lowered himself to his knees and his hands pressed my thighs apart.
I watched, lost in my daze of utter need, as he licked me.
“Fuck,” I hissed, my hips writhing against him. “Henry… Henry…” Every time I said his name, his licks over my clit grew more enthusiastic. Then he circled it with his tongue, pressed down it, and repeated, teasing me toward orgasm. It was just out of reach. “Oh God!” My head fell back, my eyes rolled, and then he slid his fingers inside me.
I tensed.
He sucked on my clit. Hard.
I shattered, my climax pulsing through me and I bit my lips to muffle my scream of release.
Still shuddering through the remnants of my orgasm, I was barely aware of Henry standing and unzipping his trousers. Within seconds he was gripping my thighs, pulling me to the edge of the desk. My palms were flat to the piece of furniture, my arms braced a little behind me. It was a good thing too. I was steady and prepared when Henry thrust into me. Hard.
I cried out, closing my eyes to savor the rough but pleasurable assault on my senses.
“Look at me,” he demanded, his voice guttural.
My eyes opened on command and there were all my feelings reflected back at me.
Pure primal possessiveness.
My lips parted as he continued to pump into me, another orgasm building as he fucked me, reminding me of our first time together.
“Nadia,” he panted, his hot eyes never once leaving mine.
“Yes,” I answered breathlessly.
“You’re mine.”
“Yes.”
“I’m yours.”
“Yes.”
His grip on my legs became almost biting as his thrusts came faster. “You need to come,” he panted harder, a bead of sweat glistening on his forehead from the strain of holding back his own climax.
“I am,” I said breathlessly, jerking my hips in rhythm to his thrusts.
And then I tensed before the next thick drag of his cock inside me shoved me over the edge. His lips crashed down on mine to swallow my cry of release and seconds later, he stiffened and we were kissing to muffle his long, deep groan. His hips jerked against me while he came.
The sound of laughter outside the door brought our heads up and reality cooled the heat of passion.
“Shit.” Henry pulled out of me, tucking himself back in before he turned frantically to find my dress and underwear.
“I thought you wanted us to get caught?” I said, hopping off the desk as he handed me my things.
He glowered at me. “Not in actuality. No one gets to see you naked but me.”
“Caveman,” I muttered as I tugged on my underwear.
“You have no idea.” He started pulling my dress on over my head before I was ready and my arms got caught.
“Jesus,” I laughed. “Henry.”
“Fuck.” He pulled and tugged until my dress was back on. Only then did he slump with relief.
I stared at him, dying to laugh even more. “What was that?”
Looking disconcerted, he snapped, “Apparently, the thought of someone catching us having sex is merely okay as fantasy.”
“Well, the dress is only part of the problem.” I squeezed my legs together. “I need to find a bathroom pronto. To clean up.”
His eyes darkened with desire and the muscle in his jaw clenched.
“What now?”
“I want you all the time,” he grumbled, putting his hand on my back to lead me out of the office. “My cock is going to fucking break off.”
“You?” I huffed. “What about my poor, abused vagina?”
“You weren’t complaining earlier,” he pulled open the door, “when my tongue was on it.”
A throat cleared and we both froze.
Alexa suddenly stepped into view and she looked like she was struggling not to laugh. “I was just on my way to the restroom.”
“You’re alone.” Henry looked around us.
“Now I am. Thankfully.”
“I’ll join you.” I grabbed Alexa’s arm. “I need to use the restroom.”
“Oh, I bet you do,” she muttered.
We strode off together down the hall and I glanced back at Henry.
Love.
There was nothing but love in his eyes.
But something else too.
Longing.
And you could only long for something you didn’t think you really had.
You have me, Henry, I wanted to reassure him.
But will you still want me when you know me? Really know me.
Instead of reassuring him, I faced forward and walked away.