Joel doesn’t put me down, even when I growl through gritted teeth that I am capable of walking, and that he is embarrassing me as he squishes us both into the revolving doors to his luxury apartment building.
Big mistake.
“You want me to put my cock where, baby?” He booms out loud enough to wake the dead and silence the crowd. Of course there would be spectators to my humiliation. “Well, okay, but we’re going to need a lot more lube.” I gasp and slap my hands over my face, but it’s too late. I can see all eyes are on us.
His apartment building is no ordinary apartment building. It has a massive vaulted entrance, reception area, a sophisticated lounge bar on one side, and a fully-manned concierge on the other. Tonight, at least, it’s packed to bursting with residents and guests, all enjoying some Christmas cheer. Joel’s voice echoes off the marble walls and bounces around, finding every single individual in the vicinity, and knocks the festive fun right off their faces. My eyes are squeezed tightly shut behind my hands, but I’m too damn shocked to close my dropped jaw.
My face burns with a thousand flames of mortification, and since escaping his ironclad grip is futile, I do the only thing left at my disposal. I bury my head against his chest and pretend I’m invisible.
He continues to stride through the atrium without a care in the world, his light hum turning into a chuckle so deep I can feel the resonating rumble against my nose, which is pressed hard against his firm chest.
Ground, swallow me now…please.
I only come up for air when he opens and closes his apartment door, and I know I am safe from all the raised eyebrows.
Joel’s apartment is his castle, his sanctuary; all his homes are. Despite his inability to keep his dick in his pants, he is extremely private in some respects, and this is one of them. No one ever stays over, not even his life-long buddies. He’s more than happy to take up an entire hotel floor to entertain, hold the best parties, and even share for more than a one-nighter if some girl is stupid enough to…
Anyway, the point is, his home is sacred, and if I’m honest, I’m more than a little surprised he’s brought me here. And if I didn’t hate him so much right now for that little stunt downstairs, I might ask why. As it is, I just want my busted knee fixed and to get out of here.
He slides me on to the black granite island in his sleek and clinical kitchen. When he finally releases me, I pull back and punch him hard on his pec. He doesn’t flinch, and I doubt the impact made it through his thick padded leathers, but I had to try.
“You motherfucker!”
“First thing’s first, Regan, let me fix your leg, then—”
“Gah! You complete arsehole, I wouldn’t fuck you again if you… God! How could you do that? All those people… They probably think…” My words fail to sufficiently relay my horror, so they simply dry up in my open mouth.
“Think what? That you like it up the ass?” He winks but dodges my next punch with a sly duck to the side. “Don’t you, Regan? See, if my memory serves me… Or have you changed so much? Because you certainly were the kinkiest—”
“Oh. My. God. Joel. In fucking private, arsewipe!” I cry out, my cheeks are on fire from a fifty-fifty mix of pure rage and… No, make that a hundred percent rage.
“It was just a joke.” He holds his hands up in surrender as he’s hit with my death glare. He offers up a light shrug and purses his lip to one side, not quite pouting, but definitely attempting to placate with his trademark charm. He continues with a softer, more coaxing tone, as if he’s trying to talk down a ‘jumper’. “Most people laughed, Regan, and the rest were too drunk to care. Besides, what do you really care what a bunch of strangers think? You worry too much.”
“Well, some of us have responsibilities and care about our reputations.” His jaw clenches, and the muscle jumps about like it’s at an angry rave. I realise instantly I’ve pissed him off, casting aspersions, especially regarding professional reputations. However, I’m not the one with a trust fund to fall back on, and as much as I know his reputation is important to him, it happens to mean food on our table to me.
It’s one of the only two things I care about.
I huff an exhausted sigh. ”Fuck it, this isn’t worth it. I’ll take my chances at the ER.” I jump down and wince when the jolt reopens the deep slice in my knee.
“Like fuck you will, now sit back and stay, or I will tie you down,” he growls, irritation and desire fighting for dominance in his hazel eyes. He picks me up before my feet even recover from the sting of hitting the hard floor and plops me back on the counter top. “Good girl.” He holds my gaze all the time as he traces the back of his hand from my brow, around the back of my ear, taking only a few stray strands of hair away from my face, and then sweeping his palm back to cup my cheek. The tenderness in his touch completely disarms me, and then he plants a kiss on my lips so light that I’m glad I kept my eyes open, or I wouldn’t have believed he was capable of something so heartfelt.
Oh, God, not these feelings.
My tummy flutters, and warm and tingly nonsense starts to bombard me from the inside out. I know I shouldn’t feel like this, but I can’t help it. This is Joel.
He steps away and walks across the living space and through a door in the far corner, his bedroom, I assume. I take a moment to look around. A little like its owner, the apartment is stylish, chic, expensive, and devoid of human sentimentality and emotion. Still, the view of Chicago is stunning. The Wrigley Building no longer dominates the skyline, but it’s still my favourite, and Marina City is a class act juxtaposed to the bully next door. I’m so distracted by the lights and reflection in the river in the distance that I don’t hear Joel return. I jump with a gasp when his hands rest on my hips, and my head whips round from the city vista.
“I need a little help here, Regan. Can you lift your butt?” His fingers curl over the edge of the elastic of my trousers, and I slam my knees together as if that will help.
“Why? No!” I cry out a little too loudly, and he grins wolfishly.
“No?” He arches a brow high and looks at me as if that’s the first time he’s heard that word. “Lift your damn ass, Regan, or I’ll do it for you, and that means you’ll be either over my shoulder or over my knee.” It’s no longer a request, and that hint of threat makes the hairs on my neck spark to life once more. I lift my bottom tentatively and watch him watching me as he peels my trousers down my legs, knowing full well I left my panties in tatters on the supply room floor, and I’m naked underneath.
God, those eyes, searing right through me and liquefying my resolve. I just know I’m going to be leaving my very own Regan trail on his super shiny kitchen worktop.
“I can smell you, Regan,” he adds, as if he needs any more ammunition. His voice sounds like gravel, and the urgent need in his tone matches my rocketing desire. I’m already a goner. “I just have to taste you.” It really wasn’t a question. He pushes my legs wide, and I feel the cool breeze at my scorching centre, and since I hate myself to the max right now, my resolve just pitches the towel high in the air with a resounding, ‘What the hell…I want that too’. My wanton hips roll of their own volition, and he drops his chin and looks at me through impossibly long lashes, dragging his tongue so slowly across his plump bottom lip that I can almost feel that sweet pressure right there. His large hands push at the top of my thighs, making me as open wide as I’ve ever been, and he slides his hands under my ass, gripping and pulling me to the edge.
“Tell me to stop.” His eyes darken, and his jaw is still ticking, only now I know it’s with sexual tension. It’s like a palpable force between us, and when his lips curl in a knowing smile, I give him the answer he wants.
I remember this game.
“Stop.”
“No.” He grins, nefarious and determined, dropping to his knees and pulling me flush against his perfect mouth, and my eyes roll to the heavens at the first swipe of his wickedly talented tongue. I sink back in ecstasy, as if my bones have lost the ability to do the simplest task. His fingers massage the round flesh in his grip, and when I try to inch away from the rapidly building onslaught of unbearable pleasure, he tightens his hold. I know I’m going to have ten fingerprint bruises all over my bottom in the morning. I cry out when his teeth graze my clit, and he releases a toe-curling deep grumble against my sensitive core. I can feel the first tingle explode and ignite deep inside me, and I brace for the inevitable and unstoppable tidal wave of erotic pleasure that is rising rapidly. My poor desperate body is poised on the precipice. All I need is one carefully placed…
Oh, my god!
Make that three and one carefully placed finger. Joel slides three fingers deep inside me, and one he pushes just inside my ass. The tight ring of muscles contracts and fights the intrusion, but my body detonates. As the climax tears through me, my back curls high into a spine stretching arc; my knees fiercely clamp his around his neck like a big game trap, and my hands fist his thick dirty blond hair with enough strength to scalp him if he dares to move. The only part of him that moves in this perfect orgasmic moment is that delicious tongue of his, which just circles and laps at my convulsing centre until my utterly spent body floats back down to earth.
My legs fall lifelessly from his shoulders, and if I had any strength at all, I would raise my head and thank him, maybe even a round of applause would be in order.
My gratitude is fleeting, and this time, it’s not immediately replaced with regret, although I know that is only waiting on the sidelines to be tagged back in. No, right now, I have the feeling I’m being watched.
“Joel, really?” The woman’s voice is thick with disgust, and I only catch a glimpse of her half-naked form before the door on the far side of the living area slams shut.
Wait, didn’t he just come out of that room…Isn’t that his fucking bedroom? Is she his…
“Fuck!” He says the word before I get the chance. As speechless as I feel, I do manage to speak.
“Utter asshole.”
“So it would seem.” He pulls back and unceremoniously wipes me from his face, dragging his mouth over the skin high on the inside of my thigh before he stands and walks away.