I knew Mia’s lips would be soft and damn if they’re not just as I imagined—a cushion of cashmere.

She’s got me transfixed.

She smells of honey and lemon, and for the longest time I keep my lips pressed to hers and do nothing more. I shouldn’t do more. I shouldn’t be doing this. But soon I’m making more moves, unable to resist this beautiful, delicate woman.

I touch her cheek, softer than even her lips. At first, I just brush her with the tips of my fingers but her skin is warm and soft and I need to feel more. I cup her face with my palm and pull her a little closer. I step into her, our bodies a mere inch from touching. I push past her lips with my tongue, reaching inside her to taste the sauvignon blanc on her wet tongue. She tastes as sweet as I thought, but I have to stay in control and not go too far. Not with this girl, anyway.

Her tongue moves tentatively against mine, unsure. I pull back and take her face in my both my hands. I look at her—her lips, her eyes, and I feel her breath on my face. She’s nervous. Excited too, but nervous.

“It’s okay,” I tell her. “Do you want me to stop?”

She shakes her head no, apparently unable to speak.

I run my fingers through her hair, around to the back of her neck. I pull her lips to mine again, kissing her deeply. She’s moving her tongue against mine, tentatively. Her hands are still pressed to the brick wall behind her, and I’m finding that once I start kissing her, I don’t want to stop.

I move closer to her until my body is pressed against hers. My cock is straining, and as I press into her it only makes me want to do more. Of course, I have control but I still want a little more of her…or maybe a lot more.

I move my lips to kiss her neck. She turns her head, exposing more of herself. When her arms wrap around my neck, I almost explode. She wants me. I give her neck little bites, wanting to eat her up, and she shows her appreciation by sucking in her breath, her fingers digging into the back of my neck.

I step back to look at her—all of her. Her lips are red from our kisses, her eyes glassy but focused on me.

“Look at you,” I say, running my hands down her sides, over her hips. “Do you know how sexy you are? This skirt, this tight little top.” I let my fingers trail across the very tops of her breasts but go no further, even as she sucks in her breath, giving an almost imperceptible push toward me.

“No, I’m not,” she says, but I think she’s playing coy. She might truly be a virgin but I’m still not sure if I’m buying that, considering how smart and beautiful she is. How could she never have… Jesus if I keep going I’ll only make myself crazier. Touching her body through the thin fabric of her tank is hard enough.

I stroke the rounded edge of her full hips and slowly move close again, my hand going around her backside to cup the fullness of her ass. We are both breathing heavy, my dick begging for more, and I jerk Mia’s body into mine, then push her up against the wall, pressing my dick harder into her. I crash my mouth to hers, our tongues slipping across one another, going deeper, taking in more. My hands explore all parts of her ass, her hips, the fronts of her thighs. I reach down to the hem of her skirt and edge it up, testing her, seeing how far she’ll let me go. She doesn’t stop me.

I move her skirt just high enough so that I can rub that sensitive skin at the tops of her inner thighs, just below her need. I go higher and let my fingers brush her cunt, covered in thin lacy fabric. I can practically feel the heat coming from her.

“Weston,” she says with a tinge of urgency. “What if someone sees us?”

We look down the alley toward the street, where people are streaming by, not one of them looking our way.

“No one even knows this alley exists,” I say. “Look at them all. Not one person is looking…” I watch her face as I run middle finger across the length of her slit, pressing into her so that I can feel her hole. I know she’s soaking wet.

She lets out the smallest little kitten moan and leans her head back against the wall. I take that as a sign to move forward.

What I’d like to do is take my dick out of my pants and shove it up in her wet pussy. The thought makes me even harder, makes me want her even more.

I move her panties aside with my finger and immediately feel how right I was—she is fucking soaked. How could that club not turn her on? How could our closeness not make her hot? And she is, so fucking hot.

When I slip my finger inside her hole it is practically sucked up inside her, as if her body wants mine as much as I want hers. She is so tight and her cunt absolutely hugs my finger, coating me in her juices. I pump her a few times and soon she’s digging her fingers into my shoulders, holding on tight.

Her eyes dart to the sidewalk, so I move my body closer to her and wall, shielding her from anyone who might possibly look down here. I wrap my free arm around her waist, pressing my hard dick on her thigh as my finger continues to find utter delight in her core.

As I fuck her with my finger I kiss her neck and give her earlobe a little suck, my teeth scraping it slightly as I pull it out of my mouth. Mia’s panting—which she is trying so desperately to restrain—is like music to my ears, making me push my finger in deeper, leave it inside her longer, exploring her from the inside before pulling it back out.

I haven’t even touched her clit yet and she already sounds like she could come. I picture it, her hard little nub of pleasure, and soon I’m picturing myself on my knees, here in this alley, with my face between her legs eating her out, licking her cunt until she screams from total pleasure. My finger fucks her faster, and I’m pushing my hard dick into her thigh, needing more of her, and that’s when I know I’ve already gone too far.

Abruptly I step away from her. Mia’s face, pink with exertion, looks at me questioningly. Her expression turns to humiliation when she sees the look in my eyes.

“Mia, I shouldn’t have done this,” I say, as she tugs down her skirt. Fuck, if she starts crying I don’t know what I’ll do. I used to have it in me to hold and care for someone—but that was years ago, in my other life…

That version of me no longer exists. It’s been replaced by someone darker, jaded, haunted. This girl deserves so much more than I could ever give her.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asks, a quiver in her voice.

“No. Not at all,” I say. “I just think it’s best if we stop.”

I reach into my pocket and take out some money. I peel off a hundred dollar bill. I take Mia’s hand, still warm from holding on to me, and press it in her palm.

“Can you get yourself home?” I ask her.

She nods yes, crossing her arms over her stomach like she’s cold, or maybe feeling sick. I can’t look at her anymore. I’ll break if I do.

“Okay,” I say, turning to walk away. “Take care.”

When I step to the curb my car magically appears. I hop in the back and I make the driver wait to be sure she gets in a cab and drives safely away. Only then will I finally relax.

She had my head spinning, and not just there in the alley. Having a drink with her at the bar was an exercise in keeping focus. Hell, even this morning in my office I couldn’t help but banter with her, push her buttons and tease her.

But the last thing I need, or can handle, is some innocent girl new to the city and worse, a virgin. Someone so inexperienced—in life and in bed—could only mean trouble for me. I can’t get involved. Complicating things further, I had planned on hiring her. Sure, she was a bit freaked out by the club but someone that unfamiliar with a subject is the kind of person who is going to ask all the right questions, the ones that readers really want to know. She’ll assume nothing, which is the only way to report.

Sleeping with Mia could only lead to disaster on so many different levels.

* * *

Later that night, once I’ve showered and gotten in bed, the old memories from my past try to flood my mind, those memories I have spent years pushing down.

The fire, my family, and losing everything.

Losing her….

My mind drifts to that sweet girl I called my own when I was a naïve kid in high school. Losing her set me on track that I intend to stay on—one in which I don’t get involved in any romantic relationship. And sure, the alley outside a BDSM club isn’t exactly romantic, but I know enough about myself to know that there’s something about Mia Cassidy that is pulling me toward her, and I have to fight my instinct and keep my distance. It’s the only way I’ll keep my sanity.

After all, I just bought a billion-dollar company. I have more important things to worry about than the new junior reporter for Blush magazine.