CHAPTER TWELVE
I rushed through the day, working at nearly twice my regular pace. Instead of breaking for lunch, I had Stephanie pick me up a salad from the deli around the corner, then gnawed on it with one hand while I went over spreadsheets and typed with my free fingers. Several times lettuce dropped onto the keyboard. Eventually, I gave up and put the food aside to focus on working.
By five o’clock, everything I needed to finish was done, and I had a jump start on Tuesday’s list. The extra time meant I could pick up Starlet and then run home and shower after all.
My dog in tow, I freshened up quickly and then changed into a little black dress and a pair of red heels. Maybe the attire was a bit much for dinner at Seth’s house, but I didn’t care. I felt sexy, damn it. Tonight was my night.
Starlet and I climbed into the car, and I let the GPS guide me toward Seth’s apartment. I didn’t recognize the name of his street and hadn’t taken the time to look at a map.
Starlet looked anxiously out the window.
“It’s all right,” I promised her. “We’re going to Seth’s house.”
She turned her nervous eyes on me.
“There’s chicken there. Chicken.”
This time she perked up, her tail wagging at the speed of light.
As we drove, I wondered for the first time about Seth’s place. In all the time I had spent thinking about him, I’d never really been curious about his home. My thoughts were usually preoccupied with his smile, the sound of his voice, or the magic of his touch.
Would the neighborhood be a safe one? What kind of place could Seth afford? Living comfortably in the city wasn’t cheap. When I first moved to Chicago, I rented an apartment in Edgewater with two roommates and paid — what was for me at the time — out the ass. Unless you were making good money, living in even semi-luxury could be nearly impossible.
Did I need to worry about my vehicle out on the street? And what about the apartment — how tidy was Seth? And did he have roommates?
I cringed at that last one, imagined trying to have a romantic dinner in the corner of a small kitchen while some dude played Grand Theft Auto in his boxers on the couch. Despite all the topics we’d touched on over the weekend, Seth’s personal life mostly remained a closed box. He casually mentioned army friends, but that was about it.
My anxiety ratcheted up as Starlet and I got closer to our destination. Instead of the overpasses and abandoned buildings I’d half expected, though, the high-rise condos around us got nicer and nicer. We were at the edge of the Gold Coast historic district, I realized with a start. Not only was it one of the nicest places in the city to live, it was one of the most expensive.
The GPS pointed to a newer building set a bit farther back from the street than the ones around it. A drive led down into an underground parking lot. I pulled up and stopped at the gate, where a guard came over and tipped his hat at me.
I rolled my window down. “I’m here to see Seth Allman.”
The guard smiled. “Go right ahead and park anywhere you like.”
I did as he instructed, then hooked Starlet’s leash on her and took the elevator in the garage up to the seventh floor, as per Seth’s instructions in his text.
Everything about the building was shiny and brand spanking new, down to the buttons in the elevator and the wood paneling in the seventh-floor hallway. The air smelled fragrant from the flowers placed intermittently down the hall, and the polished floors reflected mine and Starlet’s images back at us.
I didn’t need to see Seth’s apartment to know he couldn’t pay for a place like this on a soldier’s wages. If he rented here, it probably cost him tens of thousands a month — an insane amount of money, in my opinion. He might as well buy a house with that kind of cash. And if he owned... then he’d dropped more than a few million on the place. Maybe five. Or seven.
Seven million dollars for a condo. I’d made about that much money in my short career, but I invested much of it. I couldn’t imagine dropping it all on a place to live.
So where did the money come from? Not from the check Uncle Sam sent each month. His clothes. His Jeep. All of his possessions seemed so every day. Then there was this...
I burned with a need to know where he got the moolah, but it was, of course, none of my business. And it wasn’t like I could find a way of asking without the question being rude. Suddenly I minded Seth’s aversion to talking about himself. The likelihood of him just being self-conscious decreased dramatically.
Did he have something to hide? A not so little tidbit connected to his living in such a luxurious building?
We took the corner and finally found his door. I knocked and then smoothed my hand over my hair, searching for any unruly strands. I listened for the sound of footsteps but heard nothing. Clutching on to Starlet’s leash, I looked down the hall at the doors spaced liberally apart. The homes hidden behind the walls weren’t small ones.
There was a noise on the other side of the door, and I turned back to face it just as it opened.
Seth appeared with a smile on his face. “Hey there.”
I couldn’t stop my own grin from forming. “Hi.”
“Come on in.”
Starlet pushed herself in ahead of me, her nose flush against the ground as she sniffed each inch of floor she could.
“You can let her off the leash,” Seth said. “She’ll be fine. There’s nothing out for her to get into.”
“All right.” I bent to unhook her. Free, she ran across the foyer and through one of several doorways. I took a small step toward the nearest doorway and saw a long row of windows.
Seth touched my elbow. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure,” I nodded.
He guided me through the doorway Starlet had darted through and into a living room — “living room” being a loose term for the space. The bar Seth went to in the corner wasn’t a portable station containing three choices of liquor. It was straight out of a restaurant with two long counters, nice bar stools and multiple shelves of alcohols and mixers on wall shelves. It was an actual bar. All he needed was a liquor license, and he was good to host game nights for the whole neighborhood.
Windows covered two of the walls, allowing the last bit of sunlight to fill the space. In addition to the pool table, there were two long leather couches. Starlet sat on the far one, looking comfortable and pleased with herself.
Most of the room contained empty space. Thanks to the exposed bricks it almost got away without having any art, but why would Seth even have such a giant living room? Was it just so he could play pool when he felt like it?
I’d been wrong with my estimation of the cost of the place. I didn’t know just how much Seth dished out to live in such luxury, but I’d certainly underestimated the number. My own home cost me a cool three million. At the time, I’d felt like I was one of the richest people in the world by acquiring it, though of course, that wasn’t the case. The greatest wealth in the world was under wraps. The cost of Seth’s place? Who knew? My numbered guess wasn’t anything more than just that.
“Is she all right up there?” I found myself asking, referring to Starlet.
“She’s fine.” Seth’s voice echoed through the cavernous room. “I’m not worried about her scratching the leather.”
I stared uncertainly at Starlet. Her claws likely would leave marks, but Seth’s tone held the carelessness of a college kid in a dorm room — a youthful free spirit living in the lap of luxury, having fun but not caring at all about what happened. Most people would flip to see a dog on their leather furniture.
“Quinn?”
I blinked and turned back to face him. “I’m sorry? What was that?”
“What would you like to drink?” His eyes sparkled. “Vodka cranberry?”
“Sure,” I grinned, not able to think about anything else but him when he looked at me like that. His eyes, his touch… I’d been fantasizing about them each spare second since we’d parted, and now I was finally here with him.
He finished mixing our drinks and then carried mine over to me. He looked so out of place in his t-shirt and jeans — the average Joe in the lap of luxury.
We settled down on the nearest couch and sipped our drinks.
“Your place is nice,” I said timidly. “I love the exposed brick.”
“Thanks.” He stared at me. A long moment went by. “I guess you’re wondering why I live here.”
I sighed in relief. “Yes. Sorry. Is it that obvious?”
He slowly shook his head. “No. But the truth is that I don’t bring a lot of people here because then I have to explain my circumstances to them.”
“You don’t have to,” I quickly said, my curiosity actually off the charts. “You don’t have to share anything with me that you don’t want to.”
“I want to.”
I gulped, the sensual quality of his words caressing me.
“I inherited a lot of money from my grandfather.”
“Oh,” I nodded, then laughed.
“What?”
“Well, the way you talked about having to explain things to people made me think you had a real bomb to drop or something.”
“Like I’m in the Mafia?”
“Yes,” I laughed. “Or are a high ranking member of the Illuminati. Though those two things would be pretty exciting, I’m glad they’re not the case.”
His mouth twitched upward. “Nope. Sorry. I’m just the heir to an oil and gas fortune.”
I studied his face, still trying to figure out why he kept this part of his life a secret. “That’s not something to be ashamed of.”
He inclined his head. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“You really feel like you can’t share that with your friends?”
His face scrunched up slightly as he thought about it. “Sharing it is one thing, but there’s a fine line between sharing and parading, and I don’t want to cross it. There’s no reason to flaunt my inheritance. I don’t exactly run in the most elite circle.” He smirked. “I don’t spend my weekends at galas or on a yacht. Most of my friends grew up like me and joined the army right out of high school. Most of them don’t even know I have money beyond the military.”
“So none of your friends have ever been here?”
“Only a few of them.”
I placed my cocktail down on the coffee table, too intrigued to even drink it. “Okay, so now I’m really interested. Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer of course. Just tell me to stop any time you want.”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “I suppose so.”
“If you had all this money why did you join the army? You said you didn’t want to go to college, so was that the main reason?”
“My grandfather set it up so that I wouldn’t get my inheritance till I turned twenty-five.”
“Oh… all right. Got it.” I peered at him.
“You can ask.”
“Why? Why wait till you were twenty-five?”
Seth gazed at the cushion between us. “He didn’t want me to be spoiled, to have everything handed to me. Not at first, anyway,” he added with a laugh. “He wanted me to struggle for a bit, become my own person through it all. He was great in that way.”
I put the pieces together. “So you didn’t grow up well off? If your grandfather gave you your inheritance, didn’t your parents have money?”
Seth swirled the ice in his glass. “No. My father and grandfather had a disagreement before I was born that resulted in my dad getting cut off indefinitely.”
“Wow,” I breathed.
“It’s semi-heavy.”
“But your grandfather sounds like a good man. He cares about you enough to...”
“He passed a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
Seth shifted his weight, moving a little closer to me. His arm fell against the back of the couch, his fingers coming to rest lightly against my neck. “Thank you. He really was great.”
“So that’s what you meant when you said most of your friends grew up like you. You meant middle class?”
“Right. A lot about my childhood was pretty typical for small town Illinois life. I went to a public school, lived in a small brick house, went to the YMCA on the weekends. The only difference was that on holidays my grandfather would pick me up in his private jet and fly me off to Europe to go skiing. At first, I would come home and tell my friends all about it, but by the time I hit middle school, I learned to shut up about the trips. Being the only kid going to Switzerland twice a year didn’t exactly help my street cred.”
I scoffed. “No, I would imagine not.”
His thumb rubbed slightly against my neck, making my head buzz, and tossing my capability to think out the window.
Numbed, I searched for something to say. “Thank you for telling me about this. I hope it’s not too much to share. I want to know about your life, of course, but I don’t want to be forceful.”
Suddenly he broke eye contact, looking to the other side of the room. “Has Starlet eaten?”
Had I said something wrong? He’d seemed so eager to share his story with me. I’d been merely thanking him for opening up.
“I have some shredded chicken breast for her,” he continued.
Starlet perked up, her head cocking in interest at her favorite word.
“Don’t even say that word unless you’re going to follow through,” I warned him. “That’s her favorite treat. She goes crazy for it. Although I think I did kind of promise it would be here waiting for her.”
Seth chuckled. “Luckily I’m a man of my word, and I can deliver the goods.”
“She did eat dinner, but she can have a little bit. Just like an ounce or two.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll go get my scale out.”
I laughed. “Sorry.”
He grinned. “I really do have a scale, don’t worry. I measure everything.”
He lightly squeezed the back of my neck and turned back to me. Our eyes reconnected, the brief uncomfortable moment vanishing. Perhaps I’d just imagined it.
“Chicken is good,” I said dumbly. When had I turned into a cave man? Me Quinn. Me like chicken.
Seth laughed and edged closer to me. “What else is good?” His hand slid down my neck, all the way to my lower back.
“You,” I breathed as his face came within an inch of mine.
My eyelids grew heavy, sagging to half-closed as Seth’s lips hovered near mine. His exhale kissed me first, warming my skin in preparation for contact. When his lips brushed mine, I sighed in near ecstasy.
His mouth pushed against mine, tender and sweet but also sure. Seth knew what he wanted, but he went slowly, only demanding a little bit from me at a time. His hand ran up my back to grasp the hair at the base of my neck. He curled it between his fingers, twisting it into a ball.
I pressed my weight forward, pushing my shoulder against his. Seth stopped kissing but didn’t move his face from mine.
“I think Starlet wants something,” he whispered against my mouth.
I turned my face just enough so I could see the dog staring at us from the other couch.
“You know what she wants,” I laughed.
“Mmm. We better give it to her then, so she doesn’t interrupt us.”
I licked my lips and rasped, “Okay.”
Taking my hand, Seth lifted me from the couch and led me out of the room. Starlet followed us to the kitchen, where her new best friend presented her with a little plate heaped with chicken breast. The second the plate hit the floor, Seth wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. Our mouths and hips collided. His hands free, he lifted me off the ground and pressed me against his waist. I wrapped my legs around him and pushed my hips tight against his. Our tongues intertwined, eager to taste each other. Seth broke off the kiss to bite my neck, and I groaned, letting my head drop to the side.
The room grew fuzzy as he carried me through the foyer and down a hallway. He kicked a door open and crossed a bedroom, then laid me down on the bed. Twilight entered through the open curtains, as the first artificial lights of the evening came on across the street.
His gaze burning down on me, Seth climbed onto the bed on his knees and slowly advanced on me. I watched him, barely breathing, tracking his every move.
When I could take it no longer, I reached up and grabbed his shirt, yanking him down and fully onto me.
He responded immediately with a hot kiss, his hands cupping my head and disappearing in my hair. I gasped into his mouth, the kiss sending so much pleasure through my body that it made my toes tingle. I worked my high heels off and kicked them onto the floor.
The movement of Seth’s lips was slow and steady as the twilight shone on my closed lids. His lips dipped down and found their way across my jaw and below my ear, then to the nape of my neck. I sighed as he sucked delicately on the skin there, pushing up the hem of my dress. The dress out of the way, he pushed my panties to the side and flicked his fingers against my skin, making me jerk with pleasure.
I muttered something that even I didn’t understand. Seth chuckled slightly and yanked my underwear off the rest of the way, pulling it down my thighs and over my feet. Lowering his head, he trailed his gentle breath over my inner thigh, taking it up, and up, and up.
I squirmed as the warm air hit my most sensitive spots. Sensing my ticklish moment, Seth grabbed my hips in his hands and pushed them down against the bed, holding me in place. His mouth was hot and soft between my legs, and as he licked and sucked, the pleasure doubled each second. In only a moment, I was crying out as an orgasm burst through me. Seth kept sucking, never releasing his grip on my hips, and even when I laughed and pushed against him, he didn’t stop.
I gave in to the uncomfortable feeling, happy just to have his touch, and when the pleasure streaked through my body again, it was even stronger than it had been before. I came a second time, gasping and clutching at Seth’s shoulders. My moans seemed to invigorate him because before my legs even stopped shaking, he was moving forward with a growl.
He broke off to pull off his shirt and then I helped him take off his pants as he rolled on a condom, then pushing them down as our lips pressed feverishly together once again. His hard dick brushed against my inner thigh, and then it slipped between my folds, hitting the right spot, deep in me immediately.
“Seth,” I gasped, burying my head in his chest and clutching at his shoulders.
He muttered something into my neck that sounded vaguely like my name, sweat rolling off his back and slipping beneath my palms. The movement of his hips was slow and steady, and he seemed to read the pleasure building in me, knowing when to give more force and when to back off.
As the ecstasy took me over again, I dug my nails into his side, yelling into his chest. He kept going, driving into me deeper and faster until it seemed he would meet his own release any moment.
Instead, he slowed, pushing my knee up and accessing a new angle.
I gasped from a mixture of pleasure and fatigue. He kept going, picking up the pace then bringing it back down, over and over. My legs ached from being spread so wide for so long.
Suddenly, Seth pulled out and flipped me over and onto my side. A hard smack sounded, immediately followed by a tart sting on my butt cheek. I barely had time to process what was happening before he spanked me again.
I jerked from the strike, arching my back to get away from him. He hooked one arm over my chest, though, holding me in place. His mouth came down on my neck to suck and bite there. Sweet pleasure filled me, flowing from his mouth on my neck to my belly. Seth hit me again, and this time it felt delicious. Another spank and the sting mixed with the pleasure from his pounding into me. The pleasures layered on top of each other, stronger and stronger.
Seth grabbed my breast and tweaked it, twisting the nipple between his fingers. It hurt. Bad.
And damn it was good.
I screamed out, the orgasm racking my body. Seth groaned, releasing deep into me.
I gasped for air as I stared out the open window, the end of our second romp in the sheets much like the first one.
Seth turned me over onto my back and kissed me deeply. I waited for the kiss to end, but it went on and on, slow then more intense. I grabbed his hair, testing its weight and thickness between my fingers. His palms ran over my shoulders and down my torso, lavishing attention on each inch of my body.
We kissed and kissed. Eventually, my growling stomach broke the mood.
Seth broke away with a laugh. Propping his elbow on the bed, he rested his chin in his hand and looked down at me. “I guess it’s dinner time, huh?”
I shrugged. “Got any of that chicken left?”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “For you, I think we can do better than that.”