Emily stepped out of my grasp. She glanced around the room as she moved toward the bed. She’d never been inside my bedroom before. Having her here felt like the ultimate transgression. The ultimate thrill.

The housekeeper had turned on the lamps on either side of my bed. Their warm glow filled the room.

My eyes raked over Emily’s backside. Her gown rippled over her hips and ass as she moved. I couldn’t wait to tear it off her.

My dick throbbed.

I crossed the room in one, two impatient strides. I grabbed Emily’s hand and spun her around to face me, pulling her close.

I felt angry. I felt aroused.

I felt like giving in.

So I bent my neck and pressed my mouth to hers.

Stars exploded behind my closed eyelids as Emily rose to meet my kiss. Her mouth was warm and soft. So bloody soft. I put my hands on her face, angling my head to meet her mouth. I put my hands on her neck, drew them through her hair, all the while kissing her, tasting her with my tongue, drawing her bottom lip between my teeth.

Emily moaned, pressing her hips into mine. My body was screaming and my blood was pounding and my desire for this girl ran over, filling every square inch of me with acute need. I’d fought this feeling for so long. I didn’t want to fight it anymore.

She tasted like fire and sex. Her kiss hinted at a wildness and a willingness I’d fantasized about.

Her fingers curled around the lapels of my jacket. My heart thumped. She was scared out of her bloody mind. I was scared. But that only made the kiss sweeter. More intense.

I let her mouth go to kiss her jaw, her chin. Her neck. She gasped, her fingers moving into my hair.

“Kit,” she breathed. “Oh, Kit. Please.”

“Trust me,” I murmured against her skin.

Emily pulled back, just enough so that she could meet my eyes. She searched them.

“Just for tonight,” I said. “You have to trust me tonight.”

A beat of silence passed between us.

“All right,” she said. Her voice was thin. Rough.

I nodded at a chair beside the bed. “Sit,” I said, tugging at my bowtie.

Emily did as I told her, her dress settling around her in a silver puddle as she sat. Her slit parted over her knee, revealing her thigh.

My mouth watered. The need between my legs pounded.

I ripped off my bowtie, shrugged out of my jacket. I removed my cufflinks and rolled my sleeves up. Emily looked at me.

“Spread your legs,” I said.

Her eyes went wide, flicking with something dark and fiery. Slowly, her knees fell apart. Her slit widened, but not enough for me to see her.

Emily watched as I stepped forward and reached down, curling my fingers around the velvet bow at her hip. I gave it a short, impatient tug. The bow unraveled; the front of her dress fell apart, revealing her black lacy bra and matching thong.

My heart stalled inside my chest. I licked my lips.

“Move your thong to the side,” I said.

She swallowed. Then she reached down and moved the strip of fabric aside with her first two fingers.

I stared. Her pussy was just as perfect as I remembered it. All pinks and reds, slick with her arousal. I wanted to see her spread wide open, I wanted to see her lips spread around my dick as I made love to her.

Putting my hands on the arms of the chair, I got on my knees.

* * *

I wanted to run.

I wanted to hide.

I never bared myself like this to guys. Not since Luke. It made me vulnerable. It opened me up to hurt.

I was so scared of getting hurt again. And doing this with Kit all but guaranteed that I’d be left bleeding. Our story did not have a happy ending. I’d known that from the beginning.

But I trusted him. Like an idiot, I trusted him, and I’d do anything—I’d give up anything—if it meant I could have one night, just one night, with him. When this was done and our fake engagement was over, I’d go back to my usual meaningless encounters with guys I picked up in bars.

Tonight, though. Tonight I’d let Kit touch me like he loved me. I’d let him take me like I loved him. I’d pretend that this was the beginning of our happily ever after.

I’d pretend that fairy tales really did come true.

Kit’s eyes met mine. They were so blue and so pretty and so full of feeling. My heart clenched. So did the desire between my legs.

He hitched one of my legs over his shoulder. I was spread wide, totally exposed. The scent of my arousal hung between us.

Ducking his head, Kit pressed a kiss onto my clit. Sensation, blinding and tight, bolted through me. The muscles in my calves bunched.

“This”—I drew a breath between my teeth— “is everything—”

The words stalled in my throat as he ran his tongue over and around my clit. It felt hot. Soft. Perfect. I bucked against him, raising my hips to meet his mouth, and he growled, a dark, rumbling sound.

Balancing himself on his knees, Kit licked and teased and bit me until I writhed beneath him. My body was pulled taut as a bowstring, begging for release. The first flutters of sensation tightened between my legs.

Keeping his mouth on my clit, he sunk one finger inside me, then another. The stretch of my pussy around him was painfully sweet. Sliding his free hand back to cup my ass, he lifted me off the chair, spreading me wider against his mouth. I dug my fingers into his hair, mussing it, pulling it.

He devoured me. He tasted me slowly, thoroughly, his tongue and fingers moving in tandem. I was so wet, so swollen, that he moved easily in and over and out of me.

“You’re close,” he murmured. “Your cunt—it’s tightening around my fingers. Feel that?”

I nodded, closing my eyes. I was losing control. I had to surrender to him. At this point, I didn’t have a choice.

He sucked on my clit, hard. I cried out, begged him for more. I rolled my hips. He nipped at my clit with his teeth. The pain—the sweetness—it was unbearable.

“Why do you have to be so good at this?” I breathed.

I felt his lips moving into a smile against my clit. “Why do you have to taste so good, love?”

Love. He’d called me that when he’d tucked me in last night. It made me feel adored. Safe. Happy.

Sensation spiraled and tightened between my legs. It hurt, this hurt, Kit was hurting me and I loved it. I watched as his head moved up and down, slowly, so slowly. It was erotic and lewd and lovely, all at once.

He was making me feel everything, all at once.

I screwed my eyes shut as the wave approached. I was on the edge, it was coming, I was coming—

Pulses of heat and light and sweetness tore through me. I cried out, powerless to control myself, my body arching off the chair. My legs shook. My heart pounded. I gasped for breath as the waves kept coming, pulling me under, drowning me in such exquisite release that for a second I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

I pulsed against his lips, around his fingers. I sputtered, I gasped.

I opened my eyes and saw Kit watching me, a pained look in his eyes. I felt that pain, too, right in the center of my chest.

We were in over our heads. But it was too late to do anything about it now.