Page 85 of Rapunzel Is Losing It

“Breakfast?”

“Can we just stay here for a bit?”

“Of course.”

“There’s something you should know.” Cordelia untangled her legs from mine and sat up. She straddled one of my thighs, and I flashed back to her birthday, when she’d ridden my leg and had come all over my jeans. Except this was better, because she was still naked, and I would never get tired of this. Her body was all soft curve, smooth skin, and fine blonde hairs that made her glow in the sun like a goddamn angel. “It’s about Silas.”

My mood plummeted. “Don’t tell me.”

“What?”

“You’re naked in bed with me, and you need to tell me about another man? I don’t think that’s something I want to hear.”

“I don’t- that’s not- I mean, Silas and I aren’t-”

I grabbed her by the neck and yanked her down to me, stifling her words with my mouth. She tried to jerk back - and moaned against my lips when she realized I had her in a death grip. Her tongue melted against mine, her hips tilting desperately for friction. Fucking hell. My girl liked to be roughed around a little. No wonder she hadn’t kept it together on the treadmill. I’d been too nice.

Without giving her a warning, I tossed her over. Her back hit the mattress, air rushing from her lungs. Positioned above her, I jerked her knee up and dipped one finger back into her warm pussy. Silky and wet, and pulsing for me.

“Victor,” she whimpered, “please, I just need you to lis- oh god.”

“Mention another man again when you’re in bed with me, and I’ll ruin you, Cordelia. I don’t share.”

“Fuck you,” she hissed but despite her harsh words, she latched onto my shoulders and thrust her hips against my hand, sliding deeper onto my finger.

“You’re already doing a good job at that.”

Whatever retort she came up with died on her lips the moment I rolled my thumb over her clit. I watched her flushed face in fascination, tracking all the little reactions I could draw from her with my hand. And just when it looked like she’d caught her breath again, I sank my teeth over her nipple. Cordelia unraveled beneath me.

She could talk a mile a minute and had more thoughts zapping through her brain simultaneously than I would ever comprehend, but when she came, she was all sound. No words, barely even my name. Just soft moans and ragged breaths. And when the trembling stopped, that little hitch in the back of herthroat, as if her lungs were trying to gulp down more air than they could hold.

“We should have been doing this for the last six years,” I said, smoothing hair from her sweaty forehead.

She giggled, but froze to watch me suck my finger into my mouth. I wasn’t sure what was better, her sweet taste, or her wide-eyed blush. “Victor?”

“Yes, zhizn’ moya?”

“You need to let me get this thought out, okay? Be patient with me.”

“What?”

“I asked Silas for help- stop making that face.” She clutched my jaw, and I forced myself to breathe and wait. “In a few days, there’s going to be aleak,”she made air quotes around the word, “of footage from the video shoot. Of you and me. It’s not much because I initially asked him not to film you. But with my campaign out there, and you back in the octagon, we have enough name recognition for the leak to draw attention.”

“What the fuck?” I sat back on my heels, raking my hands through my hair. “This has to be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

“Excuse me?” She scooted up and grabbed a pillow to clutch over her bare body as she stared me down.

“People are going to go bat shit. Best case scenario, they’ll treat you like a fucking news story. You’re already risking your privacy with this campaign, and now you’re publicly mixed upwith meon top of that? Are you trying to put a target on your back?”

“No,” she swallowed, “I’m trying to keep you alive. If you disappeared again, that would be on brand. You’ve done it before. Nobody would look at your uncle twice. I know this isn’t much. But it’s a story. The heiress who disappeared and the athlete who disappeared. Turns out, they’ve been cohabitating.It will generate enough attention for now. People will be watching what you do, where you go, who you spend time with.”

“For fuck’s sake. I don’t know whether to be mad at you or kiss you,” I sighed, “I’m supposed to keep you safe. My name next to yours is going to be more than gossip, Cordelia. It’s a liability.”

“I know.”

“My family-”

“I know, Victor,” she swallowed. “It came down to my comfort zone or you. I chose you.”