Page 7

7

Taylor

I laugh it off like he’s teasing, because he is teasing, right? I mean, he has to be teasing. He knows as well as I do we can’t do anything, and that sudden kiss was only because his grandmother was watching. Sure it was the hottest kiss I’d ever experienced, and sure it left me achy and needy and confused, but it was just for show, which means I need to get my hormones under control. I almost snort as I continue to laugh, because when it comes to improvising, no lessons were needed in that moment.

The man kissed me like it was his damn job.

As I practically bend over laughing, Elias goes statue still, just staring at me as I make a fool of myself. Just as I pull myself together, my laugh about to die down, he grins from ear to ear, letting me know he was playing. Thank God.

Or not.

He walks away and opens the door. “Let’s get inside.” I step up to him on wobbly legs, and he adjusts the towel around me to keep me warm. The house is quiet when we step in, the only sound coming from a TV in the back room.

“’Night,” he calls out, and I do the same. His parents both return the good night and wish us a good sleep as we head upstairs. I’m still shivering, but now I think it’s because I’m about to crawl into bed with the man who was just joking about us having…sex.

Ack.

“Go jump in the shower first,” he tells me as he knots the towel around his waist.

“I’ll be fast.” I hurry to the shower and quickly turn it on. Once it’s hot, I jump in and remember I left my body scrub in my bag. I pick up a bottle from the shower tray and pop it open. God, it smells like Elias. If I wash myself with this and go to bed, I’m going to smell like him all night and that’s a temptation a girl doesn’t need.

But, since I have no choice, I pour it into my hands and run them over my body. The pleasant smell envelopes me and while I want to linger, Elias is waiting to wash up, not to mention the fact that a big bed awaits us. I rinse off, grab a towel and since I forgot to bring pajamas into the bathroom with me, I wrap it around myself. Opening my cosmetic bag, I grab my toothbrush and paste, quickly cleaning my teeth. Once I’m done, I step into the other room.

With his back to me, Elias flips through a book, the muscles in his broad shoulders moving in a way that’s downright distracting. I’m not even trying to pretend I’m not staring. How could I? He might be almost ten years older than me, but he’s in his prime, and, dammit, I want him.

Suddenly, he turns around, faster than I can react. I whip around to face my dresser, heart hammering like I’ve just been caught stealing one of his prized trophies from the shelf.

“That was fast,” he says.

“Low maintenance,” I quip, yanking open a drawer, but my voice comes out low, husky—basically a dead giveaway. I clear my throat, pretending it’s no big deal.

“I’ve always liked that about you.”

I freeze for half a second, then snatch out my pajama shorts and a T-shirt. “Oh yeah?”

“Not much into drama,” he murmurs, and there’s something shadowed in his tone, a flicker of a story that’s been kept from me.

“Funny,” I say, trying to keep it light. “I study drama, and backstage, I’m a complete diva.” To prove my point, I wave my pajamas wildly.

He chuckles, and it’s the kind of sound that makes my knees feel like jelly. “I have no doubt you’re easy to work with.”

Work.

I’ll let you two get to work.

Oh, Grandma, you sly, meddling genius…get out of my head.

I turn back around, and his gaze drops, right to the knot in my towel. My breath catches as he jerks a thumb toward the bathroom. “I’ll, uh… shower. So, you can get dressed.”

I nod, trying not to combust as he walks into the bathroom and closes the door with a soft click . The moment he’s gone, I take in the “pillow wall” separating the bed and groan inwardly. Kill me now.

I throw on my pajama shorts and T-shirt at warp speed and pick a random side of the bed, flopping onto the right side Maybe if I fake sleep hard enough, I’ll actually fall asleep. But who am I kidding?

The bathroom door creaks open, and my heart starts racing again. No footsteps. Is he hesitating? Trying to figure out if I’m awake? My eyelids are squeezed so tight I’m halfway to a migraine.

A second later, the room goes dark, and I hear his quiet movements. Was that his towel hitting the floor? Oh gawd, does he sleep naked? But then I hear his dresser drawer open and a second later, the bed dips under his weight. I’m trying to breathe normally, but when I hear, “Hey,” I know I’ve failed miserably.

My eyes snap open in the dark. “Hey,” I manage.

“You okay, T?” His voice is a whisper now, close enough to send a shiver down my spine.

“I’m fine,” I murmur, but my pulse tells a different story.

A pause, then, “I can sleep on the floor if this is too weird for you.”

This is something, all right, but I’m not sure I’d use the word weird.

I roll toward him, staring at the pillows in the half-assed wall. “We’re adults, Elias. We share a house and a bathroom back home. One weekend sharing a bed won’t kill us. It’s not like…” My voice dips to barely a whisper. “It’s not like anything’s going to happen.”

“Right. Nothing’s going to happen,” he echoes, his voice calm, too calm. But then in a much quieter voice he adds, “We can’t let anything happen.”

“I mean, we can. We just shouldn’t.”

What the hell did you just say, girl?

The words aren’t even fully out of my mouth when, in one quick move, he snatches the pillow separating us and tosses it aside. My eyes widen as they adjust to the dark, and I catch the way his gaze burns into mine, full of questions and something dark, something dangerous, something that stirs the need inside me.

“What did you just say?” he asks, his voice an octave deeper.

Elias unleashed…it’s something I want, not only for me but for him, although maybe that’s for another night. Another woman.

“I was thinking…” My voice wavers as my brain screams for me to stop.

Abort mission, Taylor. Abort.

But my body is not listening. Nope, it has an agenda and is sticking to it. Heat blooms everywhere, pooling low, and before I can second-guess myself, my hands tug the rest of the pillows out from between us, the barrier gone completely.

“During drama lessons, we were always taught that to nail a role, you have to practice. Rehearse until it’s second nature.” His legs move, brush against mine, and his fingers slide closer, grazing my stomach. Each needy touch gives me courage to continue. “If we want your family to think we’re intimate, then maybe we should practice… you know…”

“Being intimate,” he murmurs. His fingers tug at my T-shirt, and I can feel the tension radiating from him. His breathing shifts, slower and heavier, as his eyes lock onto mine like I’m the only thing in the world. Wow, being Elias’s sole focus is…incredible.

“T…” His voice cracks slightly, my name a warning and a plea all at once.

“In answer to your earlier question…” My heart pounds so loudly I’m sure he can hear it. “Yes, I think.”

For a heartbeat, the room is so quiet I can hear the faint rush of blood in my ears. Then, I see it, the moment my words hit him. His hesitation melts away, replaced by something primal, something so needy it steals my breath.

He pulls me to him in one swift motion, his hands sure, his gaze devouring me with a kind of hunger I have never seen before. Fear and excitement tighten in my chest, and while it’s all overwhelming, I know I want this.

Urgent hands unceremoniously shove the blankets away from my body, a low growl rumbling in his chest as his eyes rake over me. His dark, intense gaze pins me in place, and it’s all I can do to pull in a breath. I sink deeper into the mattress, my pulse pounding in my ears, as his hand lands firmly on my stomach.

Thick fingers curl into my T-shirt, bunching the fabric in his fist. The material bunches, and as the air rushes over my bare flesh, it sends a thrill down my spine. He lifts my shirt higher, and wets his lips, like he’s preparing to devour me and I can’t wait.

I squirm as his eyes take in their fill, and my shorts ride low on my hips. My movement draws his attention, and he lets the shirt fall from his grasp, his fingertips dragging against my skin as they make their way to the elastic band. A small sound catches in my throat as the rough pads of his fingers burn everywhere they touch.

His head lifts, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that takes my breath away. There’s no question who’s in charge now. In this moment, he owns the room, the air, my every heartbeat. I was the one taking care of him since arriving, but the power shift is palpable, and it makes me feel alive in a way I’ve never known. I’ve fought so hard for control, for independence, since I arrived in Boston, but here, in his childhood bedroom in California, I want nothing more than to give myself to this. To him.

“T,” he murmurs, his voice rough with need, and then his lips press against my stomach, just above the waistband of my shorts. I gasp, the sound hanging heavy in the air between us. He glances up again, his gaze searching mine, checking in on me. Since I can’t find words, I lift my hips, and grip his hair, guiding his mouth back to my body.

A small chuckle rumbles in his throat and vibrates through me. As I tremble, he shifts, pressing a thick thigh between my legs, slowly forcing them apart. His eyes hold promise when they meet mine, and if I could articulate, I’d tell him to hurry.

The next thing I know, he’s over me, his weight pressing me deeper into the mattress. His hands find mine, and he laces our fingers together as he lifts them above my head. Moving his hips, his hard cock straining against his boxers, he grinds against my tight clit, and my body ignites.

I wrap my legs around him, holding him to me as his mouth finds mine. Parting my lips, welcoming him into my mouth, my body, I move beneath him and he deepens the kiss, devouring me with his tongue.

“Fuck,” he murmurs against my lips as he grinds against my core.

My God, if he doesn’t touch me soon, I’m going to shatter. “Elias, please,” I whisper, the needy desperation in my voice doing something to him.

Answering my plea, he begins to trail down my body, leaving a blazing path of hot, open-mouthed kisses along my throat and collarbone. When his lips close over my nipple through the thin fabric of my shirt, he growls again, a deep, primal sound that sends shivers racing through me until they settle in my sex.

“Off,” he orders, his voice a rough command. Before I can react, his arm slides around me, pulling me up as he leans back onto his heels between my spread legs, his hands firm and steady as they guide me. “Arms up,” he says. I instantly do as he asks, my arms shaky as I lift them, my chest rising and falling with each labored breath.

The moment he peels the shirt over my head and I sit before him bare, his lids drop. A new kind of look comes over his face, one of softness and awe, maybe even pure adoration. It steals my breath. I have never in my life been on the receiving end of a look like that before. Everything in his eyes makes me feel wanted…worshipped.

In this moment, as he looks his fill, there’s no question. This man is going to take everything I’m offering…and then some.

And I might never be the same again…