Page 45 of The Masks We Wear (Satan’s Angels #1)

He smiles weakly and it looks pained in a way. “For a long time, I didn’t think she would ever forgive me. I thought she hated me for leaving her with our mother.”

I tilt my head, “You left her?”

He squeezes his eyes shut as if the memory causes emotional turmoil, “When I turned eighteen I enlisted in the army. I wanted to be independent, free of my mother. We just weren’t getting along at the time at all and I made an impulsive decision to sign the contract and I remember the day I left, my mother couldn’t even be bothered to say goodbye to me.

Lucy was absolutely devastated. She was only three at the time but I thought the older she got, the more she would grow to resent me. ”

“You were wrong, Harvey. She loves you,” I reassure him again, hoping the repetition will stick.

He gives me a look of exhaustion. “She didn’t for a while. I was away for years and she was stuck with my mom. It worked for me, I liked being alone, living my own life for me. But every day, I felt the guilt grow for leaving her alone.”

“It wasn’t your responsibility to raise Lucy. It was your mother’s. You shouldn’t have felt guilty for living your own life,” I say emotionally.

He shakes his head, “I know that now. I felt guilt at the time,” he throws his head back in a gesture of being mentally tired.

“I left the army when I was twenty-three. I missed Lucy too much and I knew I would later regret not being in her life, in watching her grow. She was eight when I came back and it took her months to forgive me. It was a lot of work, a lot of bribing her with her favorite toys and candy, but eventually she did. When she did, I was onto the next thing, making money. I started up my security company and from there it took off. I was a military guy through and through and it showed in my work ethic and business ethics. My company got so big and then one day I decided to take a step back. I was already a multi-millionaire at the time and I was only working to grow more funds. I sold the company for a ridiculously large amount of money so that I could do what I’m doing now. ”

I bat my eyelashes at him in an attempt to lighten the mood, “Babysit little old me?”

He breathes a laugh, “Yes, you and all the other mentally deranged celebrities whose managers call me as a cry for help.”

I swat his arm playfully, “Hey! I’m not mentally deranged. I’m just…eccentric.”

He kisses my head and laughs, “You’re definitely something. I’ve never met anyone like you and I never will again.”

“I’m one of a kind,” I preen.

“That you are.”

I want to learn every facet of information about this man. “So what’s your long term plan? After you get sick of babysitting mentally deranged people like me, of course.”

He grins as he shakes his head, “I have no clue,” he shrugs.

I raise a surprised brow. “Wow. Harvey Taylor with no plan, no organization. Are you feeling unwell?” I tease, pressing the back of my palm against his forehead in a show of checking his temperature.

Harvey nudges my shoulder with his, “I’m feeling just fine, thank you.”

I shift my tone, my energy becoming serious, “Harvey,” I give him a warning that whatever I’m about to say is going to be deep with just my tone.

He gives me his full attention. “I’m really sorry your father left you.

You didn’t deserve that and you also didn’t deserve your mother placing so much responsibility on you.

You’re worthy of so much and deserving of so much because as much as you try to hide it, I know there’s a big heart inside that ice cold chest of yours and you love so deeply and fiercely.

I don’t know if anyone has ever said this to you before, but I’m proud of you and how far you’ve come even though we haven’t known each other long,” I convey as much conviction and emotion into my words as I can, hoping it’ll help heal his bleeding heart even if it’s only by a small amount.

He just stares at me with eyes full of surprise.

He opens his mouth to speak but closes it a second later, the words not quite finding a way out of him.

He grabs my jaw before I can anticipate his movement and kisses me fiercely.

I kiss him back with just as much fire and we melt into each other completely.

In a matter of moments, we’re a mess of wandering hands, awkward positions, and gasps of breath.

He lifts me off the bench and lays me on top of the piano, stripping my clothes off my body.

My heel lands on the keys, an off key melody echoing through the studio walls.

He bares my body to him completely, my breasts on display with my nipples taught with need.

I already feel warmth spreading at my center and I’m about to beg him for some kind of release when he beats me to it, taking his already hard cock out of his slacks and pressing the tip at my entrance.

He slams into me in one thrust and my back arches off the piano at the familiar feeling of being full of him.

He pulls my hips closer to him, my ass hanging off the piano and I move my hands, desperate for something to cling on to, but my clammy palms just slide around the piano lid. I moan as he pounds in to me, “Fuck, Harvey!”

His head lowers and he sucks a nipple into his mouth, one hand lowering to stimulate my clit. I feel overwhelmed with the sensations, so much so that he wrings an orgasm out of me in minutes. I tighten around him and he groans, “You’re so fucking perfect, baby.”

This sex between us feels so much more intimate than anytime before.

All the other times we’ve fucked it was just that, fucking.

This time feels different, it almost feels like we’re making love to each other and the thought scares me.

I already know where my emotions are heading towards him but he’s made it so clear he has no intention of sticking around after the contract ends.

I’d do well to remember that because I’m falling for a man I can’t have in another three weeks.

He plays my body like an instrument, another orgasm washing through me, consuming me as heat spreads through my veins like wildfire. His movements stop as my walls tighten around him again and his cock twitches inside me, his orgasm finding him too.

We both gasp for air, recovering from the aftershocks of our orgasms and he slowly pulls out of me. “Fuck,” he mutters almost sounding annoyed when he’s no longer inside.

I sit up, “What’s wrong?” I ask, confused.

Did I do something wrong? Why does he seem annoyed?

He’s staring at my pussy with worry etched into his features like charcoal on paper.

My eyes widen when I realize what’s got him twisted up.

We were so caught up in each other that we both didn’t realize he never put a condom on.

His release seeps out of me, dripping down my thighs and onto the lid of the piano.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes, cupping my jaw in both hands. “I should’ve realized. I’m clean though, I promise.”

I give him a gentle smile to reassure him that I’m not upset. “It’s okay, I’m clean too and I’m on the pill.”

He exhales, the tension leaving his body. “Thank God,” he mutters.

I don’t know why his relief almost disappoints me.

“I’ll get tissues, don’t move,” he commands me and I watch as he tucks himself back into his slacks and turns, walking away on a quest to find tissues.

One month. That’s all we have together and then I’m never gonna see him again. The idea leaves a Harvey sized hole in my chest and the thought causes my heart to sink. I’m falling for someone for the first time since before I got famous and I have to say goodbye in three weeks.