Letting my lip go, he pressed a light kiss against my mouth. He pressed his palms against my ass—alternating between soft and hard squeezes.

“I’ll give you whatever you want,” he said. “But I need you to say it. I need you to be very clear and direct with me.”

As if his desire was to tease me—to give me a sample of how good he would be, he slowly licked his lips before leaning down and sucking my right nipple into his mouth.

He darted his tongue against it in a slow, yet firm rhythm—turning me on with so much ease that he could probably make me orgasm that way.

“I want you to fuck me slower and with your mouth,” I said, finally. “That’s what’s I want.”

“Good girl.” He pushed me back onto the mattress.

Moving on top of me, he kissed a scorching hot trail of kisses between my breasts, then he took his time moving his mouth down to my stomach.

Then lower …

He was staring at me with every move he made, silently demanding me to submit as he tightly grabbed my ankles.

When he blew a long kiss against my clit, I damn near lost it.

He teased me with another one, sliding two fingers deep inside of me and pushing me into a zone of pleasure I’d never ventured to before.

“I want you to look at me, Penelope,” he said. “Look at me while I eat your pussy.”

I opened my eyes, and he smiled. Then he blew a soft, warm kiss against my inner thigh.

Without any warning, he spat directly onto my clit, and I gasped at the sight of him burying his head between my thighs and devouring me—rendering me utterly useless.

Fuck.

“Hayden…” I gripped his hair and screamed as he controlled my entire body with his mouth. As he owned me like no man had ever done before.

“Ahhhh.” I clawed my nails into his shoulders, but he didn’t respond to the pain. He only responded by devouring me more.

The tremors inside of me were building, building, and building, as he kept the same dominant tempo. My body was reacting more to him than my inner my pleas to hold on just a little longer.

As he darted his tongue against my clit at just the right angle—just the right spot, I lost all control.

“Oh godddd, Haydennnn!” I screamed his name at the top of my lungs as I reached an orgasm and came in his mouth.

He didn’t let me go. He continued rolling his tongue against my pussy for several minutes after, until I’d completely stopped shaking.

When he finally stood to his feet, I lay against the mattress, panting and sweating, trying to come down from a high I’d never experienced before.

The sound of running water suddenly filled the room, and it took all of my energy to sit up a bit.

Hayden returned to the bedroom and stared into my eyes. “You’re fucking gorgeous when you come. Do know that?”

I blushed. All sense of conversation was eluding me at this moment.

I motioned for him to lay next to me, but he shook his head.

“I’m not done with you,” he said, moving on top of me. “I’m just getting started.”

He covered my lips with his, pulling me under his spell, and I became lost in him all over again.

For the rest of the night, he explored every inch of me—bringing me to orgasm after orgasm. Never letting up, never letting go.

Twenty-Eight

Present Day

Hayden

When I woke up in the morning, Penelope was no longer in my arms.

Her dress from the gala lay in a silk pool on the floor, and my shirt was hanging from the window sill.

I sat up, slightly confused.

She’d come in my mouth multiple times—screaming my name so loudly that I had to press my palm against her mouth so none of her neighbors would hear.

The look in her eyes when we were entwined, when I was buried deep inside of her, was something I’d never forget.

I was still replaying the way she looked the moment she stepped inside the ballroom, how every man she passed did a not-so-subtle double take. How I knew, the moment her eyes met mine, that I wasn’t letting her leave with Simon.

Every move she made with him on the dance floor cut me, confirming what I’d felt for the past several weeks.

Years, even.

And because I knew her down to her marrow, I could tell that she was going to fight like hell to run away from this.

Twenty-Nine

Present Day

Penelope

“Come on, come on.” I pushed the fire escape window as hard as I could, but it wasn’t budging. “Please.”

I needed to breathe. Then I needed to analyze every single second of last night, preferably someplace alone before Hayden woke up.

“Need some help?” His deep voice was suddenly behind me.

“No.” I jumped, but I didn’t turn around. “I’m fine.”

He kissed the back of my neck and stepped in front of me anyway, pushing it open with ease.

“Thank you.” I started to step out, but he slipped an arm around my waist and spun me around to face him.

Bare chested and wearing his pants from the night before, he was turning me on all over again with ease.

“Want to talk about it?” He smiled.

“I don’t think there’s anything to say.” I crossed my arms. “We were drunk and we got carried away.”

“I was one hundred percent sober.”

So was I. “Well, I wasn’t, so … ”

“So, what?”

“I’m willing to forget all about it and act like it never happened if you are.”

He let out a low laugh and picked me up in one smooth motion, carrying me out onto the fire escape. He gently set me down on the iron and trailed his finger against my exposed collarbone.

“Coffee?” he asked.

“Yes, please.”

He disappeared for several minutes, and I tried to focus on the slow trudge of morning traffic below.

When he returned, he was holding a blanket and two huge mugs.

Taking a seat next to me, he wrapped the blanket around my shoulders.

We sat in silence while we sipped our coffee, and I struggled to find something to say. I felt him staring at me, watching my every move and waiting to look his way, but I kept my gaze toward the cars.

“I can’t wait to see what gala picture Page Six and Sinful Suit pick for their front covers this weekend. My money is on one of you standing under the awning of lights. Either that, or you giving your usual grand speech after the fireworks.”

“I didn’t give a speech after the fireworks this time,” he said.

“What?” I finally faced him. “Why not?”

“There was something far more important that I needed to address.”

Silence.

“Lawrence and Sarah gave the speech on my behalf,” he said. “I’m sure they did fine without me.”

“Did any photogs follow you here?” I was suddenly paranoid for the first time. “What if—”

“No one saw me leave.” He assured me. “And I drove Lawrence’s car here. He didn’t ask me any questions when I told him I needed to go.”