Brett grins at me and for a moment, it feels as if this whole thing is real. As if I really am his fiancé, not just a fake using him to get my father off my back. Lowering his head, he brushes his nose against mine and presses a featherlight kiss to my lips. Like any time he touches me, my world loses focus and becomes all about sensation.
Since he took me home that night, I have not left his place. He has also not touched me the way he did that night. He gave up his bed for me and sleeps on the couch even thoughI wantedto share a bed. Lennon knows what is going on and thinks it’s the best thing that could have happened—she has been pushing me to give him a real shot since we met.
It may have taken me a bit longer to agree, but I am all for giving him a shot. Now that we have been pretending to be crazy about one another, I finally realize I really am crazy about him. He makes me laugh, he is smart, kind, and he is more genuine than I ever gave him credit for.
We have been faking this for a while—now I want the real thing.
“You look stunning tonight, bunny,” he purrs softly against my ear as we spin away from the crowd, dancing without music. “Did I tell you how good you looked yet?”
Nodding, I tilt back, gazing up at him in the glittering light. Greta went all out for her soiree, with twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling and all size of glowing golden snowflakes filling the room. Brett looks delicious in a fitted suit jacket, sneakers, and a plain tee. Somehow, he makes everything look good. Noticing our hostess watching us, I know I am not the only one who thinks so, either.
“You did. After all, you did choose this dress tonight,” I remind him that he gifted me this silky black satin dress earlier. He announced tonight was Greta’s annual charity ball and we had to go. It was his idea of softening the blow by gifting me this stunning dress and a pair of Manolo's to match.
His eyes flare as we move further away from the crowd. I wonder if he remembers how I thanked him for the dress. Standing in front of the stunning fireplace in the front room of his cabin, I dropped the robe I had on to slide the dress on. I took my time, so he got a good look at what was beneath all this silky satin. Maybe I hoped he would forget about coming here tonight and rip the dress off me, but no dice.
“Well, it suits you. I enjoyed watching you put it on,” he teases, voice rough against my ear, “but I will enjoy watching you take it off more, bunny,” he pulls my head back gently, our eyes meeting as I feel the cool night air on my skin.
Realizing he has danced us right out of the room and onto a balcony, I want to laugh. He is always sneaking me off somewhere when we come to these things. That first night he took me to the stairwell to do filthy things to me. Two nights ago, we snuck off to the roof of one of his rich friends’ downtown lofts to watch the snow fall, and we made out like teenagers.
“Is that so? Am I putting on a show for you later then, ace?” I tease as he lifts me atop the wide balcony, stepping between my legs.
“Just you existing is a show for me, bunny,” he whispers, his breath curling in the frigid air, “I wish you realized how absolutely enchanted I am by you. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever set sight on.”
Wanting the same thing, we move at the same time. I bend as he lifts, our mouths meeting in a frenzied kiss. His hands slide over my bare back, burning my skin as he pulls at the tiny straps of the dress. I pull back, letting the top of the silk fall away, baring myself to him.
“You look at me as if you mean that,” I tell him breathlessly and he pauses the path of kisses he was working down my throat.
He pulls back, tilting his head, his golden eyes glittering in the darkness. Reaching a hand up, he cradles my face, tilting my head back. His thumb rubs at my swollen bottom lip and I nip at it. My pulse is thrumming beneath his heavy gaze, and I feel my heart galloping in my chest.
“Because I do mean it. Do you know how impossible it is to have you in my bed and...and not do the things I have dreamt of doing to you?”
“Why...why haven’t you then?” I cut him off when he starts to go on.
Brett lowers his head, so his words are breathed against my mouth. “Because, Bunny, you have not asked me to. Is this you asking me?”
“Yes,” I pant the word, clutching at his jacket to tug him closer. “Yes, I am asking. Don’t make me spend another night alone in bed, Brett.”
As if my words seal the deal, things shift between us, and I know they won’t ever go back again. Never again can I pretend he is just a rich playboy I want nothing to do with. I won’t be able to blow off his flirtations the way I did before. I no longer want to protect myself from him.
However he may ruin me, I want it.
Because I know this pleasure will be worth whatever it may cost me down the road. Brett makes me feel things I only read about in books before—in fantasies about perfect men who know how to touch you, know what filthy things to say to you, and who stick around after they do their worst.
“Let’s go.”
Almost giggling as he rushes to fix the straps on my dress, I let him pull me from the ledge. We stumble inside, tangled up and laughing still. All eyes fall on us, my dress hanging wrong, his jacket a mess from my hands, and my makeup smudged. Neither of us seem to care as they whisper their dislike for our flagrant dalliances. We want them to buy that we’re crazy about each other after all, don’t we?
Lovers rushing off to climb in bed ought to do the trick.
Once he loads me in the back of his waiting car, I do not waste another moment. I climb into his lap, winding my arms around his neck as I fit close. I cover his mouth with mine, tasting champagne and chocolates. I moan as his tongue comes out, licking at my mouth before our tongues tangle.
Fingers tangling in his thick hair, I kiss him greedily as his hands slide up my back. He pulls at the thin straps of the dress again and I let it fall. His mouth tears from mine, moving down my throat, across my shoulders, sending heat swirling through me like a snowstorm.
“So soft, bunny,” his raspy voice sends a shudder through me as he kisses at my breasts, his hands palming the aching flesh. His head tips back, eyes locking on mine as he flicks at my peaked nipple with his thumb. I cry out and the grin he rewards me with is so sexy, I shudder.
With his eyes still holding mine, he dips lower, flicking his tongue around my nipple. I gasp, my fingers tangling in his hair as I arc to his mouth. He sucks at my breast, his teeth scraping at my nipple, sending jolts of pleasure to my sex. I twist my hips against him, chasing the pleasure that pounds through me as he suckles and bites at my tender flesh.
“Brett, please...please, I need...” my moan echoes in the small confines of the car, sounding needy and desperate to my own ears.