OUR SUITE DOOR snaps shut behind us. “We never finished what we started the other night.”
“And what’s that?” Lily smirks.
Her raven hair, tied into two braids, drapes over the skintight black dress she wore for tonight’s dinner. Recently, Lily’s let loose a side of her I’ve never seen but always secretly craved. She’s almost territorial now, pulling me closer anytime we pass someone relatively attractive on the street.
It all started with that stunt she pulled at the club a few days ago.
One sucker punch in my defense. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over that. She’s somehow ten times more attractive now, if that’s even possible.
No one else. Not for her and not for me.
The only thing our time in London has made me realize is that Lily Rodin is my first love, and I’m intent on making her my last and my only. Despite her resistance, however much it aches me to witness, I know she feels it too.
She must.
I can’t be entirely over my head.
Autumn’s fast approaching, and I may need to sit her down for a wake- up call she’s not going to be able to avoid.
“Your jealous spell at the club,” I remind her. Lily leans against the entryway, bending down to undo the strap of her high-heeled shoes. “Let me.” I kneel before her, running my hand down her soft leg.
“I wasn’t jealous.”
“You’re such a bad liar.”
She straightens and rests one of her shoes on my knee. I unclasp the thin strap of leather around her ankle. If there were a sculptor in the room, they’d recreate us in the vein of Stephan Sinding’s Adoration.
“I’d say the activities we did in the taxi after Klaus’s apartment more than made up for almost getting arrested at his club.”
I chuckle. “The things that poor driver must’ve seen.”
“Oh, come on. People would pay money to see us together.” She kicks off the heel and sets the other on my knee. “Plus, you paid him a hefty sum upfront, maybe he kept his eyes on the road.”
Her dress hikes up, revealing purple lace panties. I try to focus on the task at hand and not the items of our shopping spree yesterday at Agent Provocateur, which is not a true crime memorabilia store like I’d initially thought. It’s been a pleasure gifting her everything she wants, especially when I get to tear each silk and lace piece off of her.
“I doubt it, but I think we have some unresolved business to take care of.” I unlatch the final clasp, and she strips off the heel.
“Do we?” Lily glances down at me as I plant my lips on the tender spot above her knee, which always makes her moan.
“Mmm.”
There she is.
“It’s hot in here.” She slinks away from me, heading toward the terrace.
My eyes are glued to her round curves meandering away. “I think that’s just you, pretty girl.”
I follow her through the open glass doors and onto the balcony overlooking the Thames in the distance. The warm summer air tastes sweet and hugs the exposed skin of my chest.
“It’s so gorgeous.” Lily’s arms stretch along the railing.
“You are,” I say. “This reminds me of that one scene in Coastal Fling.” She spins toward me, looking lethal and divine. “Not this again.” “Why do you keep denying you wrote it about me?”
She’s eventually gonna crack with the truth, though I may need to add some pressure.
“Because I didn’t.” Lily dips her head back over the balcony railing, exposing the slender curve of her neck.
I bracket her jaw and trace my tongue over her throat. “Dirty little liar,” I breathe.
“You’re so full of yourself, Nico.”
“Am I?” One of my hands clasps her palm on the rail. “It’s so obvious that you love it, don’t you?”
Lily’s lips curve into an undeniable yes.
I drop my fingers from her chin and unclasp my belt before stripping it off my waist.
“I particularly enjoy it when you do that.” With her darkened eyes, she watches me wrap the leather belt around my palm.
“Admit it, Lily.”
She rushes her free hand to the buttons of my jeans, then undoes them.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we just fucked and didn’t keep talking about this?”
Her words make it harder to drag this out. I wanted to bend her over the railing now. Instead, I’ll patiently wait for her confession.
“Maybe.” I fold my belt in half and hoop her hand through it as our bodies slot together. “Or we can play out your little fantasy right here.”
I drag her wrist to the balcony railing, loop the leather through the metal pole, and fasten it shut.
“Nico.” Her attempt to scold me doesn’t distract me from the wetness collecting on her lips, an indicator that her new panties are also already soaked.
“Want me to stop?” She shakes her head. “Didn’t think so.”
I descend before her, savoring each handful of her breasts and ass, before my fingers find the lace beneath her dress.
“Am I already causing you to ruin the new panties I bought you, Lil?” “Fuck off,” she moans, tossing her needy hips into my face as I pull the
hem of her dress up to her waist.
The purple fabric is damp to the touch.
I fucking knew it. I know Lily’s body so well that I could write a program about it.
My pointer finger runs along the seam of her, causing each knee to tremble.
“Who was your book about?” I breathe into the tender flesh of her thighs.
“The neighbor.”
Not the answer I want, and she knows it. My teeth sink into the skin of her leg, and she squirms.
“Ah, Nico.” She reaches her free hand into my hair, pulling hard at the strands. I unclasp my bite. “That was rough.”
“We can stop the questioning whenever you want. Just tell me what I need to hear.”
Lily pauses, defiance in her eyes as she releases her grip on me.
“What was the neighbor’s name?” I carefully trace the lace on the crease of her hip.
“You know what it is.” Wrong answer again.
I land a firm smack on her ass, causing her to yip, before my hands rip the three-hundred-dollar panties off her. Worth every penny.
“Do you enjoy torturing yourself, my gorgeous, dirty slut? Is it fun having to work for it?”
Lily spreads her legs wider, desperately forcing her glistening pussy against my mouth. “You’re the one who won’t believe my answers.”
“You need me so badly, don’t you?” I spread my tongue over her, and Lily moans. Her taste unlocks something in me. It’s visceral, primal, and like nothing I’ve ever experienced. “Need me to fill this pretty cunt until you can feel me in your fucking throat?” I glide my teeth over her swollen clit, and she groans.
I reluctantly pull away, ignoring every instinct in my body.
“Please.” Lily chases my touch, and the bond on her wrist rattles against the rail.
This interrogation isn’t going to last long if she continues to beg.
“All you have to do is tell the truth, my precious girl,” I remind her. “Did you spend all of last summer daydreaming about me fucking you on a balcony?”
“Ugh.”
“Answer me,” I demand, landing another smack against her perfect ass.
The soft flesh burns red, even in the faint glow of night.
Her bottom lip hides beneath the lock of her teeth. “Take off your shirt.”
I oblige before discarding it on the balcony floor. “Was I shirtless in your book?”
“Pants too.”
I disrobe, leaving only my boxers on. She stares at the upright bulge beneath the cotton. “Better?”
“Not if you keep talking.”
“Oh, shut up, princesa.” I fist her hair, dragging my body along hers. Lily folds against the railing, face tilted toward the sky. “You love my mouth.” Her heartbeat races with mine. “And I’m not going to use it to let you come until you use your pretty lips to give me what I want.”
“His name was Nick.” Her voice is rough.
As a reward, I send my free hand to the already swollen, wet clit begging for attention.
“Sounds a lot like Nico.” I slowly run my fingers over her.
A pleading desire is centered in her eyes. “Silly coincidence.” Silly deflection.
I land a soft smack on her tender entrance, causing a wild growl from her. “What else did I do to you in your book?”
“Actually fucked me.”
“What’s the rush?” I smile, wrapping her braids around my hand. I tug her face to mine. “Are you afraid you’ll break?” I don’t wait for an answer. Instead, I lock my lips around hers in a furious kiss.
Lily’s gasps rattle my throat, and her tongue fights its way into my mouth.
There’s no point in pretending I want to deny her.
As our kiss stretches, I slip two fingers into her swollen entrance.
“Say it, Lily.” I proceed with languid thrusts in and out of her. Each stroke raises the volume of her moans.
“I’ve already said—” She breathes heavily. “That my pussy is yours.” “Not enough.” I halt my movements, but keep my fingers inside her,
torturing her with fullness.
Lily yanks her latched hand on the rail. I let go of her hair and pin the other palm to the metal. “I want more than words, Lily. I need you to mean it.”
“I hate this.” She feverishly attempts to work her hips on my hand.
“You hate showing the whole world that you want this? That you want me?” My mouth connects with her nipples peeking through the fabric of her dress.
I bite down hard.
She chokes on a scream. “I do want you!”
She’s absolutely perfect, and for a moment, I forget where we are, forget that our exposed skin is wrapped in air fifteen floors above the bustling streets below. The height feels less scary with her at the edge. The familiar
droplets of my fear transform into my favorite rush of adrenaline. It tastes like her.
“Be good for me and open your eyes, pretty girl.” I let go of her hand, and wrap my fingers around the soft skin of her throat, using my thumb to turn her jaw toward the railing. “Look at how you beg for me as the whole city watches you.”
“You’re the worst,” she groans.
I tighten my grip on her throat while my fingers pump inside her. I’m desperate to be one with her. My erection scrapes my shorts, shooting pain into my balls.
“Is this how you wanted me to take you last summer? Make everyone see the way you surrender yourself to me?”
Lily’s gaze focuses on the skyline. A redness spreads across her face, the ripple of blush warming her cheeks. “You’re so”—she connects her eyes with mine—“so fucking amazing at that, Nico.”
“I can make you feel so much better if you just fess up and be honest with me.”
I let go of my grip on her throat and wrap my arm around her, working my fingers in and out of her drenched pussy. She thrashes in my arms, indecision tumbling across her face until she’s teetering on the point of no return. Her walls convulse around me. I’m too fucking weak to hold this against her for much longer.
But just as I think she’s about to collapse in my arms, Lily fights it. “Untie me.”
“Do you want to stop?” I pull her face to mine, deciphering the unspoken words in her lustful gaze.
“No, but I want to feel you with both my hands,” she whispers. I do as she says because I’m weak. I unhook the belt from the railing as she lazily rides my fingers. “Actually, I want all of you.”
I’d make an awful detective. I’d be a willing accomplice to whatever crime she wanted to commit.
“Need my cock to fuck your dripping pussy, love? You fucking adore it when I fill you to the brim, don’t you?”
Lily nods, and I withdraw my fingers from her.
She shucks off my boxers, wraps her hands around my erection, then licks the precum off the tip.
My entire body shudders.
“On the floor,” she demands, pulling me to my knees. Lily strokes my length as she peels off the remains of her clothes.
Soon, we find ourselves in a pile of limbs and lips on the ground of the balcony.
“I have a condom in my wallet.” I nod toward my abandoned pants, and she crawls her way over to them, giving me a full view of her round ass and wet pussy.
“So prepared.”
“I try to be when it comes to you.” I smile as she makes her way back to kneel before me. Lily unfolds the latex around my throbbing dick and straddles me.
“Close your eyes, Nico,” she whispers, and I do. Anticipation hums in my throat like a church choir.
“Fuck,” I choke out when she fully descends onto my hardness. Lily grinds her hips over me, then she drags my hand against the same railing she was bound to, fumbling with the belt still hanging there. I try to reach for her waist, but my left arm doesn’t budge.
I’m trapped.
My eyes shoot open, finding my right wrist secured to the railing with my own belt.
Absolutely fucking pathetic.
“It’s my turn to ask the questions.” Lily looks at me through a wicked smile, still riding my dick. My mind is blank from retorts.
“How many times did you read my book?” “You fucking brat,” I seethe.
I yank at the bind on my wrist, but can’t loosen the hold. Instead, I take my free hand and roughly grasp the ends of her braids, stretching her neck back.
“Answer me,” she growls. “Twice.”
“Liar.”
“Three fucking times.”
She fights my grip on her strands and connects her eyes with mine. Lily’s hips don’t break for a moment. She keeps fucking my cock like it was made for her.
“Did you want to feel me last summer?” She steadies her palms on my chest.
“Every day we were together or apart.” I pull harder on her hair, and each of her claws breaks the skin on my legs, sending blissful bursts of pain up my neck as my balls clench with pain.
Her walls shudder around me, putting my inevitable climax on the brink.
“Was your fist wrapped around all nine inches of you?” She moans, fighting her own oncoming release. “Did you come thinking about me all those weekends on the beach?”
“So many times, pretty girl. I had my fist around my cock almost every fucking night last summer, thinking about how good it would be to see you come undone because of me.”
What I would give to feel all of her right now without a fucking condom, to fill her with my cum until the only thing she can manage to moan, think, feel, or taste is my name on her tongue.
“Do you like knowing that people can see me riding you, Nico?” A carnal need spreads through my chest.
I look at Lily’s bouncing tits, each perfect nipple pebbled. How on earth did I get this fucking lucky?
“As much as I like knowing your book is about me.”
She struggles against the grip I have on her hair. Lily drops her forehead to mine, her motions growing more ragged. My free hand guides her hips into a steadier pace.
“This is much better than what I put into words,” she says.
“Admit it, Lily.” I instinctively reach my left hand toward her, but the leather and metal are practically stitched together. She sees my struggle and smiles through the crescendo of moans spilling out of her. “Admit you’ve wanted me for as long as I’ve wanted you. Admit you’re mine. Admit you belong to me.”
She tenses around me. I’m seconds away from losing myself inside her. Lily spikes her nails into my flesh again. Her mouth attacks mine until
I’m bruised from teeth. My cock buries itself deeper into her, hitting where she ends. She cries out.
I don’t think I’ve ever been this fucking hard.
“For fuck’s sake,” she curses into the space between us, her thighs crushing my legs as she steadies herself on my length.
“I’m at your mercy, Lily,” I promise. “You’re not going to lose yourself if you give in. You have me, and I’ve got you.”
That seems enough to unlock the hinge keeping her release shut away. “It’s about you, every fucking word,” she says quietly enough that her
voice could’ve been mistaken for a breeze.
But it’s enough for me. I drive into her again.
“Come with me, princesa.” I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her naked body as close to mine as possible. “Come all over my cock like my perfect, good girl.”
Lily nods furiously, and in a few thrusts, her walls clench around my dick, and a wail of ecstasy shoots out of her. I temper my release for a few aching strokes until I catch up to the pleasure spinning through her.
Air drags out of my lungs with each fierce shot of cum hitting the latex of the condom.
The summer wind wraps around us, cooling our damp skin as we remain together, Lily’s warmth on top of me, my wrist still attached to the rail, my dick throbbing inside her.
“You gonna write about that?” I tease against her mouth, tenderly stroking my lips over her smile.
“I think I’ll keep this memory just for me.”
 |
“ALL THIS SECRECY IS ANNOYING ME.” Lily fakes a pout while flipping through a sketchbook filled with tattoo designs.
“That’s unusual for you, Miss Keeper of Secrets.” I smile as Faye, my tattoo artist, finishes my design at her sketching desk across the tattoo studio.
I’ve managed to hide the piece from Lily, which has been a nearly impossible feat.
“I’m not a fan.” Her nose turns up in the air, and she peeks at me through the corner of her eye.
After my haunted house idea turned into a bust last week, I decided to tackle another item on my list.
Tattoos.
When I discovered that Faye, who specializes in fine-line tattoo work, had an opening at a boutique parlor tucked away in Exmouth Market, I
knew it was fate. My luck has been plentiful lately.
“It’s a surprise. Be patient, Lil.” My gaze connects with Faye’s for a moment, and I catch the flicker of a smile on her face as she eavesdrops on our conversation.
“Fine.” Lily’s eyes roll around like a pair of marbles. “Just don’t get my name or something ridiculous like that.”
“Oh.” I stand, feigning a step toward Faye. “I should probably check if the spelling is right. L-I-L-Y, right?”
Lily grabs my hand and yanks me onto the leather couch beside her. “Not funny.”
“You should get one.” I peek at the sketchbook of traditional and old- school designs in her lap.
“What if I get something and start to hate it? It’s too much pressure.” “Well, that’s simple. Get something you could never hate.”
Lily’s eyes connect with mine, and the world around us seeps away like it does every time she looks at me. Her gaze always carries some meaning. Right now, the slight crease in her nose says, You think I’m too scared to get a tattoo, don’t you?
Not at all, I think as I look back at her.
Liar.
My tattoo artist’s voice interrupts our silent conversation. “Ready to get started?”
I nod, the anticipation drumming through my body. I shoot to my feet. “Keep me company?” My hand reaches over to Lily’s, and she places her fingers into my palm.
We walk to a curtained-off room, and Faye sets me up on her workstation. I get into a comfortable position, ensuring I can still see Lily, who chews on the edge of her thumb. I pull the left side of my shirt upward for Faye to prep my ribcage. I check the placement of the stencil in the mirror, making sure Lily can’t catch a glimpse.
“How’s that?” Faye asks. “Great.”
I turn to give Lily a quick thumbs-up, and she glares back at me.
The needle from the tattoo gun breaks skin, and the faint ripple of pain brings a familiar, addictive rush. “Faye, can I ask you a quick question?”
“Sure.” She keeps a steadying hand on my side while she drags the needle across my flesh.
“Would any of your clients enjoy using an app that lets them review your sketches before the appointment? Y’know to play around with sizing and location.”
That’s the most creative thing I’ve come up with in the last couple of weeks, but vocalizing the idea makes it sound lackluster.
“I don’t want them to have access to the original digital file.” “Why not?”
Faye breaks from the needlework for a moment. “Uploading custom pieces as an artist who only tattoos original work would expose me to theft. One of my clients having access to the raw file and distributing it would hurt my business.”
Obviously. “Oh, yeah, that makes sense.”
“Besides, it’s easier to make alterations and discuss what changes the client wants at the session.”
I’m not thinking outside the box, and pulling an idea out of thin air is becoming increasingly frustrating. If I don’t come back with a whole concept, Anthony will be disappointed, to say the least.
I may have to finally admit that I’m more distracted than usual. I peek over at the source of said distraction and find her nervous smile aimed directly at me. Warmth spreads through my chest and melts the thought away entirely. Something more important than work occupying my mind isn’t a good enough reason to drain me creatively.
Quite the opposite, really.
The tattoo session is over in about thirty minutes. Faye hands me a mirror to view the result.
“You got a flower near your heart?” Lily’s voice sounds behind me as she inspects the reflection of the tattoo. “A lily…” She looks up at me, thoughts visibly racing at the speed of a falling star. “Right next to the sperm.”
The teasing sends her into a fit of infectious giggles.
I peek at the new lily flower coiling around my kelp tattoo. Two pieces connected as one. Making her a permanent member of my family.
My cheeks almost hurt from smiling. “Sexy. Don’t you think so?” I smirk.
“At least it isn’t my name.”
“What a big ego, pretty girl.” I pinch the bridge of her nose playfully, and her creased eyes meet mine. “I just love lilies.”
Her laughter ceases instantly, the trail of it still hanging in the air of the tattoo parlor. She stares at me as if trying to see into the depths of my soul. “They’re funeral flowers.”
“The perfect flower to brighten up even the darkest of days.” I nudge her shoulder, but Lily’s turned to stone.
She turns to Faye. “Do you have time to do the same one?”
“My next appointment is at two, but I could squeeze you in.” Faye nods, already resetting her workstation.
“You’re going to get one?” This woman will never cease to surprise me. Lily ignores me, still facing our tattoo artist. “Should I get it on my arm,
calf, or ribs?” “First time?” “Yes.”
“Inner arm will hurt the least.”
That’s enough reassurance for Lily to hike herself up on the bench, right arm extended toward Faye.
“Grab that chair and sit next to me,” Lily directs. I do as she says, and the tattoo gun whirs to life.
“Hold my hand,” I whisper, wrapping her fingers around mine. Her pulse strums through her palm. The moment the tattoo gun touches her skin, Lily lets out a large exhale, her eyes glued to the ceiling.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this.” I smile, knowing my flesh and hers will share the same mark. Permanently.
“It’s just a flower.”
“Yeah.” I squeeze her hand. “And we’re just friends.”
