ROM
I leaned back in the chair and watched Mia scribble on the pages scattered all across her desk.
We were at her studio and she was in her element. Her expression was taut with focus, the soft glow of the desk lamp casting shadows over the delicate curves of her face. Even exhausted, she was fucking beautiful.
She glanced up, catching me staring. “You know, you don’t have to stay. You’re probably so bored.”
Bored? I was entranced. Seeing her like this stirred something in me. I was an intruder on her process, but I didn’t give a fuck. She could try to get me out of here all she wanted. I wasn’t leaving. This area was safe during the day, but all kinds of fucked-up shit happened in New York during the late hours of the night. I’d know.
“I’m not going anywhere. You need someone to keep an eye on you.”
A smile tugged on her lips. “How noble.”
Noble? I was only indulging my obsession.
I dragged my thumb over my bottom lip, my body heavy against the armrest as I took her in. I was soaking up every moment while I could, knowing that soon enough, I wouldn’t have this.
I had power, strength, and money that could buy almost anything.
But it was useless when it came to solving the only problem I cared about. Keeping her.
There was softness in her gaze when she looked at me now, which made me think she was once again looking for the good inside my myriad of bad. If we woke up one day in a different country with no pasts and no history, maybe this thing between us could stand a real chance.
But that was a dream. Detached from reality.
My problem remained, and it had no solution at all.
The air in my lungs thinned.
I pushed off the chair, needing something to do, needing space from the thoughts clawing at my head. “I’m going to get us something to eat.”
She kept writing. “I’m not hungry. I’d kill for a coffee, though.”
“You haven’t had dinner. You’ll need the energy if you’re pulling an all-nighter.”
“You’re very bossy. You know that?” Her gaze flicked up, playful.
I rounded the desk and slid my fingers into her hair, gripping just enough to tip her head back.
Her lips parted. Her brown eyes went wide. Her elegant throat arched, bared for me like an offering.
My fist tightened in her hair. “Don’t pretend you don’t like it when I boss you around, Berry.”
Her tongue darted out to swipe across her lip, and I bent down and kissed her.
Heat dripped into my veins. Blood rushed to my cock. Her scent wrapped around me, slipping into my tight lungs.
She smelled the way she always did—like my undoing.
Ten minutes later, the damp brick pressed into my back as I stood outside the sushi joint and waited for my order. A cool mist had settled over the city, but my thoughts were an angry blaze.
In some ways, the short time we’d had together was for the best. She’d see the parts of me I wanted her to see, but she’d never get close enough to touch the rot inside me.
She was too fucking good for me.
If she knew the things I’d done, she’d run and never look back.
I ran my fingers through my hair, exhaling hard.
The clock was ticking. We were less than a month out from the election, and according to Mother, the world was ending. Morales was still winning. The Colombians still hadn’t signed the deal. And it was only a matter of time before she started asking me again about Mia.
It was that last one that made a chill creep into my bones. How far was I willing to go to protect her?
The door swung open, the chatter of the restaurant spilling onto the street. “Sir? Your order is ready.”
I grabbed the bag and the coffee, tipped the waiter, and made my way back.
When I walked into the studio, Mia was pacing, her phone pressed to her ear. “Jenny, this is important to me. No, I won’t be able to dial in. I have to be present for the shoot. I’m just asking for a little flexibility.”
I put the food down.
Mia stopped pacing and exhaled. “I’m not going to the prep meeting. Send me the files, and I’ll review them. I understand you’re not happy. I have to go. I still have a ton of work to do. Bye.”
She hung up and tossed her phone onto the desk. “Jesus.”
“If you give me her address, she can be dealt with.”
A coarse laugh escaped her as she tilted her head and met my gaze. “Don’t tempt me.”
I wasn’t joking. The way these people treated her like someone with no life of her own pissed me the fuck off.
Her eyes shifted to the paper bags on the desk. “Sushi?” Her lips curved. “That’s my favorite. How did you know?”
“Just a guess.” I wasn’t about to tell her I’d stalked her Instagram until I could recite what was in every picture she’d ever posted.
“Sit,” she said. And instead of taking the chair across from me, she slid onto my lap.
My hand gripped her waist while she took the containers out from the bags, her long hair brushing against my chest. I swiped it off to the side of her neck and pressed a kiss to her throat.
She popped a piece of sushi into her mouth before turning slightly and offering one to me. I accepted and chewed it carefully, but she caught the grimace that slipped through.
“Oh,” she said, eyes widening. “You don’t like it?”
My fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt, tracing the dip of her waist. “I’m more of a steak-and-potatoes kind of guy.”
She rummaged through the bag until she pulled out the beef teriyaki I’d also ordered. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Because I’d fucking eat anything she offered me just for the sheer pleasure of being fed by her. “It’s not that bad.”
She picked up a piece of the beef with her chopsticks. “Here.”
I accepted the piece before pulling her closer to me. Having her in my lap shifted my appetite to other things. She shivered as the hard ridge of my erection pressed against her ass. “Or maybe there’s something else you’d like instead,” she murmured, lowering her voice.
I dragged my nose over her shoulder, inhaling her scent. “You need to eat first.”
“Don’t tell me what I need,” she whispered, rolling her hips against me. “I know what I need.”
She put the food down and stood up.
I tilted my head, a pleasant buzz settling beneath my skin as I watched her hike her skirt up her thighs. “Mia—“
My words strangled in my throat as she reached underneath and slid off her panties, the lace disappearing between her fingers. She leaned in and slipped them into the pocket of my jacket, her lips brushing my ear as she whispered, “What I need is you inside me.”
Fuck. Me.
The spike of arousal was so violent it gave me tunnel vision. It was amazing how a few words from her were enough to shake my control. “Turn around and bend over your fucking desk,” I rasped.
A hitched breath. A spark in her eyes. She shoved the containers aside, and napkins fluttered to the floor as she did as she was told.
Her obedience made me ache.
I dragged my palms down the backs of her thighs, gripping her flesh, feeling the way she shuddered at my touch. Slowly, I lifted her skirt, bunching it around her waist.
A glance down at her bare cunt had me bracing my palm against the edge of the desk and fumbling with my belt.
She reached between her thighs, fingers circling her clit.
I loved that she wasn’t shy when it came to sex. At one point, I’d fantasized about her being demure and cautious, but by now I’d realized I preferred her just the way she was. Blushing but eager. Oh so fucking eager.
“Who said you could do that?” My voice came out rough as I tugged my belt from my slacks. “I’m the one who makes you come.” I grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her back, pressing her against the desk.
She rubbed her bare ass against the tent in my slacks and tried to wiggle free. “You’re taking too long.”
“If you don’t behave, I’ll make you.”
A muffled moan. “Then make me.”
I exhaled.
Black leather against delicate wrists. The clank of the buckle. A twitch in her fingers as I pulled the belt taut.
She squirmed and made soft, muffled protests, but she was so goddamn wet that a glistening trail ran down her thigh.
My thumb stroked lazily over the curve of her ass, drifting closer and closer to her center. I ran it over her puckered hole and then dipped it lightly into her pussy.
“You’ve made a mess of yourself,” I muttered, dragging my thumb through her slick folds. She gasped, her muscles tightening, her back arching into my touch. “Is this all for me, Berry?”
She made a whimper. “Please…”
I coiled the belt around my fist and rolled down my zipper, the sound of it pouring through the air. “Remember that you asked for this.” I fisted my cock and ran the thick head along her entrance.
A beat. Then, “Use me, Rom.”
My vision darkened. I sank into her with a groan, and fucking Christ, she was so tight and warm, somehow even better than before. Raw pleasure ripped through me as I pressed my pelvis flush against her ass.
I smoothed my palm down her back. “You have no idea how good you feel, Berry. No fucking clue.”
Then I realized—no barrier. Nothing between us.
I hadn’t wrapped up.
My entire body went rigid.
I hadn’t done this since— No. I wasn’t going to think about that right now.
This was nothing like that time.
This was intimate. Mind-melting. Perfect.
My head fell between my shoulders. My body shook with the effort it took me to stay still. “Mia, I—“
“I’m on the pill,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”
Two words.
And I lost it.
I snapped my hips forward, burying myself deep. She sobbed out my name, her head bouncing with every thrust.
“Rom. Oh God—”
I bent down, curling my body over her, wanting to be closer to her still. My teeth slid over the shell of her ear. “You can take it, baby. Fuck, you take it so well.”
I fucked her like that—hard, fast, relentless—until my balls tightened, until I was right on the edge. But I didn’t want to come like this.
I wanted to see her face when I filled her.
It took me a second to pull out. Three seconds to remove the belt. Five to flip her, lift her into my arms, and slam her against the wall.
But the handful of seconds it took me to sink back inside of her stretched into a fucking eternity as we held each other’s gazes, the truth crackling between us.
This wasn’t just sex.
She knew it. I knew it.
But neither of us said a goddamn word.
Her legs were locked around my waist as I pumped in and out and groaned at how good she felt. My fingers found her clit, stroking and teasing as I watched her fall apart in my arms.
She clenched around me, her body trembling, her nails digging into my shoulders.
“You gonna come for me, Berry?” My lips trailed over the veins in her throat as I tasted her skin, nipped at her jaw, bit at her lips.
She gasped, thighs squeezing tightly around me, her orgasm ripping through her.
That was all it took.
My body tensed, and a low growl slipped through my clenched teeth as I spilled inside of her. My hands gripped her hips, keeping her where she belonged.
With me.
I moaned against her neck and moved in and out of her, fruitlessly trying to chase away the storm inside my head.
We were both lying to each other.
And neither of us had any fucking clue how to stop.
