Chapter 17

17

TALLULAH

N iall’s lips moved against mine and it was like we’d gone back in time. Those same sparks that had been coming off us last Saturday were back, but they were even more intense now than they had been before.

The tension between us had been building for another whole week and I didn’t know about him, but I was about done denying it. Sayra’s pep talk had helped as well, and so had the time I’d had to reflect since last weekend.

Tonight, I knew exactly what I was doing and what I wanted, and I was planning on taking it all the way. Niall Morrison was a gorgeous, intelligent, charming man for whom I had genuine feelings, and I was tired of waiting for… I honestly didn’t even know what I’d been waiting for anymore.

Deliberately shoving all my doubts and fears aside, I slid off the chair and wound my arms around his neck, standing on my knees in front of him. He moaned into my mouth, hooking an arm around my hips and hauling me closer.

I couldn’t remember ever feeling as wanted as I did right now, and that went a long way in convincing me that he was ready for this too. Neither of us seemed to be able to get enough, our lips crashing together again and again until finally he wrenched his mouth away from mine.

My heart was pounding as he stood up, and for a moment, I thought that was it. That he was going to turn around and walk away. But instead, he wordlessly offered me his hand. I moved my eyes up to his, holding those smoldering pools of blue in my gaze, and I slipped my palm into his, letting him pull me up.

As he did, he used his grip on me to spin me in a slow circle and I giggled, surprised as I spun and spun, feeling like a princess under the watchful eye of Prince Charming. When he finally brought me back to him, I landed with my hands on his chest and he lowered his mouth once more, pressing a hard kiss to my lips before he smiled.

“You’re so beautiful, Tallulah,” he murmured into the kiss, sliding his arms around my waist and pulling me closer as he swayed us from side to side. “I want you to stay, but I need you to know it’s not because I’m expecting anything. I just don’t seem to like it very much when you leave.”

I pushed my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, tipping my head back to smile at him. “Let’s be honest, it wasn’t going to be easy getting an Uber all the way out to the plantation after three in the morning anyway.”

He smiled. “Well, it’s not an ‘I don’t like leaving you either, Niall’, but I’ll take it.” He slid a hand down the length of my arm until his palm sealed against mine. Then he threaded our fingers together and led me to the staircase. “Would you like to sleep in your haunted wing, or would you prefer the other side of the house? And just so you know, my bedroom is on the other side of the house.”

My heart stammered in my chest, but then I remembered what I’d decided earlier. “Your bedroom sounds good to me.”

He blinked rapidly before a grin spread on his face and his gaze came down to mine. “You heard the part where I said I wasn’t expecting anything, right?”

“I did, but I also remember something about you promising to go on your knees and beg. You didn’t think I’d let you off the hook, did you?”

When we got to the second story, he tightened his grip on my hand and led me down one corridor and then another until finally we reached a door at the very end. Before he opened it, he turned to look at me, a mixture of desire and uncertainty in his eyes. “Even if you come in here with me?—”

“I know. I trust you, Niall. I know you won’t push for more than I’m ready to give.”

A soft smile appeared on his lips. Then he pushed down on the door handle and let me into his bedroom—otherwise known as a sleeping hall, it seemed. The room was massive, probably bigger than the house I’d grown up in, with a huge four-poster bed taking up the center of the space with surprisingly light, white fabric curled around the dark wood bedframe.

He also had a sitting room with a TV mounted against the wall on one side of the bedroom, a few guitars on stands with paraphernalia like speakers and cables to go with them, an en-suite bathroom with a claw-footed tub visible from where I was standing, and a walk-in closet about the same size as the apartment I’d lived in before I’d started working for him.

I gaped as I took it all in, but in the end, my gaze moved back to the bed. “I’ve always wanted one of those.”

“A four-poster?”

“A princess bed,” I teased, letting go of his hand and striding over to sit on the edge of his mattress.

Niall crossed the room slowly, sliding his jacket off his shoulders and dropping it in his wake before he started on his tie. He’d worn a black, three-piece suit after all, and while I had to admit that it’d been hard to keep my eyes off him while he’d had it on, I was desperately eager to see what he looked like without it.

I watched closely as he unbuttoned his black shirt, dropping that too once it was open. Then his fingers latched into his belt and he tugged that free and kicked off his shoes, but stopping when he reached me.

My teeth sank into the side of my lower lip and I kept my eyes on his for just a moment before finally allowing them to roam free. I took in his naturally tan skin that reminded me of lazy summer days spent in the sun, running my gaze along his broad shoulders and strong chest, pausing to glance back up into his eyes as I reached for him.

He put his hands out for me to take and I wound my fingers around his, holding them tight as I finally allowed myself to look lower. Niall’s abs were defined, but not overly so, his entire body lean and athletic rather than bulky and blocky.

He groaned. I flicked my eyes from his hips to the bulge in his slacks. Then he lifted a knee and planted it on the mattress between my legs. I lay back as he lowered himself down, smiling when he covered my body with his own.

“God, I want you,” he murmured against my lips as he caught my chin in his hand and kissed me again.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him to me and responding between kisses that were only growing harder and more heated with every passing second. “I want you too. You can have me, Niall.”

A soft moan tore out of him as he swept his tongue into my mouth, running his hands along my bare thighs and then over my ribs, curling his fingers into the fabric between us. Just as I sensed he was going to tear it off, I lifted my back to give him access to the zipper and he tugged it down quickly and eagerly, helping me peel the dress off until I kicked it away.

Since it was strapless, I’d gone without a bra and I was now left only in my panties and heels. Niall released my mouth to kiss a hot path along my throat to my chest, his eyes running all over me as his fingertips dragged along my sides to my hips.

I let out a shaky breath, so turned on that I almost started begging him to touch me. I would have, if I’d been brave enough, but right now, I was too scared to break the spell and I was also enjoying this too much to hurry it along—even if I’d had the words to urge him on, which I didn’t.

Instead, I slid my fingers into his hair and held on when he kissed each of my breasts, twirling his tongue around my nipples and setting off sparks behind my eyes when he nipped at them. I trembled, moving to wrap my legs around him again, but he caught my calves, pressing them flat to the bed and continuing his journey down.

As he reached the waistband of my panties, I tensed, but only until he’d swept the front panel aside and exposed me to him in a way I’d never been exposed to a man before. My ex had never cared much for anything outside of actual penetration and it was a little mind-boggling to know Niall was currently getting a view of me no one—myself included—had ever gotten.

He breathed in deeply though. Moaning, he slid his fingers between my folds. Somehow, he seemed to know instinctively that I was more comfortable with my panties where they were for now. Even so, the sensation of his fingers down there made me pulse in places I didn’t know I could pulse and I caught my breath, feeling like I would shatter if he kept going.

Moving slowly and surprisingly gently, he kept the front panel of my panties out of his way with one hand, licking through me as he toyed with my entrance with the other. “Shit, Tallulah. You’re so wet. So fucking wet. Do you want to come for me already, baby?”

As he asked the question, his gaze darted up to my own and I nodded wildly, too consumed with need to deny it but too shy to say it in so many words. I screwed my eyes shut instead and started rolling my hips, hoping that he would just get to it.

And he did.

After kissing the insides of my thighs, he brought his tongue back to my core and slowly slid a single finger into me. That was enough to make me contract around it. As soon as he circled my clit with his tongue and scraped across it with his teeth, I felt the orgasm rising fast.

Right there, it kept coming closer and closer and I prayed Niall wouldn’t stop. I’d never felt anything like this before and I feared that if he changed anything, I’d cry. He seemed to know that too though, and he just kept going until finally, the climax crashed into me in waves of soul-shaking bliss, tensing my body and curling my toes as I screamed.

“Yes! Oh, yes! Niall, yes!”

I felt the vibrations of his groans against me, but he didn’t stop until he’d seen me quivering with bliss. Collapsing against his bed, I wondered idly if I should apologize for the screaming, but as he lifted himself back up, he kissed me hard.

“Holy shit, that was sexy,” he said between kisses, positioning himself between my legs and taking my hands. “I didn’t think it was possible to want you more than I already did, but here we are.”

“So have me,” I repeated lazily, still catching my breath but also so ready to feel him inside me. “I want you too, Niall. So bad.”

He pulled back to look into my eyes, seemingly searching for something. Mercifully, he appeared to have found it. He kissed me again and hooked his fingers into my panties, gliding them down as far as he could reach before I kicked them away and helped him with his pants.

It took no more than a few seconds until he was naked on top of me, the long, hard length of him throbbing against my slick flesh. Our tongues kept clashing, our kisses growing more and more passionate until he broke away to reach for his nightstand.

As I watched, panting and needing him more than I’d ever needed anyone, he reached for a condom, but as he was about to bite it open, his phone rang. He blinked hard, not reaching for it, but the interruption seemed to have been enough to break the spell.

Dropping the condom, he kissed me again, far more gently this time, and then he propped himself up on his elbows to look into my eyes. “We should take this slow.”

“What?” I stared back at him, completely confused. “I want you, Niall. Don’t you?—”

He chuckled darkly, arching an eyebrow at me as he moved his hips again, allowing me to feel just how much he wanted me too. “Trust me, Tallulah. I want to just do it, but I think it’ll be better if we slow down.”

“How much?”

He tilted his head at me, then moved until he was beside me instead of on top of me. His hand skated down until his fingertips rested on top of my mound. “Just no sex for now?”

My heart was slamming against my ribs. I wanted him so, so much, but I knew he was right. Instead of arguing, I reached for him and wrapped my fingers around his shaft, stroking as I turned my mouth back to his.

“Okay, but just for now.”

Niall groaned when I started moving faster, slanting his lips over mine and kissing me hard. He dipped his fingers back into me. It turned out there were a lot of ways to bring each other pleasure that I hadn’t experienced before, and we explored each other’s bodies with our hands until finally, we erupted at the same time, Niall’s release coating my hand and stomach as I screamed his name once more.

We fell asleep together without even cleaning up, but when I woke up the next morning, he was gone. I sat up slowly, blinking against the intrusion of light pouring in through his windows and knowing that if it was this bright, I’d slept late.

Very late.

I looked around, listening carefully for any signs of him, but there were none. His shower wasn’t running and he didn’t seem to be rummaging around his giant closet either. My lips pursed, but I didn’t know what to think. Maybe the ghosts had spirited him away.

I did notice a few aches in my body after everything we’d done together though, but they were good aches. The best aches. I even smiled as I climbed out of bed and donned the shirt he’d been wearing last night, but as I took off to look for him, I suddenly realized his house didn’t give me the same kind of welcoming feeling it had before.

It was huge, and daunting, and expensive.

I’d received all the invoices from the vendors who’d been involved with the party and I knew approximately how much he’d spent—and it was a frightening amount of money that he’d paid without batting an eye.

As I wandered around, finally heading downstairs and wondering if I should just sneak out, I thought about my own situation and how I’d ended up strolling around the house of my billionaire boss. I was a nobody from California who’d cut herself off from her family and I was essentially running from the train wreck I’d left behind when I divorced Carter.

I’d thought I’d put all these doubts behind me, but they were back in full this morning. Niall had a personal shopper and I couldn’t even afford to shop for myself.

Eventually, the scent of something sweet wafting from the kitchen told me where to find him, and while the urge to sneak out was strong, I couldn’t do that to him.

Especially not if he was even cooking me breakfast again.

I walked in to find him flipping pancakes behind the stove, wearing only his boxer briefs and a black T-shirt. Pausing in the door, I felt tears prickling the backs of my eyes. The sight of him making me a plate of pancakes and the grin that spread on his lips when he spun to find me standing there gutted me.

He was a good guy— such a good guy—and so handsome, and considerate, and understanding, and yet, he and I would never be together. Not really. I wasn’t selfish enough to trick a guy like him into diving into the cesspool of bullshit that was my life.