CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: THEO

“We aren’t romantically involved.”

My own words were haunting me. Even if they were a response to the perfectly accurate statement Chloe herself had made, it didn’t mean they didn’t sting.

It was true. We weren’t romantically involved.

It was also true that she was dense and couldn’t see the obvious right in front of her.

Not that I was in a position to be calling her dense. I was just as bad. I’d had my chance last night to tell her that I had feelings for her, and I’d let it pass me by. It wasn’t that I hadn’t realised the opportunity was presenting itself to me, but more than I wasn’t sure it was the right time.

Telling someone you were in love with them for the first time after sex was right up there with proposing halfway through.

You just didn’t do it.

I also wasn’t na?ve enough to believe she felt the same way I did just because we’d slept together. There was almost zero chance that Chloe held any romantic feelings for me, and I doubted she’d have even slept with me if I hadn’t been the one to initiate it—which was exactly why I’d made sure to hear the word ‘yes’ from her lips.

This situation was uncertain enough without me complicating things with my feelings.

Even if I was lying here next to her more aware of them than ever.

If anything had changed with last night, it was my true awareness of how deep my feelings ran for this woman.

I was head over heels for her.

Completely and utterly at her mercy.

And she had no idea.

I doubt she’d even considered the possibility that I was in love with her. She had no reason to. It wasn’t as though I’d ever given her reason to believe that. I’d kept my feelings locked away for months on account of my unwillingness to enter into an office relationship.

That and I thought she hated me.

Could I do it now? Could I keep how I truly felt about her under wraps, or would my real feelings leak out?

Spending time with her like this was risky. After all, merely living with her had made my feelings for her grow so much that sometimes it hurt to even look at her. It was hard enough as it was to not let her know the truth.

Especially like this with her lying next to me in bed, fast asleep. I could do nothing but lie here and watch her sleep, even though there was a noticeably big part of me telling me I was being a creepy fucking stalker.

I couldn’t help it.

Chloe was beautiful. She was always on the go, always thinking, always moving, so to see her at peace while she slept had my heart thumping like mad.

Some of her hair was caught on her eyelashes, and I reached over and gently pushed it back away from her face. She stirred, rolling her shoulder, and the action caused the covers to fall down and expose the upper part of her chest.

And some of the evidence of last night.

I pressed my fist to my mouth as my gaze fell on the deep red mark I’d left on her breast. I hadn’t realised how rough I’d been with her last night, and the lingering proof of my actions sent a shot of guilt through me.

She was going to kill me when she woke up and saw that.

Maybe she’d forgive me if I made her coffee.

I slid my arm out from under her neck and slowly got out of the bed, keeping my gaze on her to make sure I didn’t wake her. I managed to make it up without disturbing her, and I grabbed some clean underpants from the pile on the chair in the corner and pulled them on before heading down to the kitchen.

I hit the button to turn on the coffee machine and removed the milk thing from the coffee machine to clean it out. I needed to do something mundane to keep my mind off thoughts of last night before my dick got any harder and made it impossible for me to function.

What stupid prick told her to sleep naked next to him?

I refilled the milk thing with enough for us both and connected it back to the coffee machine, then made our coffees. I’d told her to sleep in, but I knew her well enough to know that it would never happen. I wasn’t sure Chloe could sleep in even if her life depended on it, especially since we had to work this afternoon.

Fuck.

I couldn’t believe we had to work on a Saturday. That was the one thing we were supposed to avoid while we were in Buckley Heath.

The machine finished pouring my coffee, and I grabbed both of our mugs and took them upstairs. I was fairly sure I could hear the floorboards creaking, and that meant Chloe was awake.

“Oh, I wondered where you were.”

I stepped into the bedroom and paused. She was standing in the middle of the room tying her hair up into a bun, completely naked.

And completely fucking gorgeous.

I held out her coffee and turned away. “Take that and get back into bed before I do something you’ll punch me for.”

She laughed, taking the cup from me. “It’s a bit late to punch you for anything like that, don’t you think?”

“If only,” I muttered, walking around the bed to my side. “Did I wake you?”

“Mm, not really.” She sat back against the headboard and pulled the sheets up to cover her body. “By the way, are you a vampire?”

Ah.

She was talking about the hickey.

“I guess you saw the hickey,” I said.

“Hickeys. Ssss,” she said, emphasising the ‘s.’ “Plural. Here, here, and here.” She pointed to two spots on her boobs and vaguely gestured to her thighs. “You’re a savage, Theo.”

I sipped my coffee. “Feel free to take revenge. An eye for an eye and all that.”

Chloe stared at me with her whiskey-coloured eyes. “I suppose I should be grateful you did them in places I can hide. I’d be screwed if they were on my neck.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I wasn’t thanking you.”

“I know, but you’re still welcome.”

She rolled her eyes and put her mug on the bedside table. “Speaking of being welcome, you never did tell me how you happened to have condoms in your drawer.”

I coughed and turned away. “Happy accident.”

“Theodore.”

Shit.

I was about to look like a giant pervert.

“I might have purchased some after I caught you peeping on me,” I admitted.

I didn’t need to look at her to know that she was glaring at me.

“You bought them after I accidentally stumbled on you in the shower? Are you a pervert?”

“I’m not sure you have grounds to talk about me being a pervert given you peeped on me having a wank, then got yourself off in your bedroom.”

Chloe stilled with her mouth open, almost as if she’d frozen right before she was about to say something.

“Who’s the bigger pervert here, Chlo?”

She pressed her lips into a thin line. “I told you, that was all an accident.”

“Interesting.” I put my cup down on my bedside table and shifted on the bed, leaning over her and flattening my hand on the other side of her hips. “I’m fascinated how you accidentally put your hand between your legs and accidentally made yourself come while thinking of me.”

“It must have been a reflex.”

“So, you think of me and reflexively masturbate? That’s a new one.”

She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “It’s too early for you to be running your dirty mouth this way.”

Ah. She wished.

“If only my cock agreed with you,” I said dryly, quickly leaning in and brushing a kiss over her flushed cheek. “And your initial argument was that the entire situation was a series of coincidences, not an accident.”

“I usually appreciate your fantastic memory, but right about now, I’d like to hit you so hard that you’d forget the last forty-eight hours,” she grumbled, shuffling to the edge of the bed to grab her coffee from the bedside table. “I’m beginning to regret telling you we can’t just forget this ever happened.”

“You’re the one who said you wanted it to happen again.” I took her coffee from her hand and set it down, then curled my fingers around the back of her neck, dipping my chin until my lips brushed her jaw. “Or have you already forgotten that?”

“I—” She inhaled sharply. “What are you doing?”

“Reminding you.” I sealed my lips over hers. My cock throbbed the moment she parted her lips and made the first move with her tongue, and I drew her closer, welcoming her assertiveness.

I fucking loved how confident she was. She hadn’t been shy at all last night, and right now, she was the one pushing me over the edge.

Her nails grazed my shoulders, and a tiny moan escaped her when the covers fell, and her nipples brushed against my chest. Every little sound she made was an aphrodisiac for me. Every single moan and whimper stoked a fire within me that I feared would never burn out, such was my desire for this woman.

I wanted to wrap her up and hide her away somewhere only we could be. I wanted to explore every inch of her body until I knew what touch made her feel what way, until I knew what feeling made her make each and every one of those dangerously seductive moans.

But only if she wanted it.

“Chloe.” I trailed my fingers down her chest towards her breasts. “Can I?”

She rested one hand on the side of my neck. “Are you going to ask every time?”

“Yes.”

“You’re such a respectful pain the arse.” She reached between us, and I jerked my hips as her fingertips brushed against my cock. “Take off your boxers.”

Fuck. “You take them off.”

“Gladly.” She grabbed the waistband and yanked them down, freeing my cock. Her lips collided with mine at the same moment she wrapped her fingers around my dick and touched it.

“Haa. Fuck, Chloe.” I tugged the covers away from her body fully and kissed down to her breasts. I ran my tongue over her perked nipples, closing my eyes as the warmth from the softness of her fingers stroking my cock spread through my body.

This woman was going to kill me.

She parted her legs, and I slipped my hand between her thighs. She was already wet, and she whimpered into my mouth as I teased her clit. Her fingers twitched around my cock as I eased one of mine inside her. She instantly clenched around me, angling her hips so I could push deeper, and I withdrew my finger from her wetness, only to push two back inside.

“Look how wet your pussy is, Chloe,” I said, then nibbled her earlobe. “You really did want to fuck again, didn’t you?”

She gasped, rolling her thumb over the head of my cock. “Stupid dirty mouth this early in the morning.”

I groaned as her thumb spread a hint of wetness over the head of my cock. “Then you shouldn’t have gotten me all worked up like this.” I flicked my tongue against her lips. “You should take responsibility and do something about it.”

She tilted her head back as a moan escaped her lips. “And how should I do that?”

“Funny you should ask that.” I pulled back from her and sat against the headboard, then patted my thighs. “Let me see how pretty you’ll look sitting on my dick.”

Her cheeks were already flushed, but they seemed to pinken slightly, and she dragged her lower lip between her teeth. She glanced down at my cock and said, “Where are the condoms?”

I opened the drawer of my bedside cabinet and pulled them out. She snatched the box from me and tore one off the strip before throwing the box to the side and ripping the packet open.

And all the blood in my body rushed directly to my cock when she rolled it onto me without missing a beat.

Yeah.

Her forwardness was going to be the death of me.

Chloe positioned herself on top of me, nestling her knees either side of my hips, and reached down to grab my cock. She rubbed the tip against her pussy a few times before angling her hips and easing herself down onto me.

“Fuck.” I gritted my teeth, reaching out to hold her hips. “All of it, Chloe. Don’t stop until all my cock is inside you.”

“Ah.” She gripped the top of the headboard, dropping her chin to her chest. Her dark hair fell around our faces, and her shuddery breaths as she moved to bury all of me inside her left goosebumps prickling my skin.

“There. Feel how deep I am.” I brushed my lips across her neck. “You took all of it. Good girl.”

She shuddered at my words.

“Mm.” I cupped her breast and rolled my tongue across her nipple. “Looks like perving on me in the shower isn’t your only kink.”

“Shut up,” she breathed. “And use that stupid mouth of yours to do something else.”

“Haa.” I sucked her breast, gently biting down with my teeth to leave another mark. “Like that?”

“No!”

“But I didn’t leave one on this side last night.” I licked and kissed the tender mark, soothing it. “And you told me to use my mouth to do something else.”

“I meant kiss me, you sadist.”

“I can’t watch you if I do that.” I looked down at where she was moving, making her pussy swallow my dick with each rise and fall of her hips. “Mm, that’s it. Use me to feel good, Chloe. Just like that. Good girl.”

Another shudder wracked her body, and I gritted my teeth again as her pussy tightened around me and a rush of pleasure flooded my veins.

She felt so fucking good. It’d been amazing inside her last night, but right now with her on top of me, taking the lead, it just felt different. Better. Feeling how she moulded her body to take me and fucked me in the way that brought her the most pleasure only turned me on even more.

I wanted to grab her hips and hold her in place so I could thrust deep into her, but the unabashed pleasure on her face as she rocked her hips and rode me did unspeakable things to me.

If she felt half as good as I did right now, she could do this all day as far as I was concerned.

“Shit, Chloe. So good.”

She pressed her lips to mine and moaned into my mouth, then quickly pulled back and arched her back, crying out.

Flushed cheeks.

Glassy, shiny eyes.

Fast, shallow breaths.

Her pussy clenching tightly on my cock every time she lowered herself down.

She was fucking mesmerising.

“Ah, Theo, I—”

My grip on her hips tightened, and I leant forward and kissed her, sweeping my tongue against hers, swallowing her words. “Do it. Let go. Come for me, baby.”

She rocked, her pussy getting tighter and tighter, and I clenched my jaw yet again as my own orgasm threatened to spill over. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—until she’d gone first.

“You, too.” She rested her hand on the side of my neck, touching her lips to mine. “Ah! You—you, too.”

Shit.

Fuck.

I held her hips in place and thrust into her, burying my cock deep inside, over and over. Her entire body tensed, and every moan that escaped her pretty little mouth became higher and more desperate until finally, she broke, crying out with her back arched.

My balls tightened as I released my own, and the groan of my orgasm mixed with her breathless whimpers. She let go of the headboard and collapsed onto me. Her entire body was trembling, and I slid my hands up from her hips and wrapped my arms around her, cradling her close to me as she pressed her face against the curve of my neck.

Fuck work.

I wanted to stay like this with her forever.

Connected with her, without an inch of space between our bodies, where I could fool myself into thinking that her heart felt something for me, too.