Chapter Ten

I got her nightgown out of the way, fast. Nothing would separate me from that delicate skin, that sensation of her on my fingertips.

She moaned in my ear, trying to take off my jacket as I fumbled with her breasts, desperate to get those nipples into my mouth. I was past the point of playing around; I wanted her immediately.

As I suckled on one nipple, she managed to get me out of my jacket and worked on the buttons of my shirt. Slowly, shakily, she struggled to free me of the main layer separating us—my damn shirt.

“Fuck,” I said, tearing away from her long enough to rip the thing open; screw the buttons. It was a thrifted shirt, anyway. “Pull it all off me, baby.”

“Wow,” she said, chest heaving in and out as my shirt fell to the floor, the buttons flying off, scattering across the kitchen. “Um, okay…does Prada owe you again?”

I smirked at her recollection of our meet cute. “Not that shirt.” I palmed her other breast as I resumed what I’d been doing. “Don’t rip the pants, though. Those should be easy.”

As she soon found out, the pants were dressed-up leggings, and only needed to be tugged down. Soon enough I was in my undies and bra, the former of which was soaked with need for her.

Instead of getting me completely naked, she grabbed my ass and growled at me as I continued to flick her nipple, lavishing it in all the attention it deserved.

To see her standing before me, earlier, with those nipples perked up and yearning to be freed from their silky cage, I’d grown so damn hungry for her.

My hunger persisted, cresting as she kneaded my ass, stretching the ass-cheeks which tugged on my pussy.

“Eden,” I said, looking up at her from my lowered stance to access her breasts. “Get me naked, now.”

“Bossy,” she said, teasing the hem of my underwear, showing me her tongue as it danced near her lips.

That tongue ignited another fire in me.

I straightened up and shoved my tongue into her mouth at once, inflamed for her.

It was sloppy kissing, yet still so sexy. The kind where tongues rolled with no rhythm, no restraint. Where teeth clashed and breaths were sparse, and hands wandered to all parts seeking something to hold on to.

I shook when I pulled my mouth off hers. The need between my legs pulsated. “Eden,” I said, quickly licking her lips, imprinting them with my flavor. “Take my fucking underwear off.”

She again toyed with me, sliding her fingers under my panties, gripping my ass. “Is there a dirty surprise in there for me?”

“You did say you wanted dirtiness, didn’t you?” I caressed her pussy briefly, watching her eyes widen in astonishment when I didn’t slither between her folds. “Hmm, you have a dirty surprise for me, I see, but I’m not taking care of it until I’m naked with you.”

We didn’t have time for this foreplay. We should have already been halfway into licking each other’s pussies senseless by then; but with Eden, it was always about the tension. The build-up. The lead-up to the ultimate climax.

It pleased her to play like this, and who was I to deny her? We had a few hours, at most. A few rounds of sex, at best.

“Fine,” she said, fussy like a toddler. She all but kicked her feet as she relented and seized the waistband of my panties, drawing it downward.

Her body lowered, too, as she tugged the underwear down. She slowed her ascent when her nose was level with my pussy, exposed to her. “Fuck,” she said, her mouth opened, her tongue about to stretch out and taste me.

She didn’t, though, and kept pulling the panties down until they reached the floor. I stepped out of them, and she rose ever-so-slowly to her feet, once again pausing near my center to pretend like she was about to eat me.

She didn’t. The sly little minx; she was making me wait.

“Eden,” I said, losing patience as she fiddled with the clasp of my bra. I could tell by her poorly concealed smirk that she delayed on purpose. “You’d better hurry before I start touching myself instead of touching you.”

She giggled, bringing her body closer, her bared breasts crashing into my covered ones. “That’s okay, I’ll just touch myself while I watch you.”

I imagined her doing that—legs spread as she flicked at her clit, while I did the same lying inches away from her.

No, fuck that. I needed to get my fingers wet with her.

“Eden,” I whispered as she unfastened my bra and took forever to lower the straps. My fingers wandered right to her center, tickling over her folds. “Look at how drenched you are. You want me, don’t you?”

“Fuck,” she said, nodding as my fingers massaged up and down, never once dipping into her, only teasing. “Yes, I want you.”

“Then stop dilly-dallying and let me fuck you,” I said, teeth clenched.

I shuddered when at last my bra dropped from my body, and Eden and I were chest to chest. The heat of her skin, and the temptation of her pussy as I toyed with it; it was too much.

I needed her urgently.

Spotting the bed in the corner, I hefted her up by her thighs. A surprised cry came from her as she folded her legs around my middle.

“Wow,” she said, noticing how I had no trouble carrying her to the bed. “This is…sexy. Way too fucking sexy.”

“What?” I deposited her on the mattress and indicated she should move up a little. “That I picked you up and brought you to bed? You didn’t think a woman could do that?”

She kept her legs closed as she moved deeper onto the mattress, grinning. “I didn’t think a woman would, not for me.”

She was tiny and light as a feather; who wouldn’t want to pick her up and enjoy how she wrapped her legs around them? I almost wanted to pick her up again, to fuck her standing up; that’d be an idea for another time.

If there’s ever another time…

Fuck that voice in my head. Fuck the inhibitions, all the red lights blaring, reminding me this was wrong. Forbidden. Dangerous. There was no coming back from this.

“I would carry you anywhere you wanted to go,” I said, sliding my hand between her legs to part them. “Anywhere,” my fingers tiptoed up the insides of her thighs, “anytime,” I approached her entrance, “anything.”

I’d worship this woman if I were allowed to. Place offerings at her feet for a glimpse of her wetness, a swipe of my tongue between her folds. I’d travel across the planet to find her, hold her, fuck her one last time.

Thankfully, tonight, I’d only had to travel a few miles.

“Silver,” she said, shivering as I squeezed my finger between her lower lips, at last. “Fuck, Silver, I…we…”

“No,” I said, staring at her with as much sternness as I could muster, considering how turned on I was.

“No, what?” She fidgeted, as if about to pull away from me, but then I hit one of her sweet spots and she immobilized, eyes rolling to the back of her head. “Oh, fuck yes. No…Silver…you didn’t even know what I was going to say.”

“I do,” I said, sneaking upward, closer to her face, while still plunging my fingers into her moisture. Exploring, teasing, tempting. “You were about to say we shouldn’t, this is bad, let’s stop, bla bla bla…”

“No stopping,” she said, breathless as I accorded her center some attention. God, she felt so silky smooth on my fingertips; I couldn’t wait to put my mouth on her. “But it is bad, and we…ahhh, Silver, fuck!”

I’d crept a finger into her pussy, using a different one to keep tickling at her clit. “Fuck what?”

“Fuck me,” she said, somewhere between a gasp and a scream, her breaths harsh. “Fuck, fuck, Silver, please.”

“Yeah?” I traced kisses along her neck, down between her breasts, past her navel, until I arrived at the spot where I was finger-fucking her. To watch myself immersing into her, then exiting, coated with her shiny arousal, was incredibly hot. I could do it for hours.

But we didn’t have hours. We had minutes.

I continued the insertion movement of my finger but replaced my other with my tongue. Flicking at her clit with fervor, keeping the rhythm in and out of her pussy, delighting in how her legs shook on either side of me.

“Silver,” she wailed, her trembling so uncontrollable that she might choke me; I didn’t care. I’d die between her thighs if that meant she was the last thing I tasted. “Silver, shit, I’m…I’m going to…”

She had no chance to conclude the sentence as I picked up speed and brought her there.

Her finish was extensive, shuddering; delicious.

Running my tongue over my lips, savoring her, I heaved myself up to sit between her spread legs, smiling at her.

She wasn’t smiling back.

“Eden?” Had I not delivered her the ultimate conclusion? Had I not shown her how much I’d craved her?

“Sorry, Silver, I just…” She covered her face with her hands. “This is…”

“Bad? Not up to par?” Tell me,” I frowned, “and I’ll do it again and make it fucking perfect.”

“Unexpected,” she said instead, parting her fingers to show me her eyes. From this vantage point, moonlight spilled all over her like a halo. I was glad she’d chosen to keep her curtains open.

She was exquisite. Made of porcelain with fire on the inside. A flaky pastry loaded with mouthwatering spice and a touch of sweetness to arouse the senses.

“I’m mad at you,” she said so softly I hardly heard her.

“Mad?” I brought my knees to my chest, embracing them against me. Hiding.

What had I done? Barging in here in the middle of the night, having my way with her after making it quite clear we were never to see each other again?

“Mad, yes. I…fuck, Silver, this is just…”

I narrowed my gaze, sensing ice forming its thickened wall around my heart. She didn’t want me back; she hadn’t been expecting this or wanting it.

Did she have sex with me out of pity? One last round and she could move on for real?

“I missed you so damn much, but I was finally convincing myself, you know?” Her jaw clenched as she lowered her hands from her face.

“I thought you were on the verge of showing up at my place?” I couldn’t avoid the crackling in my voice, no matter how hard of a shell I surrounded myself with.

“I was. I wasn’t lying about that. But I’d gotten to a point where I could stop myself. I fell asleep with my phone, thinking I’d text you, see if you were up and struggling like me, then I told myself no, Eden, don’t do that. And then…you show up. Like I dreamed you to life. Like my…my deepest wishes came true.”

“You…wished for me?” I didn’t know whether to grimace or smile big.

Did she want me, or would she rather forget I ever existed?

Hormones raged between us—mine, all conflicted and unsatisfied, and hers, tormenting and destructive. She let me in, she let me seduce her, hell, she seduced me, and now this?

“Silver,” she reached forward and cupped my chin, “I always wish for you.”

“I’m so confused.” I buried my nose between my knees. “What do you want?”

“You,” she said, with no hesitation. “But I can’t have you, and you can’t have me. That’s been established, yet we keep coming back to each other, we keep succumbing, and we…”

I gulped, pulling my chin back up. “We can’t keep doing that.”

She nodded. “As much as it hurts. We’re both at fault here.”

I trailed a finger along her leg. Goosebumps woke in the wake of my touch. “Eden.”

“Silver?” She cocked her head, eyebrows arched. “What is it?”

“Can I…hold you? For old time’s sake.” I started to scooch closer, expecting her to push me away.

But she didn’t. Instead, she shoved her legs farther apart and accepted me into her embrace, my thighs sliding under hers as I sat her in my lap.

She was on fire, her skin scorching me. There was repressed desire on her end, unsatisfied urges on mine. But would we take that step again literally seconds after saying we should stop?

She glanced at me, eyes sparkling as she brought her lips to mine. “I wish I could hold you forever.”

And when her finger snuck down to touch me, to discover I was wet for her, all our resolutions were out the window.

---

I woke to a blaring alarm—some old-school 30 Seconds to Mars song.

Someone gasped beside me, jolting up into a sitting position. “Shit.”

That voice—Eden’s voice. I’d listened to it enough times to recognize it at once.

But why was I hearing Eden’s voice next to me?

“Oh,” I said, coming to, eyes opening to an unfamiliar ceiling overhead. Stained with brown and yellowish spots, and bright sun blasting over my face from my right. “Oh, shit.”

“Shit!” said Eden, louder than me as she hopped off the mattress. “My interview!”

Last night—I’d gone to the bar, had a few drinks, ended up here, in Eden’s apartment. In Eden’s bed. In Eden’s arms, then buried into Eden’s pussy, then spread apart for her tongue to—

“Dammit,” I said, throwing the covers off. I’d never meant to sleep there, for fucks’ sake. It was supposed to be a quickie to assuage my urges and that was that.

Eden and I weren’t meant for quickies.

“Are you going to be late?” I searched for my clothes, haphazardly strewn across the small apartment.

In daylight I saw my assumption was correct—one medium sized room loaded with tasteful clutter and mismatched but quaint furniture.

Very Eden-like.

“No, but—” she gasped as a knock came from her door. “Sophia is here,” she finished in a whisper.

“Sophia?” The name was vaguely familiar.

“My best friend. She’s taking me to the interview.” Eden had thrown on a pair of slacks and a crudely ironed shirt that she’d fetched from a hinge over a door that I assumed led to a closet or a bathroom.

“Taking you?” I located my pants and pulled them up over my legs and hips.

“She’s worried,” said Eden, as another knock resounded, louder, accompanied by, “Eden, get your ass up!”

“Worried?” This worried me, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. “Should I hide?”

“Yes,” said Eden, opening the door to a cramped bathroom, gesturing at me to enter it. “She’s worried because she fears I’ll be preyed on again.”

Preyed on. Right, Eden wasn’t supposed to tell anyone the truth about us. As far as her friends were concerned, I was the predator the press made me out to be.

I got into the bathroom, lights off, and Eden slammed the door. Seconds later, she opened her main door, and a cacophony of heels and groans came to me from under the threshold.

“I’m early, I know,” said a voice—the same that had yelled at Eden moments before.

Sophia, Sophia…was that her model friend? I’d looked into a few of the people around her—safety reasons—but hadn’t lingered on details.

“I appreciate the coffee,” said Eden, rushed. “Shall we?”

“Don’t you need to shower first?” Footsteps approached the bathroom. I braced for the shock and potential anger. “And your makeup is…different.”

The door didn’t budge, and Eden said: “I showered last night. And this is a fresh-face look. I’m good.”

“Eden,” said Sophia, trailing away from the bathroom. “Before we go, I have to tell you something.”

“Hurry, then, would you?” Eden sounded impatient.

“I know who did it,” said Sophia, softer, from farther away. “Who denounced that predator lady to the press. Who you need to thank for saving you.”

Eden’s voice changed; more reserved, though closer to the bathroom door. “Who? How? Speak louder, I can’t hear you.”

I heard clearly enough, so why would she say that?

Oh.

Did she want me to eavesdrop on this? So I’d bear witness to who had fucked up our secret affair and exposed us?

“Look, you know I have connections and shit. So does Nico, but he didn’t catch this one; I did.” She paused, for effect, perhaps; I silently urged her to continue though she couldn’t see me. “The guy’s name is Noah Atkins.”

I froze. My blood became ice, my heart quit beating, my extremities went numb.

“Noah Atkins? Who’s that?” Eden spoke a little too loudly; likely on purpose, but I’d heard enough.

I zoned out as they left the apartment. I had no clue what Sophia said about Noah, no clue what Eden responded.

Noah Atkins was my former PA, from L.A. The one I’d had my first affair with.

He was in New York City? Despite the clauses and bribes?

He was here, and he saw us, took pictures, and blabbered about it to the high-society New York elite, including Sophia?

How was he at fashion events here and I didn’t know about it?

I nearly broke Eden’s bathroom door to get out, to get air, to get home.